If a Backpack Was Your Only Storage, What Would You Put in It?

A drastic but simple way to live a minimalistic lifestyle

Image by the author. Original photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash

I used to hoard video games. I had a collection of hundreds of games, all in their physical form. On top of that, I’d buy every new gadget that came to market, especially if it came from Apple. I was an Apple fanboy in denial. My storage consisted of unused gadgets and games I’d likely never touch again.

Over the years, the clutter was only piling on. I hadn’t noticed how much I had accumulated. Sounds familiar? Most people I know are in that situation and there’s a good chance you are too.

My mom’s clutter

My mom lives alone in a house where we used to be five people. She owns things that are over 30 years old. Of course, it’s dusty and will never be used again, but it has sentimental value, so it’s hard to get rid of.

At one point, the clutter in her house became overbearing. She had lost control and the clutter was dragging her down. It affected her mental health in ways she never expected.

So, one day, about 3 years ago, I helped her free up some space. I was like a tyrant who was ordering her to just throw everything away. It was hard for her, but she came out much happier in the end.

The problem was, her house didn’t shrink, so guess what that means? She filled the space up again! That’s what we do with space — we just have to find ways to fill it up!

There’s really only one way to reduce the clutter: reduce your available space.

Getting rid of my clutter

Getting rid of my video game collection was hard. I had spent a lot of money on them and countless hours playing them. Living at the far end of town, games pretty much were my only childhood memories. Like my mom’s belongings, they had a lot of sentimental value.

But I had to get rid of them. I was going from having a decent-sized apartment in downtown Toronto to having no apartment at all; I was preparing to travel with a backpack around the world for a year.

Guess how much you can fit in a 33-litre backpack? Exactly, 33 litres worth of stuff, if you somehow…