These exercises translate directly to minimalist travel. They require the same discipline and lead to many of the same benefits. However, while keeping a tidy home is nice, carrying less stuff when traveling is amazingly liberating.
To start, it’s a good idea to gather all of your travel-related items and lay them out on the bed or floor. Then, take a mental inventory and determine which items are no longer relevant (for example, if you no longer ski, get rid of your alpine gear). Then, remove each of these unused items and put them into one of three piles: sell, donate, and recycle.
Next, move on to duplicates. After all, who really needs four backpacks and eight water bottles? Pick out the one (or two, if necessary) of each that work best for you and will serve you well. Distribute the rest into the same three piles as before.
Finally, after you’ve cleared away your extra and no longer used items, take a hard look at everything left. Now, consider the size, condition, and quality of the remaining items. If anything doesn’t fit, is worn out or is of low quality, get rid of it. There’s no sense hanging on to any of this. Again, put these items in one of the three piles.
Now, you should only have the very best gear you own that still fits well and will last. Everything else will be in the sell, donate, and recycle piles. Next comes the easy part. Check out our Where and How to Sell Used Outdoor Gear article for more information. If you need a little extra help, here’s a nice template you can use to categorize your gear.