Travel Kickstarter.

Minimalism is not only about having fewer possessions; it's a mindset that prioritizes experiences over material things. For aspiring nomads, this mindset shift can be liberating.

Imagine not being held back by your stuff. By reducing clutter and excess baggage, you can focus on what truly matters: exploration, growth, and connection. Traveling light allows for greater mobility and spontaneity.

Do you want a FREE travel checklist?

Get a your printable travel checklist, weekly planner, and sample packing lists.

Download my travel checklist

What do digital nomads do with their stuff?

Should location-independent folks get rid of their belongings or store them?

Journey to minimalism

This journey often begins with decluttering—a process that can be emotionally and mentally daunting yet ultimately rewarding once you start.

Decluttering Tips

As you carefully consider which possessions are essential, ask yourself what can be released and what can be stored. You’ll need to fight that inner voice that says, “What if I need this in the future?”

If it’s less than $20, you can give it away, sell it in a garage sale, on Facebook Marketplace, or donate it. Items that are this inexpensive and easy to buy can be easily replaced when you return from your journeys.
Sentimental items: If you have never used something gifted to you, take a picture, write who gave it to you in the caption, and then decide if you will give it away, sell it, or donate it. Create an album for these sentimental items.
Papers: Sometimes you need a paper copy, but a digital copy works in most situations. Scan or take a picture of whatever you need to save and put it into your hard drive and/or cloud storage.
Clothes
- If you haven’t worn something because it doesn’t fit, put it in a separate bin and label it with the size. You can incorporate those clothes back into your wardrobe when you lose weight.
- If the items are high quality and expensive but aren’t suitable for travel, pack them carefully, consider putting them in a vacuum seal bag, label the bin, and this goes into storage.
- Make money from your old clothes; if you are ok with letting go of coveted brand-name items, you can bring them to a consignment store or send them to ThredUp.
- If the clothes are unfashionably ripped or stained, these might be repurposed into rags or recycled.

Recycle

Madewell accepts jeans from any brand for recycling into insulation. For each pair of jeans, they will give you a $20 gift card.

Furniture

If it’s high quality, you can bring it to a furniture consignment store to be sold. If you prefer to do it yourself, consider OfferUp or another local online marketplace.
Donate to Goodwill or Salvation Army, or if your neighborhood makes donations to veterans, you can call them to pick up these items.
If the furniture is broken, you might want to get a dumpster delivered to your home where you can throw out anything beyond repair.
If you live in a city like NYC, you can put your furniture out on “Bulk Item Disposal Night” on the curb (make sure you pay attention to the right day so you don’t get fined). There are companies that drive around and pick up furniture to resell, or you might see someone walking by it and grabbing it.
If you live in an apartment community, share pictures of your furniture on the portal and have people in your community contact you to pick it up or let them know you set it outside your building for the first person to grab it.