{"id":30372,"date":"2016-12-29T15:52:44","date_gmt":"2016-12-29T15:52:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hostelworld.com\/blog\/?p=30372"},"modified":"2016-12-29T15:52:44","modified_gmt":"2016-12-29T15:52:44","slug":"packing-light","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hostelworld.com\/blog\/packing-light\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Pack & Travel Like a Minimalist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Minimalism is in. Minimalist dressing, minimalist design, minimalist homes, minimalist offices, it\u2019s a trend now and it\u2019s everywhere. But the original minimalists, the ones who\u2019ve been doing it since the beginning of time, are travellers.
\nI\u2019ve been travelling for six-month to year-long stints for the last couple of years as a remote freelancer and travel blogger for my blog, The Travelling Light<\/a>, so I\u2019ve had to fit my life inside a backpack quite a few times now. As a reformed hoarder, travelling has taught me a lot about minimalism and its merits, and as a result it\u2019s served as free therapy.
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\nUnderneath the trend and at the root of minimalism is the desire to edit your life down to only the most important things. It\u2019s a way of getting very clear on what you value, whilst getting rid of all the stuff that distracts you and weighs you down. It also teaches you just how much you don\u2019t need external things to be happy; editing your life down to minimal possessions can ultimately prove that everything you really need is already inside you. And travelling with only a backpack\u2019s worth of stuff forces you to adopt a minimalist way of living, whether you want to or not.
\nThe price you pay for taking too much stuff is high. I know this. I\u2019ve learnt it the hard way a few times now. I remember years ago taking off on a month-long trip through Vietnam with some friends. We all took big suitcases and filled them up more and more as we went along on our travels. We turned up, all four of us, to our hostel in beach town Nha Trang rolling our huge suitcases loudly over the cracked pavement, struggling with a few carry bags on each arm. The entire hostel seemed to be dining at the restaurant at the entrance and every single one of them turned to stare at the interruption of us loudly rolling in. Any illusion we wanted to create of ourselves as cool, casual, freewheeling travellers was immediately shattered!
\nOn the other hand, I\u2019ve witnessed the incredible freedom that comes with packing barely anything. When I was living in Ubud, Bali, I met two very cool girls travelling as the ultimate minimalists around the world, working online as they went. They\u2019d managed to each fit a laptop, phone, chargers, two sets of clothes, two pairs of underwear, a swimsuit and bare essential toiletries into a small day pack each; they only had one pair of shoes. They said it was all you really needed. These girls were free and fluid in the way they lived for this time in their lives.
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One of the ultimate minimalist travellers I met in Ubud, Bali<\/em><\/h6>\n

 
\nThey floated from town to town, country to country, to an island for a few days and then back again, all based on what they felt like doing. They didn\u2019t have to deal with the hassle of where to store their things as they could carry it all around with them anyway. Packing up and moving on wasn\u2019t a big deal. I remember asking one of them where she was staying right now, she replied, \u2018Oh I\u2019ll probably just walk up the street and find a hostel with a bed for cheap later this evening\u2019 she had all her possessions with her anyway, so she just had to find a place to lay her head when the time came. She was just so relaxed and carefree.
\nI\u2019m not quite there yet, travelling with only a daypack. I\u2019ve travelled with suitcases and duffel bags and backpacks and I will say the feeling you get travelling with less stuff in your care is a good one.
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Varkala Beach, India\u00a0<\/em><\/h6>\n

 
\nHere are some rules and tips I\u2019ve amassed over the last few years on packing minimally:<\/p>\n