I don't even remember how I came across the website, maybe it was a retweet. I ended up poking around The Minimalists website, and was intrigued. I'm reasonably engaged in applying a minimalist philosophy to my backpacking gear (at least what I take on any given trip). And while I'm focused on minimizing the weight, it turns out that minimizing the number of items tends to help in that pursuit. The Minimalists site opened up a whole new world for me.

I've bumped across the minimalist philosophy/lifestyle a couple of times over the years, probably one of the most impactful being reading Better Off by Eric Brande. The Minimalists site exposed me to the concept of 'gear lists for life'. Similar to how I list everything I take on a backpacking trip, there are people who list everything they own. In ultralight backpacking, some challenge others to get their base pack weight below 10 lbs. In the minimalist world, there's The 100 Thing Challenge. The overachievers of this game would be the Hadza who own way less than 10 items.

What are your thoughts on a simpler lifestyle with less stuff, and are there any tips or favorite blogs/websites you would like to share?

November 28, 2011 — Brian Fryer