When I moved to Spain from Vancouver in 2002, I did it to follow my heart and be with a woman who is now my wife. In doing so I came face to face with a harsh reality: the stuff I owned had become, in the context of wanting the freedom to move my life, an anchor. I did not own a lot of stuff, but enough that when I left Vancouver I had to sell many things at a significant loss¹ and I had to rent a storage unit to store my things. I was really irked at myself for having bought so many things that in essence were not necessary for my life and in the context of leaving Vancouver where inhibitors to following my heart.

I came to Spain in 2002 with two large duffel bags and a road bike. 8 years later I have a car, an apartment and some extra stuff. Not too much but my wife and son and I have accumulated more then simply what we need. And so minimalist living becoming a new goal that I am exploring. The idea of minimalism has been defined as when something is stripped down to its most fundamental features. By extension then, I would like to undertake the idea of minimalist living, which I would define as follows:

Minimalist living = living, stripped down to its most fundamental features and necessities.