— And thank God for consumer culture, so you can pick the coolest things

Summary: “From a cluttered life to a minimalist existence, this journey began in 2005. Transitioning from a suburban house to a 960 sq ft urban loft, the author embraced minimalism, shedding excess possessions. Living off-grid in Mexico and an RV, to a single bag in Thailand, this tale of transformation is a testament to the power of less. Discover how consumer culture and personal discipline intertwine in this quest for a simpler life.”

I happened upon a couple of Netflix Documentaries on minimalism, and out of some sense of esprit de corps, watched them.

I’m sort of a minimalist, I guess. But it’s entirely a personal thing for me.

I just like it.

It began in 2005.

By then, I had gone from college guy in 1984—where everything I owned could fit in my ’74 Mazda Rx-3 wagon (bicycle tied down on top) that I crossed the USA in…twice—to an international bachelor living in both Japan and France—transporting a ship container’s worth of my stuff…plus a 1000cc motorcycle and Chevy Corvette…across oceans 3 times (1 Pacific crossing and 2 Atlantic, including 2 trips through the Panama Canal).

Whew!

… I had a cool 2 BR bachelor pad in downtown San Jose, right across the street from San Jose State in my mid 30s, where the spare bedroom was my office, and from where I built my first successful company that eventually employed 30 peeps and did $3 Mil a year.

I had a 200-gallon tropical marine reef tank, and a 40-gallon.

Wow!

Met a girl, bought a 4-BR, 2-car, fixed ‘er up, and in those 5 years living there, I never had a moment of being at peace with the state of the garage. There was always cleaning and organizing to do, and even though I always slacked off on that never-finished task, I made innumerable trips to the landfill over that space of time.

… But in 2005 things started to change. We sold the house, moving from suburban big, to a 960 square foot urban loft.

Shit had to go.

LOTS of shit.

Even though it was still a lot of stuff…a remarkable amount, when we finally moved from there into another suburban 3-BR house another 5 years later, and managed to fill it out pretty nicely…along with some “essential” purchases, of course.

It amazes me how you never really notice how those trips to the stores add up over the years, until one day you’ve got to pack it all and then move it all in a one-shot thing, typically.

… Then there was the time I lived minimally for four months down in Mexico in 2015 with just a couple of plastic crates of stuff in the back of my Baja Beemer. On top of that, it was off grid, with not only solar panels, but batteries and an inverter; so lights, fans, WiFi, and computers worked throughout the night. Propane gas for the stove, refrigerator, and water heater was by delivery, as was 10k liters of water for 60 bucks.

I loved it.

… So much so, that upon returning to San Jose, I fell into the opportunity to live off-grid again, where I borrowed my brother’s 40-ft RV trailer and set up my own 4-panel, 4-battery off-grid system and had all the same capabilities I had in Mexico…with the addition of a 30″ LED flat screen TV that operated fine all night long on battery, via the inverter. That lasted for 9 months.

I loved it.

Fast forwarding a few years, it’s 2019, I’m divorced, and I have the 2nd home up in the Sierras—a large, 3-storey, fully-furnished vacation home I’d been living in, alone, for the prior 2 years.

I sold it with everything in it, save for the personal stuff I fit into one load in my Beemer, and the stuff my ex-wife wanted, which fit into her car. Everything else went to the new owners.

I felt so relieved I didn’t have to “move.”

Save for a couple of boxes my brother keeps for me (photo albums, some books, mostly), this is what I owned when I set off in mid-Jan, 2020 for Thailand.

I never did use the hat once, and by the time I was ready to leave Thailand for Vietnam in mid-March, I had eliminated the need for the 30-liter North Face gear bag by ridding myself of clothes in the 60-liter, so it’s all just the one 60L now, with the 30 rolled up inside (plus an even smaller 12L pack).

Well, you know the rest of the story. Owing to the Global Covidiocy, I got “stuck” in Thailand, which turned out to be a good thing, since lockdown in Vietnam was done evil-commie style, where human beings are just so much annoying fodder that the Glorious People’s State has to contend with.

I’ve accumulated some stuff, but it’s not too bad. Here was the most recent move from Phuket to Pattaya in February.

But 100% of the “excess” is…

1. Kitchen stuff (Air Fryer, Induction Hot Plate, Microwave) so I save money and eat way healthier
2. Office stuff; a folding table and an extended 30″ computer monitor, so I’m 1 MilX more productive than a digital-nomad idiot creating Instagram or TikTok shit for morons from a laptop screen.

So, things are rather perfect now.

I’ve got the essentials, no headaches, I could walk away in 1-hr from everything, with just the 30L if I had to.

There was even room to spare, and that gig was about 2 weeks on the road. Easy. The only thing not shown is the MacBook Air and mouse.

Here are the things, though, that I’m very mindful of.

1. This is only possible because we live in a consumer-culture that creates the demand for all the cool stuff I can limit myself to. Imagine what sort of computers, handhelds, and tablets we’d have available if people didn’t hate their almost-new ones as soon as newer new ones come out…
2. This is a style of getting along that suits me just fine for what my goals and intentions are right now, which is to limit my distractions and up my levels of discipline and structure to military heights in an effort to break through on the creative-writing-content endeavor, per the plan.
3. I can easily go back to lavish, though when I do so, it will be a lot more thoughtful. Fancy motorcycle, fancy supercar, fancy ultra-modern penthouse with a view, and maybe a tropical beach villa. Sexy Asian 20-something playthings, too.

I refuse to invest, save, or plan for future rainy days. Go right ahead, if that’s your thing. It’s all based on various levels and facets of fear, where there’s really nothing to fear.

You’re alive, or you’re dead. The latter means nothing, and you don’t know when that comes to pass. The former is all that matters, and I prefer to spend it doing two things primarily: work my ass off to build and manage numerous income streams…and spend the resultant money enjoying living to the max while helping loved ones do the same, while enjoying the company of their presence.

This latter thing is something I’ve integrated from Andrew Tate, recently. I recommend paying attention.

Until next…

… Oh, BTW, if you hit the home page, FreeTheAnimal.com, notice the new minimalist design. In addition to showcasing what I do—written content; not mages—it should load a hell of a lot faster, especially on handhelds with poor data connections.