PhoneBoy Says

There's no question: overpacking tops the list of biggest travel mistakes.

Thus this Web site, which offers exhaustive (some might say exhausting!) detail on the art and science of travelling light, going pretty much anywhere, for an indefinite length of time, with no more than a single carry-on-sized bag.

via onebag.com

Of course, why just limit this minimalist view to when you're traveling?

The goal of the 100 Thing Challenge is to break free from the confining habits of American-style consumerism. A lot of people around the world feel "stuck in stuff." They feel like their closets and garages are too full of things that don't really make their lives much better. But how to get unstuck?

Reduce (get rid of some of your stuff)

Refuse (to get more new stuff)

Rejigger (your priorities)

I totally believe that living without abundance of personal possessions for an extended period of time is the first step we ought to take in order to realize that we don't need ever-more stuff. If you do this -- if you will give up your stuff for a while -- I am sure you'll never go back. You'll spend the rest of your life creating a more valuable life, instead of wasting your money and time on stuff. You will be glad. And best of all, the people around you will be blessed by your efforts to prioritize more meaningful pursuits.

Maybe I need to try a variation of this.

You've wondered it or been asked or even taken a stand on it: If there were a cure available for autism, would you want it for yourself if you're autistic or for your autistic child?

This question drives me nuts. In some ways, it's like asking someone born brunette if they want a cure for it. Obviously, some brunettes do want a cure for their terrible malady, and they address it by dyeing their hair a different color. Other brunettes--I'm in this camp--are perfectly fine with their hair, thank you, and leave it as-is.

via daisymayfattypants.blogspot.com

As someone on that spectrum, I can tell you it's not always easy. The challenges, once they are understood and accepted, can be overcome.

I suspect that the unreasonable man George Bernard Shaw refers to in his famous quote "all progress depends on the unreasonable man" has Asperger's Syndrome. It is because of this syndrome that I am able to improve the world in my own unique way.

So would I take a cure? No, thanks.

By definition, "neo-minimalists" don't have an overabundance of things in their lives. But one thing they tend to have more and more of these days is visibility. Recently, The New York Times talked to some people participating in the 100 Thing Challenge about how it has affected their lives; The BBC looked into the "Cult of Less;" and here on Boing Boing, Mark has been getting down to the nitty-gritty of what the "lifestyle hack" involves. The common thread here is a growing number of people are realizing that our mountains of physical stuff are actually cluttering up more than just our houses. All of this is exciting to me, because it's something in which I have a growing personal interest: I have been taking steps to get rid of the mountains of stuff I now realize I have no reason to hang on to. In fact, I'm not just doing it myself—I'm trying to help start a revolution.

This is a big change for me. I've spent most of my life as collector: comics, records, t-shirts, old Japanese robot & kaiju toys, creepy garage sale junk, art—the whole list won't fit here, let alone in my storage space. But after many years living in the same place, I moved in 2006. In the process of preparing for that move, for the first time in as long as I can recall I had to physically touch everything I owned. I found myself wondering why I was still holding on to so much junk.

Since then, I've been on a mission to un-clutter my life and get rid of as much crap as I can. The process has been slow going, filled with reflection on individual objects and their value to me. I've been doing a lot of thinking about who I am and what I want out of this life.

I decided to value the gathering of experiences over the acquiring of stuff, and to get rid of stuff which would enable the gathering of more experiences. I'd have more cash from the sale of my stuff, and less stuff to worry about, should I want to move or travel for a while. Stuff gets old and breaks and takes up room in your house, experiences stick with you for life and make you a better person. The more I thought about this, the more obsessed I became. The more I traveled, the more I realized how much less stuff I actually need to be happy, and how much happier I was with less stuff. I knew I had physical clutter, I didn't realize how much mental clutter came with it. The more I travel the less I pack, and the more I realize that increasing what I own is just increasing cruft— and, that I should get rid of it.

via boingboing.net

I've noticed that the more I travel, the less I want to take with me. I've also noticed that the older I've get, the less stuff I truly want. Or need for that matter.

My friend Sheryl did a post recently that articulated a thought I myself have had for a long time, though it goes far beyond life online.

In both my online and offline life, I have a number of different roles I play. There isn't a single one where I can always speak my mind. Ever.

Why? Because it is in my rational long-term self-interest not to. Some of what I have to say goes against my roles in certain contexts. For example, there are some things I won't say to my kids. There are thoughts I won't post online.

And I wan't to be clear: it's not because I'm trying to hide who I am or what I think. It's simply a matter of whether it is appropriate to express a particular thought in a particular place or not. There are plenty of thoughts I won't express publicly that I express in more private, appropriate settings.

That said, when you start feeling constrained about these different roles, perhaps then it's time to re-evaluate the roles you play and to whom. That includes evaluating where and with whom you participate online as well as offline.

I've been thinking about my dad a lot over the past several days. Likely it's because I decided to rescue my dad's blog off of Vox. I did an import from Vox, which did not go so well, so I took the blog through Wordpress, which preserved the comments but left the media all over the place.

Unfortunately, to get everything, I've had to do a lot of manual work as the Vox export did not get everything--a lot of the uploaded video files and some audio files. I am downloading, reuploading, and cleaning up as I go. I'm roughly a third of the way through his posts, but as they say, the clock is ticking…

I am reading through Dad's old blog posts. I can't help but do so. Since I'm going through the entries front to back, I am going backward through history. Those posts talk a lot about his politics as well as his financial situation, which was precarious because of the line of work he was in (computer repair), where he was (Northern California, just north of Redding), and the economy (which affected his jobs).

Aside for working for a couple different companies, he also tried to sell his services on the side, both directly and through services like Crossloop and SupportSpace. He also tried to do a number of things that he thought he might be able to sell for money, namely making DVDs of various sorts. Unfortunately, he really wasn't making it that well. It only got worse as his health deteriorated.

I consider myself lucky that I have a stable job for a stable company, I don't have to drive all over creation to make a living, and I am in good health.