Minimalism Meets Adventure: How to pack light and live big.

There is a terrible mindset when it comes to traveling and having adventures.  It is a mindset that creeps into lots of corners in our lives. It’s the idea that you need to buy something to do something.

I find this in many aspects of my life. The notion is insidiously worked its way into all aspects of life, sometimes into even the most mundane tasks.  It’s just capitalism. The thought is that to progress, start a new project, or achieve something, you need to buy something new. That is the insidious thought which seeps into everything you want to do.

And it is a hard habit to break. Getting stuff done can be hard, and as humans, we are always looking to make the process easier. Buying stuff seems like a way to progress and achieve. 

But there are questions you can ask yourself to give a head check.

Do I already have something else which will work?

This might seem like a no-brainer, but I’ve fallen into the trap of replacing a perfectly good piece of gear with something shiny. It’s like a crow seeing a bright object. More likely than not, you already have something that will work if you already do something similar to the new adventure. For instance, I have a good rain jacket for hiking. Do I really need to buy one more specific to biking?

Is this something that I need for safety?

If you say, go into the backcountry to ski, you might need safety equipment you don’t have. It might be worthwhile to ask if you should be going, or if you can rent the gear.  You can certainly abuse this rule to negate the above question. If a piece of gear is so old it might pose a risk that one thing, to use it as a catch-all is a fail.

Some adventures have very specific gear, like whitewater kayaking. Ask yourself how much you are going to really do this. Be honest. Gear costs money, and takes up a lot of space. Even if you are going to try it for a whole season, it might be better to rent or borrow it. End of the season, give it back, you don’t have to store it. This is even a good idea if you know you are going to do it next season. Every year new gear comes out, and you can rent the new stuff.

By buying this, will it really make the process better?

Getting something might really make the process and the adventure better. Like a lot of these questions, it is a subjective answer. We spend a lot of money on things that will make us more productive. Ask if this thing actually will. I’ve gotten into that hole plenty of times.

Is there a workaround for buying it?

Can you rent, borrow, or make it? Also, there is the option of buying used.

Am I buying into the cult of gear?

This is the center of the dilemma.  The cult of gear is everywhere. Magazines, newsfeeds, and social media are all selling you stuff. Ads are nothing new. Even back in the 90s bike magazines only seemed to review high-end bikes. Mostly I think because the editors and writers could ride them since they couldn’t afford them either.

Once you work through those questions, you should have a better idea if you need to buy something. Save the money to go have adventures.  Experience is something that is lived, not bought.