What's In The Suitcase?

Now that we're living on less we've had to make some adjustments. I wish I could tell you that simply getting rid of things is the answer to downsizing a suitcase, but it's not the complete answer. We found that as we travel, hotels no longer have irons and ironing boards in the rooms. Sometimes there'll be an ironing room where you take your clothes and iron it there. They will bring an iron to you if they have it. It's the same trend in AirBnB's. For these reasons we purchased an iron. Not a travel sized one, but a regular one. Whatever we carry now, we consider the size, the weight and usability. The travel iron was heavier than a small regular one, so we chose the latter. It was also an inexpensive purchase. We can donate it if we need to and purchase another somewhere else.

Fabrics that are heavy are not worth carrying when downsizing to a smaller suitcase. Because of the possibility of business meetings, I've had to carry a pair of business shoes. Since we left Canada in 2020, I might have used it 4 times in total. I've had to change the type of shoes I carry around to a flatter and lighter one. I get by everywhere else in flip flops and runners.

One half of my suitcase is clothing. The other side is for shoes (packed tightly), my do Terra diffuser and essential oils, the iron, minimal make-up and toiletries, supplements, teas, hair dryer (another must as some places don't have them), a small bluetooth speaker (I'm questioning the use of this as it's a nice-to-have but not essential), laundry and laundry bar soap.

This might sound creepy, but hey, it's true! Ernest and I had a discussion recently about death. We bring up this topic now and again to face it rather than run from it. I chuckled and said "If I die while we're living this way, you have the easiest job of disposing of my possessions. Just give the suitcase away!" We both said "Wow" to that thought. I am still amazed at how little we live on and we continue to find ways to downsize. Who knows if one day we'll be able to switch over to small sized suitcases. Only time will tell.