Less Is More
A key part of living life Travel Pro is keeping things simple, using the philosophy of less is more. Many people living a "normal life" may think that traveling around, and around, and around! May be the least simple and most complicated life one can have; but quite frankly it is the opposite. I live one of the most simple, most free, and certainly most exciting and educational lives of anyone I know. In this article I give you an idea of why this is true; and it all begins with Less is More!
One of the key things to simplifying your life is not owning much. The more I've owned in the past the more complicated my life has gotten. I was so struck by the "American Dream" and having the means to obtain that at a young age, was surely the catalyst that pushed me toward how I live now; which is very Travel Pro!
Things turn into "STUFF"!
When I was living "The American Dream" which quickly turned into "The American Nightmare" I had everything at age 22. I had a five bedroom house in Orlando Florida, swimming pool, two car garage, a bar, patio, pool table, pool cues, triangle, pool table chalk, king size bed, big screen TVs in every room, Saab convertible, an oven, a fridge, ice maker, house phone, cell phone, iron, ironing board, lots of clothes, pool toys, lawn mower, weed wacker, drill, paint, paint rollers, paint trays, fence, extra fence panels, silverware, cutting boards, rags, dish towels, dishwasher, glue, tape, kitchen junk drawer, leather furniture, Play Station, video games, Ice cream maker, waffle iron.
And it goes on....George Foreman grill, a gas grill, grill cleaning supplies, long handle grill fork and spatula, chandelier, patio furniture, patio furniture umbrella that grew mold every year, Phillips head screw driver, flat head screw driver, pliers, hammer, light bulbs, extra light bulbs, chlorine tabs, pool vacuum, regular vacuum (one broken one new), pool pump, bench press, weights, insecticides, fire ant killer, hoses, cleaning supplies, a mop, a broom, cutlery, blender, dining table, hard wood floors, paper towel holder, hard wood floor cleaner, welcome mat, throw rugs, curtains, desk, chairs, pic-nick table, bicycles, baseballs, baseball gloves, football, basket balls, a basket ball hoop, skate board, tennis rackets air pump, air beds, air vacuum pump, a hammock, palm trees, gardens, lamps, washing machine, dryer, two dozen paintings hung on walls, fire wood, a fire pit, surround sound speakers, sound system, 5 disc DVD player, jewelry, coat hangers.....I had everything! Or did it have me?
After living travel pro for over 11 years now. I can tell you with a straight face, it had me! It had me by the throat. The time it took away from me to take care of all this "STUFF" and the expense it took to maintain all this "STUFF" was choking the life out of me. Making me poor and miserable. Just imagine the endless hours I spent buying all this stuff, maintaining it, and eventually trying to resell it not at a total loss. However I'm not against owning things, quite frankly the very best thing anyone can own is a big fat bank account. That you have my full approval of! But let's just take a car for example.
Exhibit A
I haven't owned a car in over 10 years now. Nor do I miss it at all. For starters, you have to have your car washed, you have to change it's oil, you have to vacuum and clean out the inside every so often, you have to fix it when it breaks, you have to replace it's tires on occasion, you have to pay for it's insurance, you have to buy it gasoline, you have to maintain a license to drive it.
Quite frankly the list goes on and on. How much money do you spend on your car every year including gasoline? How much time do you spend dealing with anything related to your car including standing next to the pump watching those numbers go up? Do you own your car, or does you car own you? How many hours do you need to work to own and maintain a car. Is it one week of work a year or two or three months? Do you give 10% of your life up or 20% to have a car? For a Travel Pro it's zero!
Now I'm no fool, I personally wouldn't live long term in the USA without a car and quite frankly I see it as a real necessity in my country. However I can also look at it like a tax to live decently. I find living in the USA simply a bad deal on life unless you are straight up wealthy, and that is "wealthy" at American standards. Living travel pro, you simply do not need nor want to own a car, nor live in the USA. Further more living travel pro means you live, travel, and get around all over the planet without a car. It's cheaper, easier, and frankly owning one would be a burden.
Exhibit B
So less is more when you travel pro! We can break it down to even simpler things in life. How about owning a video game console. Sure you can sit on your sofa and play endless hours of games until your eyes are red and bloodshot, and trust me I have. To live travel pro I find joy in exploring the world. To sit around playing video games and not interacting and exploring the real world is very Un-Travel Pro.
However we are talking about cleaning up your life using the less is more principle so you can live Travel Pro. Here is another prime example of why Living Travel Pro is less complicated. So you have your PS3 or whatever, and the joy stick starts to malfunction, now you've got to deal with fixing it or buying a new one. Uggh, your cousin just spilled soda all of your game console. Can't have a game console without games or a television, of course bigger is better. Let's hook up a surround sound system to it as well.
How come this right speaker stopped working? This game keeps freezing up. Better get in my car and head over to Best Buy.....Wait a minute where did I put that warranty? Does my credit card only have 150 dollars left on it! Really! Maybe I shouldn't have bought such a big TV for my PS3. Uggh I can't even play the game on it, it keeps freezing!
How do you want to live?
Is this your life? Or at least someone you know. This is what I mean about less is more and how people complicate their lives just by being "normal". I'm anything but normal. I don't personally know anyone else that can fit all their possessions into a bag, but one thing I do know, I don't have to worry about vacuuming my carpets, doing dishes, cleaning my desk, mowing my lawn, paying an electric bill, shoveling snow, buying a shovel to shovel snow, buying paint, or painting my room, or ever having to make another purchase from home depot ever again!
Really the list goes on and on. For example living travel pro I don't have one single reoccurring bill I pay. Not even health insurance as I know any health emergency I have will be cheaper out of pocket with equal care in about a dozen countries I can list off the top of my head. No water bills, no electric bills, no insurances I pay nothing.
So understanding this concept of less is more is a key element to beginning to live travel pro. After over 11 years of perfecting my style of living I've learned this is key, but just one part of the puzzle. In the last two articles we talked about getting your money straight. In this part here we are talking about less being more. Which directly translates into cutting your monthly expenses dramatically.
Being free of the burden of bills and the need and expense to take care of all my stuff was one of the most rewarding and relieving things I've ever done in my life. When I hear others complain about all their expenses and having to deal with the maintenance of their "STUFF". I just think to myself, thank goodness that is not me any more. I try to offer advice but it often falls on deaf ears.
Now I'm off to explore some ancient Inca ruins! From Lima Peru! Until Next Time -Dan "World Travel Pro"
With over 11 years of travel experience I answer travel and international lifestyle questions. Leave a question in the comments and I may make a Steemit post just for you!
