If You Had to Live with Just 100 Items, What Would They Be?
A fascinating lesson in prioritisation
It’s the old saying in a new format - if your house was burning down, what items would you save from the fire?
This question became a reality for me last year when I hit the road. I had one crappy suitcase, much more suited to quick vacations than year-round living. There was one poorly designed rucksack and one handbag. I could fill those, then everything else would have to either be sold or given away.
So I packed it with only the possessions I can’t live without and headed to the airport.
What’s in my suitcase?
A capsule wardrobe - 60 items
I’m too tall to be a great lover of clothes (at nearly 6 feet, I simply don’t find many clothes that fit me) so it wasn’t too difficult to size down my wardrobe. The 60 items include itemized socks and underwear as well as tote bags, my handbag, and rucksack as well as the usual jumpers, t-shirts, jeans, sportswear, dresses, and shoes.
Tech - 7 items
Arguably, the most important (and most used) part of my suitcase is my tech. They are my window to the world, my learning and work tools.
There’s a Kindle, Fitbit, laptop, phone, travel speaker, and two different kinds of headphones (one for daily use, one for running).
And that’s all she wrote.
Can’t live withouts - 11 items
I would be a grumpy goose if I didn’t have these essential items brightening up my everyday:
Water bottle, eye mask, earplugs, glasses x 2, sunglasses, umbrella, bullet journal, purse, packing cubes and wallet.
Kitchen stuff - 5 items
Look, I love my food and Airbnbs don’t always have the best kitchen equipment. So yeah, I carry a decent knife, a rolling pin, a Tupperware, and even a chopping board and wooden spoon, purchased back when we had a particularly poorly equipped apartment.
I regret none of it. Especially the rolling pin - once you’ve rolled with an empty wine bottle a few times, you realize how much you miss a proper pin.
Grooming, health, and first aid - 8 items
This included 6 pieces of makeup (because makeup is a luxury, not an essential) one hairbrush and one first aid kit. I didn’t include items such as shower gel, shampoo, or moisturizer because they’re more things I use, rather than items I own.
So that’s a grand total of 91 items.
What would be in your top 100?
If you’re living in a nice, normal abode you’ll probably not want to whittle down all your possessions to less than 100. I’m not really asking you to do this. I’m just asking you to think - and think carefully - about the question. It’s a fascinating exercise in prioritisation. What could you really not live without?
It might even be less than 100.
In a few weeks, I will return to the UK for 48 hours. I’ll be leaving the majority of my things in an Airbnb in Porto, taking just a rucksack with me.
A thought hit me. I think it hits all of us when we plan to travel in these strange times - what if there is a lockdown and all my stuff is stuck in Porto?
It’s OK, I thought. I would have everything I really need with me. I’m taking my laptop, my phone, my bullet journal, my kindle. All I would really need to replace is a few clothes.
As it turns out, what I really prioritize can actually fit into one poorly designed rucksack.
It’s a liberating thought.
You don’t need to live on 100. But you don’t need 300,000 either
That’s the average number of items in a US household.
That number is so huge, it’s almost difficult to comprehend. Put it this way, if you used 50 of those items a day, it would take you 16 years to use them all.
No one needs 300,000 items and yet, that’s where we are as a society. We have a consumption problem. We’re searching for meaning through our purchases. We seek mini dopamine hits at the cash register, that all but disappear by the time we get home. Replaced of course, by guilt.
As with everything in life, the sweet spot is probably somewhere in the middle between 100 and 300,000.
Let’s take 3000 - a nice, comfortable number. If you had 3000 items (can you even name 3000?) you’d be living with just 1% of the average.
Imagine what living with 1% of the average could do for you. The extra money, the extra space around the home, the extra headspace. The long hours of cleaning and sorting and tidying could be gone.
So think about your 100. Or hell, even your 3000. What really matters to you?
What would be in the yes pile?
And most importantly, do you really need all that’s left?
I’m traveling to Italy, so this week it’s grazie for reading! I really appreciate you clicking on this email, it makes one 100 item-owning Brit very happy indeed.
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