Real Life Minimalists: Laura

Every Monday I post Real Life Minimalists, a profile of one of my readers in their own words. If you’d like to participate, click here for details. (Note: the schedule is now full until May — but if you don’t mind waiting, feel free to send me your submission!)

Today, I’m excited to share Laura’s story with you. She tells us about her experience of moving halfway around the globe with her husband and four children — and how minimalist living has enhanced their adventure!

Laura writes:

A once in a lifetime opportunity arises for your family to move halfway around the world for a job for which you are perfectly suited and and a great adventure for the rest of the family. Could you say “yes”?

We did. Minimalism paved the way.

We were minimalists back in the U.S. We just couldn’t keep up with life with a lot of stuff. As the headcount of kids in our house went up to four, we reduced our possessions (including papers) to maintain sanity & a good family life.

What we brought:
When we decided to embark on this adventure, we decided that each family member could bring one large suitcase and one backpack (for toys, for the kids, and a change of clothing, in case of lost luggage). The adventure would be for about two years, so that meant two sizes of clothing and shoes for the youngest three. Our fashion-loving teen would have a bit more space, but might have to carry some items for siblings or parents. We already had the children’s clothing sizes in large Rubbermaid bins, divided into winter and summer bins, one bin per size. This might sound obsessive, but it simplifies getting out of the house for the first snow and the first swimming opportunity of the year. I try to keep it to one bin per size/season, plus hanging up coats & boxing shoes in other boxes. The clothes may be hand-me-downs, gifts, or garage-sale finds. We rarely have to run to the store for clothes, this way.

We had already discovered that shipping the kids’ schoolbooks would cost $250 per copy-paper sized box, one for each of the four kids (ranging in ages from 13 down to 6). Thus, if we could find it there easily, we weren’t going to bring it. Through a forum on our rather international homeschool curriculum website, I was able to find a mom who lived in the area. She answered vital questions like: “Which family members can wear shorts in public?” Also, she told us which items were readily available in that country.

My peace-loving husband made one concession to our son who would miss snow the most: he could bring a suitcase full of his toys, including his marble roller coaster, Othello game, Magnetix, Legos, etc. This wound up being a good investment as his Battleship game would have cost $45 here.

My brother’s family was able to move into our house and use our minimalist gear in the States. They made a cross-country move with some of their things. It was great that our things were not crowding the house too much.

What we bought:
New beds (cheap here and especially cute ones available for the kids) & wardrobes (apartments have no closets), new dining room table/chairs, printer, cell phones (we didn’t have any in the states, but everything is done by cell phones here). We were able to buy a used car (we had two cars in the States), couch set, bookcases, kitchen gear, refrigerator, washer (Who needs a dryer in the desert?). Used furniture and cars are easy to find here because two-thirds of the population is from overseas, either laborers or professionals working on one or two-year contracts.

We inexpensively bought the next year’s schoolbooks for the youngest two from someone leaving the country. We were able to borrow 90% of the ones for the older two from friends. We took foreign language lessons from a tutor initially, but now use lots of YouTube & other free on-line language learning tools & some CDs we brought.

We’ve been using Librivox for free downloadable books for some entertainment. One son loves the free downloadable “Old Time Radio” downloads. We do many walks & dinners with friends, who seem more available & spontaneous in socializing here. The Arabian (you’d say “Persian”) Gulf is beautiful and immeasurably safer than the shoreline near us in the U.S. The kids love making forts. One child is involved in a local children’s theater program. Through it, she was able to take her first voice lesson from a Bulgarian opera singer, something which would have been unlikely in the U.S.

What we experienced:
My husband is having a very interesting time at his new position as a foreign expert. On his off time, the used car salesman invited him to a relative’s wedding where there was sword dancing and the leftovers were given to the destitute at the end of the evening. My husband was invited to a diwaniya, a men’s gathering in front of a neighbor’s house, for a meal and conversation. We’ve gotten to float in the Dead Sea (like fishing bobbers, with our feet out of the water). My husband (of nearly 20 years) and I get the rush of doing what might be illicit in public when we give each other a brief kiss on the lips. We know it’s legal, but it feels scandalous here. People drape whole three-story buildings with lights when someone gets married. I’ve gotten to see men in long white robes, grandpas to little girls in theater classes, eagerly videotaping their granddaughters. We’ve seen nine-year old girls in burqas and full-body hooded Lycra swimsuits on girls and women. I’ve seen local teen boys do complete flips when going down multi-story water slides.

On the other hand, we also see how most of the world lives, that is, the foreign laborers here, who make up probably 40-50% of the population. These are the Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, & Indian workers who work 10-12 hour days, seven days a week, often in 110F or more weather. Construction workers stand on rickety, manually-tied scaffolds three stories above the ground. In-house nannies sleep in rooms the size of an American walk-in closet. They are considered “runaways” if they leave their employers who often confiscate their passports. You might really have to see it to believe the extent of this.

What is my motivation for minimalism:
I have trouble doing the things I need to do if I have too much stuff. I can’t spend time with my husband or kids or others if I’m sorting/maintaining/acquiring things.

Also, as the Bible says, “Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also”. My treasure isn’t my stuff.

{If you’d like to learn more about minimalist living, please consider reading my book, The Joy of Less, A Minimalist Living Guide, or subscribing to my RSS feed.}