Minimalism is about owning fewer possessions, living with less, and less financial burdens and unnecessary expenses. Starting the practice of being a minimalist now, will be a good place to start as your preparing for your new lifestyle of being a nomad.
"I must be willing to give up what I am in order to become what I will be" ~Albert Einstein~
What is Minimalism?
Like I mentioned before, minimalism is intentionally living with only the things you really need, those items that support your purpose. I am removing the distraction of excess possessions so I can focus more on those things that matter most. But oftentimes I try to answer more in-depth. When people ask follow-up questions that allow me to explain, I like to add: At its center, being a minimalist means intentionally promoting the things we most value and removing everything that distracts us from it. Modern culture has bought into the lie that the good life is found in accumulating things, in possessing as much as possible. They believe that more is better and have inadvertently subscribed to the idea that happiness can be purchased at a department store.
I want to continue on with the idea that because this is a very consumer driven society, we need to make every effort to run away from it as fast as we can. As I said before modern culture bombards us with advertisements that seek to control our lives and convince us that its for our own good to save and protect us. From a very young age it starts as early as 3 or 4, consumer advertisements start taking control of our minds and what we think and how we think it. The schools we go to with the fake teachers (whether private or public) are devoted to making us “good productive tax paying members of society.” In other words, wage slaves and mindless robots to promote the good of all of society. We gladly and willingly go along with that idea because we’ve been brainwashed into believing whatever is good for all of society, must be good for us in the long run, and that we can’t live without them. The advertising media, is working hard, from the moment our eyes open and we learn to speak, we are inundated with extremely well designed and crafted messages of all kinds that convince us that we need to conform to society's rules and to work hard and buy more stuff. A need to buy and own more, newer, bigger and better things is instilled deep into our hearts and souls. Of course we gladly go along and buy things on credit, making the corporations rich selling it to us and the banks rich loaning the money. Then we have to pay back that debt so we are forced to work harder, longer and for less to keep feeding our addiction to consuming.
The old rules were you go to school, you get a job, you work hard, you save money and you invest for the long term in the stock market. That statement has been ingrained in our society since the beginning of the industrial age, because since then, industry, corporations and government, needs workers and in turn needs consumers, to buy stuff all in the name of progress and economy. Its a circle that goes round and round known as "the rat race"
So now your thinking, what can I do about it? There’s only one thing to do, and that's to start now and for the rest of your life, buy and own as little as possible so that you can work as little as possible and be free. Once you start practicing minimalism you'll start to notice that you have more money. You'll also start noticing that you feel better and less stressed. Then buy a van or RV and the few new things you’ll need for your new life. Of course there's nothing wrong with shopping at thrift stores as your looking to equip your vehicle with. Finally, build up a savings account and nick name it your emergency fund. After you get your ducks in a row, you can then move into the van and hit the road.
For the rest of your life, practice buying and owning as little as possible so that you can work as little as possible and be free.
"Just Go For It, a Life Of Travel Adventure Awaits"
~Chaz~
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