I haven’t written a post in this category since week 25. I’m a 6 week slacker.
I did, however, get rid of a few things since then. Even though I’m still working my way down to my version of “enough”, it’s apparent that there’s just not that much to get rid of anymore. Some of the things heading out the door are mine, but a few things are household items that are no longer needed.
I had been hemming and hawing about a new post for the last couple days. Then Joshua at The Minimalists put a link to my site in his newest essay. That helped get me in gear so that new readers wouldn’t think Simple Black Coffee is an abandoned website.
I apparently took a break from blogging during the entire month of July. I say apparently because it was not a planned absence from the interwebs. I had no idea I was taking a break. I published my last post sometime near the end of June and here we are at the first part of August. I wasn’t tuned into twitter or facebook that much either and even had a couple people contact me through twitter to make sure I was okay. That was very nice and I appreciate that I was missed, Thanks. So, I’m sorry about that, I guess sometimes life happens and blogging doesn’t.
But we all have flaws don’t we. Sometimes we like to call them weaknesses instead. A weakness can perhaps be improved while a flaw is permanent? One of my flaws is procrastination and another is failure to get started on something. I’m not sure if they are the same or not, I feel they are different. I have a HUGE project that I’ve been avoiding because I was given 18 months to do it. That was almost 12 months ago. It may not be a HUGE project after all but I don’t know yet because I haven’t begun working on it. That’s my failure to get started. I think procrastination comes along after I start something and then stop because I then know it’s difficult and I want to avoid it.
Besides personal flaws, there are flaws that exist in things as well.
I had my huge garage sale back in the spring and since then have felt much better. Stuff has been gone and I truly feel more like a minimalist than I ever did before. I have no regrets. There were a few things left after the garage sale that, instead of donating, I opted to sell on Craigslist instead. One item was an inflatable rubber kayak.
I got started on my Craigslist listing by taking great pictures showing all sides of the kayak. I wrote a very full description and I even threw in a weblink to the manufacturer’s website so they could see what a new kayak costs. The only thing I didn’t do was disclose that I had repaired 2 holes. At that time I didn’t think it mattered, I wasn’t trying to hide anything.
Little did I know.
I received a few emails right off the bat and the first thing they asked was whether there were holes. *sigh* I wrote each of them back with the truth that there had been 2 holes. I had done a great job repairing the holes. I followed the manufacturer’s instructions and had used the repair kit that came with the boat. Now, if the company includes a repair kit when you purchase a boat doesn’t it mean that they anticipate holes can occur in a rubber kayak and that upon repair the boat will still float and function as it should? This was not some $10 Walmart model kayak. It’s high grade rubber, constructed well and came from a reputable boat manufacturer.
Guess what, despite dropping the price and subsequently including a detailed description on Craigslist about the holes and how I repaired them I still have the damn kayak.
I hope that people are less judgemental about persons with flaws than they are about things with flaws. Both can still meet your expectations.
There are things we want and things we don’t want. Things we love and things we, well, just kinda-sorta like. Why not turn some of those things that you simply like into things you truly want.
An item I love is a t-shirt printed with the Henry David Thoreau quote “Simplify, simplify.” I bought it in 1998 while visiting Walden Pond in Massachusetts. I’ve worn it over and over and it’s now showing extreme signs of wear. The seams are shredding, it’s no longer red but a dark shade of pink and it’s not fit to wear to work. A few items I only liked but no longer really wanted were some Thoreau stamps. They were various versions of First Day Covers for the Thoreau stamp when it was issued in 1967.
I had 3 First Day Cover envelopes as well as a program from the Commemorative Stamp Ceremony held in Concord, Massachusetts.
I also had a poster that was used to advertise the upcoming stamp in the post office. These were all pretty cool items but I was willing to get rid of them. I had a feeling that finding a buyer for these items wouldn’t necessarily be quick or easy.
But I had an idea.
I knew The Thoreau Society held periodic auctions raising money for the continuation of the study of Thoreau and his work. And I thought maybe, just maybe they’d be willing to take these items from me to use in their auction and in trade send me a new Simplify, simplify t-shirt. The items I had would certainly end up in the hands of fellow Thoreau fans and would help the society raise money.
And whadya know, they were willing.
I packaged up my items, sent them off and within a week I had a brand spanking new t-shirt to start wearing out. Maybe instead of just selling off your unwanted stuff you could set up a trade of your own!
If you’ve not heard of one of the greatest experiments in trading called One Red Paperclip you should definitely check it out, it was a really cool project that ended in a free house.
