I have talked about it off an on, but maybe not directly enough. We’re expats and we live a very minimalist lifestyle. Now there are a lot of images that come to mind for many people when I say that. Many of these images often include a very well manicured home with sparse, yet well appointed decor. These images really don’t do a great job of defining my family or our lifestyle. People often ask about my life as an expat, and what better way to introduce it then to explain my thoughts on foolish things and living a minimalist lifestyle.
Walking into my home can be a sort of shock for many people. We don’t have a lot of furniture and therefore, not a lot of knick knacks either. Why? We’re expats. There is a wide spectrum when it comes to expats. Some can fit every earthly possession into a suitcase or two. There is also the expat who will pack several freight containers and move their entire household with them wherever they go. Sometimes, this particular type of expat will have several rented storage lockers in their home country and possibly even in other countries they have lived in. My family falls somewhere inside this spectrum, but probably closer to the expat who lives from their suitcases.
Near the end of October, 2015, my family made the move to the UAE from the Bahamas. This move marked a decade of living outside of the US.In the ten years of our life abroad, we have shifted apartments about every 2-3 years. During that time, we have all come to understand which of our possessions mattered to us and which were foolish things. This is the part where I try not to sound snarky. What one person finds important can vary widely from another. The same can be said of what one defines as a minimalist lifestyle. It is really all relative to your own experience. For us, it meant that our earthly belongings fit inside of 35 boxes ( pictured in the truck above), 4 large suitcases and 3 small carry on bags. The bulk of what we shipped included my scrapbook albums, a few treasured art supplies, my son’s video game/movie collectibles and some much loved holiday decor.
Our first nine years abroad were spent in the Bahamas. When we first moved over, we sold much of what we owned though we did bring over quite a bit of stuff with us. Apartments came fully furnished down to the silverware, plates and bed linens. There wasn’t a need for us to own furniture. As we shifted apartments every 2-3 years, we found is easier to have less and less stuff. By the time we moved to the UAE, we had discovered we needed very little in the way of material things to keep us happy. I love the freedom it gives me. Keeping house is super simple when you don’t have a lot of furnishings and home decor to clean. I have a lot of free time to create, homeschool my son and spend time with my family.
Living simply combined with being an expat also provides me with frequent clean slates. Shifting apartments every 2-3 years means new decorating opportunities.I find it exciting to get new furniture or get to rearrange what I have into a new space. At the same time, I have developed a bit of a picky attitude when it comes to decorating my home. I only work on craft projects that bring me joy and I only choose to buy items for my home that I love. This is both a boon and a challenge when it comes to writing lifestyle blog posts. For many, the urge would be strong to rush out and get things to decorate the apartment. I do sometimes have that urge, but mostly, I find that I like to slowly curate the things that come into my home. I know that by doing things slowly and with care, I will stay within budget while ensuring that I truly love my home decor. If I sit and compare my home to other homes on lifestyle blogs, it is very sparse. I am ok with that. What makes me happiest is that I am here with my family and that I have a long list of art and craft projects to work on. I am not going to focus on foolish things but rather, on the things that matter to me the most. My home may not make for the best lifestyle photo shoots, but I know that I am happy in it. At the end of the day, I think that being happy is something we all need to focus on rather than on the things we don’t have.
