102708-suitcase.jpgThis week, we're away from home, living out of our suitcase. While we're not necessarily minimalist at home, we find that we're definitely minimal when we pack and when we travel...

Since we only travel with a small roll on bag and our laptop case and have no desire to start paying to check our baggage (we'd rather put that money towards an experience), we pare down to the bare essentials. We only bring stuff we love and don't mind wearing three or more times in a variety of different ways. Which means it also has to stand up to wear and tear and be of good quality. Generally, it's stuff that's classic with twist, neutral in colour with a couple of bright, crazy or humourous accessories thrown in to amuse us. We trust that if we need something, we can always purchase it. We often find, that instead of being sick of everything in our suitcase after a few days, we love the feeling of detachment from our stuff. We could happily live out of our suitcase for a few weeks, even a few months, with only a few additions to accommodate seasonal changes. With less to chose from, we find that our creativity soars. We try to bring that same criteria to our home. Surprisingly, we also find that, after each trip, having these lessons reinforced, it becomes easier to part with the stuff in our home that's no longer working for us. Does going on a trip encourage you to live with less or more?

[image: A Touch of Glass's Flickr, with a Creative Commons License]