Your life needs to fit in a suitcase
It's not easy
One of No Direction Home's first posts was about 7 traits that make life easier for a digital nomad. At the time, I promised to better explore each one of them. Today is the beginning of this series.
Be free
The fewer objects you have, the better. Ideally, your life needs to fit into a suitcase and a backpack.
It's been a few months since I became a digital nomad, so it's still a process I'm learning and adapting to. I intend to come back in a few months on the topic to share what has changed.
What I already comprehended is that this is a fundamental point. Condensing your entire life into a small space is a challenge. Vanity people usually carry even more hygiene and beauty items. You need to be minimalist.
I live with two suitcases and a backpack on my back. One of the suitcases is the biggest model I found in the store, the 32 kg one. It is now my wardrobe. It's all there: my warm and cold clothes, essential documents, shoes, and social clothes.
The other (10 kg) is to carry on the plane without checking your luggage, which I intend to take on some trips. I'll have two bags whenever I'm in my base in São Paulo. When I go away for a time (up to two months), I'll take the little one. The big one, I either rent a Storage or leave it at a friend's house (and pay them a beer).
Living with clothes that fit in a 10 kg suitcase for a long time is possible. The bag seems small, but if you arrange the clothes well, compress them and choose various pieces, it will work. You will likely need to go to a laundromat, which is easy to find in most large and medium-sized cities worldwide.
If I choose to go longer than two months at any point, I'm considering taking the big one, as I may need warm clothes that wouldn't fit the little one. But I will only know in the future if this makes sense.
My notebook, chargers, hygiene and cosmetic items, sunglasses, earphones, universal charger and other personal items are in my backpack. It will also always accompany me on all trips.
I hope these tips were helpful. See you Friday!
