How I embraced minimalism as a digital nomad
How I became a nomad
I've been a digital nomad for about a year and half now, but my journey as a nomad began a long time ago while I was in university. We had a summer program in the Spanish curriculum where we'd go to Costa Rica and live with a host family and go to language school. After university I traveled to Japan and Europe for vacation.
While this was happening, I got the courage to ask my work if I could work remotely from other cities in the US for short periods. I thought I'd get fired just for asking, but it turns out nobody cared as long as I got my work done. I started with one week to test the waters, then two, then three, and then my house burned down so I made the move to Austin, TX. Eventually I spent two months in the Netherlands to see if I'd want to live there. After four fun years in Austin I decided it was time to do what had been in the back of my mind for a while and sell everything to begin traveling full time. Between my trips and my life as a digital nomad I've learned to embrace a life of minimalism and learned many lessons in adaptability. I hope to share my experiences and give a head start on some lessons learned in the nomad life.
How to embrace minimalism while nomading
The dilemma – we all know it. You want to bring everything. No sacrifices. No compromise. Everything you could possibly need with you and available at all times. The natural problem is that you have some combination of limited space or a limited spine. You have your clothes, your shoes, your portable work environment, a monitor, keyboard, stand, all the medicines and everything that you could buy more cheaply abroad. You CAN absolutely do this – it may mean that you're lugging around one or more giant suitcases that will soon have a broken wheel from cobblestone streets and that you're paying quite a lot in baggage fees.
It might be time to slim down. Or not. That actually depends on you and the style of your travel. It does not necessarily depend on your desires to have everything available, though.
How are you going to embrace your new limitations and the minimalistic environment that you are now in? My first question to you is “How often are you moving places?” Are you moving every 2 weeks or so? Are you picking your luggage off of buses and then walking uphill a mile to your new hostel? Or are you staying more long term, such as in a CoLive space, a rental, or with a host family?
These questions will influence how you embrace minimalism. If you are traveling more frequently, you'll want to pack lighter. This is the reality that I've embraced. I tend to travel in ticks and tocks of slow and fast. I'll travel about every 2 weeks and then I'll stay in place for one or more months. This is my luggage.
Nearly all of my possessions are in these two bags. Despite the fact that I did what many new nomads do and over-pack things that I wound up not needing (see Things I got rid of while traveling), I eventually slimmed down to things that are more essential. You would think that I've made sacrifices by not having more things, but the reality is that I've actually found more freedom.
Having less gave me more
It is nothing for me to pack my bags and be on the road to a new place. My spine is thanking me. You know the spot, right between the shoulder blades. By being able to carry my bags, I don't have the worry about terrain and by packing lighter, I can fit both my duffel bag and my computer bag on a plane without paying for baggage fees. This also means that I don't have to worry about lost luggage or waiting to get my bags from an airport.
There were quite a few times, however, when I wanted to buy something and decided not to because I don't have much space in my bags. I could always mail something back home to my parents – and I probably should have done that more often. But there's something else that I realized. When people ask me what those things were, I don't remember. Maybe they weren't that important after all.
What having more can get you
Not everyone has to travel the same way and what works for me may not be your vibe. You might be perfectly willing to deal with heavier luggage. I know nomads who traveled with large suitcases, but they tended to do longer travel, often a month or more at a time. What I saw them get was more space for hobbies. One person would travel with a bunch of card and board games, another brought extra hiking gear, and others just had more clothing options. Mostly jackets as those are some of the worst offenders for space. They didn't necessarily mind baggage fees or large luggage because they didn't move very often. One person would find a place to store luggage for a while and come back to get it.
There are always options and everything is a trade-off. Just don't be the person I saw who gave a backpacker hostel a bad review because they had massively oversized luggage and the staff didn't help them bring it up. I imagine the staff was laughing a little bit. It's a back-packing hostel. It's in the name.
How you can embrace minimalism on your trip
If you are just starting out or are looking to begin the nomad life, I'll give you a few tips.
If you have two sets of something “just in case,” just bring one. You can get another when you get there. For me, winter clothes were a big one. I managed to do well by getting some thin base layers that roll very small and don't take up space. I pair these with synthetic pants instead of jeans for a wider comfortable temperature range as jeans are often too hot for me.
