Why and How I Became a Minimalist

I wasn't trying to be a minimalist. I just began looking up videos and articles on how I could make my life simpler by living with less.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

It all started with my distaste for packing.
I would postpone packing until the last minute. It was stressful because I'm the type of person that doesn't leave for tomorrow what I can do today. So the fact that I was postponing something that was very necessary for my upcoming trip, left me with an unease that I did not enjoy.

So, I would force myself to pack.

See, I didn't enjoy packing because I knew what awaited me.

I'm not nor have I ever been a person of excess. But after packing everything I needed, I always ended up with a large suitcase to check in, a carry on, and a backpack. All of which were stuffed. And it was just travel clothes. It was shoes, blow dryer, hair straightener, make up. These were the things that took up the most space.

I would lug all this baggage around, through three different airports, on long two-day trips on airplanes and busses.
I would envy those people that just travelled with a carry-on. What did they have in there? How could they travel with JUST that? It baffled me.

And you know what the worst part was? I ended up not even using most of the things I had packed.

I knew that if I was to have this type of lifestyle, I had to make some changes that would simplify this process that I dreaded so much.

My goal was to eliminate all excess, so that, hopefully, one day I would be able to pack everything I would ever need into one suitcase.

That′s how it started.

I watched videos and researched about minimalism and came across the KonMari method.
After the first phase of decluttering, I felt like my soul had been cleansed. I felt lighter, like there were less things weighing me down. Like I could focus on more important things. It's easier to clean up, everything's always tidy because you have less junk, and your house feels bigger. It's just simpler. I don't have to think about coordinating colors anymore. I buy white. It gives your home a clean look, it brightens it up.

But minimalism isn't just an aesthetic. It's a lifestyle.

Now, everything I need really does fit in a carry-on.

But, for longer trips, I still take the big suitcase. Only it's not stuffed anymore. And my backpack just has snacks and things to make my trip more comfortable, which was something I couldn't really do before.

You don't need a lot to be comfortable. You need less.