For years, I’ve had this odd obsession with packing videos. I could watch hours of footage of frequent travelers demonstrating how much they can get into small amounts of space for their long-haul adventures. I loved seeing how many compartments one little bag had that made organizing so much easier–often thinking “if I had that bag or that packing cube or that whatever-it-was, that would solve all my packing problems.” I also especially love it when a packing demonstration video comes along with their go-to packing list because that would then help turn me from an overpacker to a minimalist packer. The irony is that travel minimalism in this scenario required buying something.
You know what did it for me? Moving to Vietnam (from Portugal.)
Nothing wakes you up to the effects of consumerism until you get to experience life in the countries that produce the stuff we consume, which coincidentally are the same countries the global north ships its trash to.
There is plastic everywhere. Just mountains of stuff everywhere you look: in the waters, outside of the cities, in the cities. That is assuming you can see the plastic through the insanely polluted air. I wake up every day at 4AM to go for a run because by 7, you start seeing the smog permeating the city and it's unhealthy to be outside.
Living in Europe it's all so very easy to forget, we all "recycle" and sort our trash, not realizing only 5% of plastic can actually be recycled, the rest is burned or shipped to developing countries (like Vietnam.)
I was intellectually aware of this, aren't we all? But again, only truly woke up to the gravity when I moved to Vietnam. I am SO mindful now of everything I buy.
I need this kind of reset too! I'm obsessed with sustainable Canadian clothing brand, Encircled. They are a wonderful company but I spend far too much money there!! It's so much easier to justify spending heaps of money at an ethical company isn't it?
You know what did it for me? Moving to Vietnam (from Portugal.)
Nothing wakes you up to the effects of consumerism until you get to experience life in the countries that produce the stuff we consume, which coincidentally are the same countries the global north ships its trash to.
There is plastic everywhere. Just mountains of stuff everywhere you look: in the waters, outside of the cities, in the cities. That is assuming you can see the plastic through the insanely polluted air. I wake up every day at 4AM to go for a run because by 7, you start seeing the smog permeating the city and it's unhealthy to be outside.
Living in Europe it's all so very easy to forget, we all "recycle" and sort our trash, not realizing only 5% of plastic can actually be recycled, the rest is burned or shipped to developing countries (like Vietnam.)
I was intellectually aware of this, aren't we all? But again, only truly woke up to the gravity when I moved to Vietnam. I am SO mindful now of everything I buy.
I need this kind of reset too! I'm obsessed with sustainable Canadian clothing brand, Encircled. They are a wonderful company but I spend far too much money there!! It's so much easier to justify spending heaps of money at an ethical company isn't it?