If you say, “This could be nice to have.” Don' t bring it. You should know that you'll use it frequently and you can get it if you need it when you're there. It could be extra medicines, or a GoPro that you use twice. Guilty. I no longer travel with them, but I did bring them with me on a trip to Iceland because I wanted those photos. Traveling with them forever for me has a very low payoff to effort/cost ratio. Space is one of my most valuable assets, so I traded them out. I will say, however, that things that are small and flat can be a bit of an exception to this idea, as the don't take up much space or weight.
Jeans are a big space offender. I haven't been able to effectively travel with two pairs. Sometimes in winter I'll stock up on an extra one, but by spring I'm giving it away.
The key, however, is to be flexible. Nomading will stretch your ability to be flexible. You will be forced to find last-minute accommodations. You will miss a bus or a flight and you'll figure it out. It's not a big deal. You'll get there and it'll be fine.
Oh, and don't bring winter clothes with you in the summer time because you'll need them later. I know of someone who's travelled for years and their approach is to buy and give away clothes every six months. I go with a versatile set of breathable synthetics from 32 Degrees, but I can't find them everywhere. Have what you need for when you need it.
What if you want the extra clothes but want to travel light?
Remember, you don't have to have everything all the time. You can have something for an event and leave it behind or give it away. Ask your local accommodation staff where you can find some good thrift stores and local markets. Second hand stores are great for finding interesting clothes or party gear! However, I would avoid malls. Often times they'll point you to a mall because there's a lot of stuff there. You can find the designer clothes, but you'll often be paying imported prices. Local markets can have a lot of clothes, but they are mostly your standard stuff. Thrift stores are often where it's at. I have a friend who buys dresses as her outfits because they're both a full outfit in one piece that takes up hardly any room (jealous) and she finds very nice pieces in local thrift stores for a few dollars. I have other friends who find great, interesting pieces to dress up for at events and festivities. My appreciated second-hand store find was a breathable button-up shirt that didn't require ironing for $5. I still have that shirt and it's great in the warmer weather.
Be ok with letting go, and get some more later. Sadly this also applies to friendships while traveling. Think of these experiences not as things to be held on to, but moments of connection along journeys. You're together for a little while and you intertwine, share yourself with others, and you say goodbye. Not always forever, but sometimes. Rather than it being a thing of loss, it's another memory that you can cherish. Maybe even a couch on a future trip!
How to balance being minimal while still doing a lot of fun things
The wonderful thing is that having less on hand at a given moment doesn't mean that you have miss out of fun. It may mean that you might rent equipment, but that extra cost may be a good payoff for not having to carry things around. You can make that judgement for your own case. I particularly enjoy tours, food tours, live music events, and good cocktails. Unfortunately, finding what is going on can often be tricky. What's helped me out a lot is:
- Ask the host staff what instagram/social profiles I should follow or where I should go to get started. I can then ask people there and check posted schedules.
- Search if the city you're in has their own website. Often times these websites don't show up in general internet searches, but they may have a calendar of all events that are happening.
- Search for local nomad groups in the area. This came to me quite late in my travels. I stumbled upon a nomad group in Córdoba, Argentina and went to a soccer game with them. The also offered discounts for local work areas and living arrangements.
- Look for facebook groups in the area. I'm particularly bad at this one since I strongly avoid the website, but I've met people going to cool events or groups and they told me they found it on facebook. Yuck, but we must do what must be done to have fun!
- I love dancing, so I'd go to local group dance classes to meet locals and ask them what's going on. They often know the musicians who play during socials and what they're doing around town, which means that something interesting might be happening.
The number one lesson that I've learned to have fun is simply to say “Yes” to invitations, even when I'm tired or don't feel like it. I rarely regret ever saying yes. Of course, I have my limitations and can't keep up with the youngest crowd and neither do I want to (old man yells at cloud). But saying yes has been a great way to get out of my comfort zone and find new things.
Perhaps another lesson that I'm still learning that helps with that is to not let my job dominate my life and to take off what I can. Unfortunately, the limited time off that we get in the states disappears very quickly when you have to deduct a half or full day on a Friday, but it's worth it!
Ultimately, embracing minimalism while traveling shouldn't be a goal or a thing that you feel like travelers have attained. It's a thing that will happen because of the limitations of your means of travel. Be adaptable. Get the things that serve you while they serve you and let them go when they don't. Everything has a price and a trade-off, whether that's convenience, weight, space, or money. Regardless of what you choose, you'll meet amazing people, see amazing places, and make memories for a lifetime. Do write some of them in a journal though! ;)