I started the week by listing 10 things on Craigslist. Some items were leftovers from the garage sale and others were new items I decided to sell. I’ve only sold 2 of the 10 items so far but have significant nibbles on other items so there’ll hopefully be more sales…
1. Yakima rooftop bike rack – I tried to sell this at -I believe- 3 different yard sales. But it wasn’t until I put it on Craigslist that I found a buyer. And I sold it for almost double the amount I was asking at the yard sale. Plus, the buyer was excited to find one at the price I was selling it for. We both won. I think I owned the system for about 12 or 13 years and I managed to sell it for almost half of what I bought it for.
2. Railroad whistle sign – I found a sign with a big W on it a few years ago along a section of railroad track that had been paved and converted to a biking and hiking trail. I thought the “W” stood for Wabash Railroad, the line that ran through that area. When I decided to sell it I researched how much it might be worth. It turns out these signs were all over the country. They didn’t stand for the name of the railroad, instead they were a reminder for the engineer to sound his whistle because he was approaching a crossing. How bout that? I learned something AND made a few bucks.
I have a post coming in a day or 2 about some things I didn’t want that I traded for something I did want. Fun!
The easy way to survive work is to arrive at your job, sit down, do your tasks, collect your check and go home. But sometimes there’s a bit of a payoff for doing more, doing extra.
I’ve always been a recycler. When I was a kid in Maine in the 1980′s, aluminum cans had a deposit on them and from an early age I collected cans from the roads and yards and turned them in for cash. So as an adult it was just second nature for me to recycle paper, metal and plastics when recycling became “the thing to do.”
Several years ago I asked for a meeting with the general manager of my company and told him that since we were a heavy user of office paper it’d be great if we could find a recycler for that paper instead of throwing it in the dumpster. A couple years went by but eventually there were paper bins installed in the offices. I don’t know how or why -it could have been that there was no one assigned to the task- but I started taking care of the bins, dumping the smaller bins into the larger roll away cans and telling my manager when the recycling company needed to be called for a pickup. I had the extra time to do it and it made me feel like I was helping decrease the waste leaving the building. Sure there were a few times when I had to deal with gum in the bins and partially filled coffee cups mixed in with the papers but those things happen. Mostly it was just something I did. And people knew that I did it and would alert me if a bin somewhere needed to be emptied.
And then the strangest thing happened. The corporation that bought my company had a contest asking for ideas to help the workplace go green and save money on energy costs. I didn’t submit an idea because I didn’t have one. It turns out though that my boss had told the new owners I had voluntarily taken care of the paper recycling for a number of years and whadya know, they decided that deserved some recognition and I was given the top prize in the contest. I received a $100 gas card and was pretty darn surprised when they told me.
Apparently doing a little extra, simply because you can or because you care, just might be rewarded someday when you least expect it.
While talking to my mom the other day she told me that it was my half birthday. I haven’t kept track of such things since I was a kid. After I hung up with her I realized that it meant there were still 6 months before my (self-imposed) deadline of simplifying my life before I turn 40. I’m making great progress. I currently have several things on Craigslist and will report on any of those sales next week. After this “garage sale remnants” online purge a lot of the remaining work will be paper based. Cleaning out files, scanning documents and kids artwork, etc.
This week my wife and I also took some of the kids’ really good artwork to get mats and frames and it’ll soon adorn the walls of our house. I’d much rather have personal things hanging on my walls instead of impersonal items.
Here’s the highlights of this week’s simplifying efforts:
First, prior to the garage sale I forgot to mention that I offered some Green Bay Packers memorabilia to a co-worker who is also a Packers fan. I figured instead of selling stuff to strangers and then donating remaining items to Goodwill I might as well make an acquaintance happy with some cool, new-to-them stuff. He took a couple pennants, a half dozen books, a couple game programs and a couple VHS tapes. Go Pack! I can still be an avid fan without having a lot of stuff around.
Secondly, I made a bold move the other day. Well, not bold to a lot of people, but bold for me. I’ve had a collection of Matchbox and Hot Wheels cars as well as a large collection of sports cards since I was a kid. I’ve made great strides in getting rid of some of them. I’d whittled down the sports cards with a value guide to a small pile of about 30 or so cards that had some monetary value. The remaining thousands had gone to Goodwill last September as they were really nothing more than cardboard, but maybe some kids would want them…my kids didn’t. I’d also used a value guide to determine which of my diecast cars were worth something and, while I held those back, the remaining cars went into the garage sale for 25 cents each.
