100 thing challenge
I have (~20 things)
| Quantity | Item |
|---|---|
| 1 set | Paper documents(Passport, visa) |
| 1 set | Wallet and cards clipped together |
| 2 | iPhone(+backup) |
| 1 | MacBook Pro 14” |
| 1 | iPad Air |
| 1 | headphone |
| - | Redmi Buds 5 (backup) |
| - | Apple Watch 2019 |
| 1 set | Power adapter and chargers |
| 1 | Backpack |
| - | Luggage bag |
| 1 | Mascot |
| - | Winter gloves |
| 1 pair | Walking shoes |
| 1 pair | Running shoes |
| 1 pair | Slippers |
| - | Jeans |
| 1 | Pants |
| 1 | Winter jacket |
| - | Outdoor jacket |
| - | Hat |
| - | Scarf |
| 1 set | Shaver and toothbrush collection |
| 1 pack | Nail scissors pack |
| - | Hair dryer |
| - | Towel |
| Book | |
| - | Shirt |
| 1 | Shorts |
| 5 | Socks |
| 3 | Underwear |
| 3 | T-shirt |
(rule: collections count as a single item, possessions <= 50 items)
2026-05-13 Clothes reduced to essentials
2024-11-18 luggage to backpack
2024-02-21 2 luggages → 1 luggage due to leaving the US
Background
Life never gets boring.
Recently I decided to move out of California, which is my 5th relocation within the last 4 years, 4 out of 5 are cross country moves.
One of the lessons I’ve learned since was that I don’t want to own shit, hence a natural move for me to take the challenge, which I initially got introduced by reading Pieter Level’s blog post.
Motivation
- Embrace a minimalistic lifestyle. It frees me from the burden of possessions so that I can literally pack and move at anytime. Meanwhile, to avoid being trapped into endless consumerism, I need to make conscious effort in differentiating what’s necessary, what’s nice to have and what’s not needed.
- Just for fun. Trying things out is fun especially when those challenges may stretch ourself in certain ways.
- Relocation and decluttering. Relocation is always a good chance for some decluttering and readjustments.
Embrace constraints (avoid going viral)
- One in one out. I would buy something if I have something else to give away unless I really need that thing. E.g. I bought a new MacBook after I traded my old MacBook, I bought a new headset only after the old one was lost etc.
- Differentiate between necessity vs wants. Avoid buying unneeded or unwanted stuff (worse) by setting a cool down period, and only buying them when the same impulse pops into my head again and again.
- Go prime for things that I do need. I would buy things with best quality at a price that I can afford rather than wasting time hunting for the best deal.
- Embrace the Lindy Effect. Books or clothes that I kept for a while are more likely to continue being carried around with me.
Suggestions
This challenge might actually raise a lot of questions, such as whether you count this item or that, or whether you count a bunch of things as one item or not, or whether this item is considered “personal” or not. Decide it for yourself. This isn’t a competition, and it’s not a way to show off. It’s just for fun, and it’ll be different for each of us. -https://zenhabits.net/minimalist-fun-the-100-things-challenge/
Conclusion
- Most of stuffs that I decided to keep with me are things that I've at least used a few times in the last couple months, some of them I use everyday.
- I keep extra clothes (thicker ones) with me in case of weather changes among seasons. I'm not assuming that I'll stick to places (e.g. California) with mild weather all year around.
- I also realized that, as always, there's room for improvement. For example, I haven’t used the projector for quite long time. Or I can challenge myself a bit to fit everything into one large size travel bag like many digital nomads do. Continuous refinement is part of the journey.
Comments