This post explains one of the cornerstones of the Life With No Borders philosophy: Limit your baggage--physical and mental baggage.
I'm not using baggage in the what-you-carry-while-traveling sense of the word, but the what-you-own-and-carry-on-your-mind-ALL-the-time sense of the word. Limiting physical baggage and living a minimalist lifestyle is very conducive to a Life With No Borders.
Most people can easily understand how their physical baggage is holding them back and stopping them from going wherever, and doing whatever they want. I'm sure you have thought:
"I would love to travel, but what would I do about my ___(noun)___?"
My stock answer to this question is:
"Do you really need ___(noun)___? If you woke up tomorrow and you suddenly didn't have ___(noun)___, would you really need to replace it within the next five days, or could you live longer without it?"
If you can live more than five days without something, it is likely that you don't really need it. Don't misunderstand me and think that I live my life with only the bare essentials necessary for survival. On the contrary, I have some possessions that I know I do not need, but that I enjoy owning. The important thing is to be mindful of these thing. Always be aware of an items discretionary status, and evaluate whether or not it creates more enjoyment in your life than it does mental baggage. If the item creates more pleasure than baggage, then it creates positive net pleasure (PNP), and may still be worth owning. However, do not consider the amount of money that you spent on it, or the amount of time that you have owned it in your "calculation" of PNP--those things are sunk costs and should be ignored.
Your possessions should ALL fall into one of these two categories:
- Things that you need
- Things that increase your PNP.
If you do not need it, and you do not get PNP from your ownership of it, then you have no reason to continue to own it. Get rid of it right now.
Stay tuned for a second post focusing on mental baggage and more about how physical and mental baggage are related.
I look forward to seeing your comments and feedback!