During the garage sale I chatted with a few people that were buying the cars and got a few email addresses. I had intended to email those guys with a list of the remaining cars and some prices. But after the sale I realized I was making a lot of extra work for myself. Taking pictures and creating lists? For what? to make a couple more bucks? I decided to contact the one guy that seemed most interested in the cars. We set up a meeting so he could look at the cars as well as my remaining sports cards and see what he might want to buy.
I didn’t have an expectation of what kind of money I might make. Part of the reason for not having a number in my head was just wanting to get rid of them. But there was certainly a part of me that wanted to get a little bit of money back from the years I had invested in purchasing and taking care of the cars and cards. At the end of the meeting I got a decent price, maybe not as much as I had hoped for, but a decent price. This guy took all the remaining cars and all the remaining cards. Could I have gotten more money had I taken time to list all the cars and cards and then try to sell them on a more individual basis using Craigslist or eBay or collector shows? Yes, without a doubt. But then I’d be investing a lot of my spare time and energy in trying to get those extra few bucks. It wouldn’t be worth it in the end. Plus, I was satisfied in another way. This guy was adding the cars and cards to his collection to be saved and enjoyed by he and his 2 young boys. He was actually buying the kinds of cars that he had as a child but had gotten rid of long ago. That made me feel good. They were going to a home where they would be appreciated and enjoyed.
This brings me to a reader comment I want to share. Gil left a comment on a previous Simplify 2011 post that I have re-read several times over the last couple weeks and think about often. Thanks Gil! He wrote:
You stated that you regretted all of the money you spent on things and [that] it was a waste. I lamented over the same thing for a while. However, as time went on and I got rid of more and more stuff, I arrived at the point that the money spent on countless things was not wasted. I enjoyed them for the time I owned them and now, someone else is enjoying and/or benefitting from them. The money is not even a remote thought anymore, but the newfound freedom and liberation I have gained [by] being a minimalist is.
As contradictory as it may sound, I had to spend money and acquire a ton of things to arrive at my current state.
The bottom line is don’t fret over spilled milk, but focus on the present and future.
This was so powerful to me and helped me with my decision to take less money than I thought all those cars and cards were worth. I reflect on this thought a few times a week.
This is part 2 of my interview with Seth Werkheiser. Part one focused on how he became a minimalist and detailed how he travels as a digital nomad. In this, the second half of the interview, we focus on the bicycling aspect of his journeys.
Seven months into his nomadic life Seth turned his adventures into an ebook titled Seth Werkheiser Is The Bike Nerd And It Has Been Seven Months to share with the world what it’s like to live on the road. Buy your copy and help Seth continue his journey.
Enjoy now the remainder of the interview…
Craig: For me, bicycling helps clear my head. For as much as you’ve been cycling around I wonder…do you use time in the saddle to sort through projects or problems and come up with solutions or do you allow your mind to go quiet as though you are meditating? Does it work that way?
Seth: The saying goes, “it’s not the destination, it’s the journey.” For me, though, it’s the other way around. I don’t tend to have my best creative moments while riding. It’s usually when I stop somewhere, at the top of a big hill, or by the side of a river, or on a bridge somewhere – that’s when I get my best ideas. I’m pretty focused while riding, usually yelling at myself for eating too many Oreos and not putting in more miles. But when I’m done riding, sitting somewhere quiet, I think the riding preps me for those silent moments.
Craig: What’s the inventory of your Chrome bag these days?
Seth: I’m actually getting rid of my latest Chrome bag! I’ve only had it since December of 2010. There’s nothing wrong with it, it’s just now I’m using this bag made specifically for my Brompton bike. It mounts right to the frame, so even though it’s heavy it doesn’t affect handling much. And it’s a lot easier to ride when you’re not carrying everything on your back.
Still, in that bag: six shirts, some wool socks, ExOfficio travel undies, paperwork and my laptop. Then I have two smaller bags, one for computer cords and USB cables, the other holds my toothpaste, toothbrush, comb and stuff like that. I travel with two pairs of shoes again, so I have a pair of shoes in the bag, too. A sweatshirt and rain jacket. Bike stuff like gloves, flasher… yeah, not much stuff, really.
Craig: You carry next to nothing clothing wise, how has your clothing inventory changed from your initial thoughts on day one about what you’d need?
Seth: I used to carry like six or seven pairs of socks. Now I switched to wool socks, with “anti-microbial” stuff. I only have two pairs, but I wash one when I’m not wearing them. That’s worked out okay. Since July of last year I bought those ExOfficio underwear – I have just two pairs, and I wash them each day I’m not wearing them. How about that – almost a whole year with two pairs of underwear and they’re still rocking.
Also, I only have one pair of pants, and one pair of shorts. This might change as it’s getting warmer. Pants and stuff like that are heavy. Clothes are heavy! I’m trying to move towards “technical” clothing… stuff that’s more quick drying, less stinky. They sometimes aren’t as “cool looking” as just a tshirt a pair of Levi’s, but right now weight is more important than looking cool.
Craig: Do you find it harder to maintain regular eating habits on the road? Since you’re consistently burning calories by bicycling can you eat whatever you want?
Seth: Hah. My eating habits are pretty bad now. I tend to eat whatever my hosts eat. So if they go to Taco Bell and McDonalds, I will too. I try not to. I’ve been avoiding meat for a few months now. I used to eat lots of meat before I left on this adventure. Now I eat more fruits and veggies and nuts. Not as much as I should, but still. I used to eat white bread, too. The “enriched” stuff, with high fructose corn syrup. Since staying with a lot of vegetarians and vegans, and just “healthy eating” people in general, I’m slowly changing my eating habits to a more organic and vegetarian diet. I’m slowly moving vegan, I think, too. I mean, I’m trying. I’m not very disciplined with this stuff, but I’m a lot more aware. Plus, I turn 35 soon. My body isn’t the same as when I was 21, so I have to start eating less egg and cheese sandwiches for breakfast and more fruits and granola for breakfast.
Craig: Do you eat energy bars while biking? Have a favorite? I like the peanut butter Clif Bars.
Seth: I try to eat bananas and Clif Bars while riding. Usually the chocolate chip kind. I haven’t been doing many 25+ mile rides lately, so I haven’t needed them too much. Hopefully that changes as spring turns to summer.
Craig: Any opinions about biking in various cities you’ve visited? Has it made you a hardened cyclist that doesn’t take crap from drivers hoping to give you a rough time?
Seth: Well, I’ve been riding since I was 10 or so. I’ve ridden the back roads of Pennsylvania for a long time, and gotten bottles thrown at me and people screaming at me as they drive by. I’ve been putting up with that crap for over 20 years now and it still rattles me. I don’t think anyone gets okay with people screaming at them. Riding in the city of Austin TX was nice, but once you got out of the city, man, you knew you were in TEXAS. I was there a week and got yelled at twice when riding in the suburbs. Nashville, too. I didn’t get to ride there too much because it was still cold, but in the short amount of time I rode I got screamed at and honked at.
Since riding in different cities all the way to Oklahoma City, OK, I feel safest riding in New York City. The car / taxi / bus / drivers in general just know that cyclists are there – it’s not “weird” for them, as it might be for someone driving on a back road in Ohio. I’d rather ride up 6th Ave in rush hour traffic in Manhattan than anywhere else in America so far.
Craig: Since recently switching from a standard bike to a Brompton folding bike have you been asked by many people “What the heck is that?” It does look a bit like a Transformer. Any buildings or businesses deny you entry with a folded up bike?
Seth: A handful of people in NYC have stopped and watch me fold and unfold the bike. It’s a lot of fun. A random person walked by at a cross walk and said, “nice bike!” I like it. I like talking to people about bikes and riding. Then I get to talk about my adventure and they’re blown away. I like that. The folding bike kind of tears down a wall of sorts.. I don’t wear spandex anymore. I dont ride a high-tech racing machine. My bike is pretty nerdy, so I think it’s less threatening.
Craig: Do you always stay with friends, hotels or have you tried the hostelling thing?
Seth: 99% with friends, and every now and again I get a hotel, but they’re expensive. I never tried the hostelling thing, but I’ve tried the Couchsurfing.org thing – stayed with two people to cross Alabama and it worked out great.
Craig: Fish and guests stink after three days, how do you ensure that you leave a friend’s place on good terms? any tips?
Seth: Respect. Clean up after yourself. It’s a privilege to sleep couches, so act like it. And do small things around the house. Offer to take out their garbage, wash their dishes. If you notice they’re running low on toilet paper or drinks think about buying them the next time you’re out. Buying dinner is always nice, too
Right now Seth is in the middle of a new adventure. He’s embarked on The 14 Cities in 14 Days Bike Nerd Adventure so be sure to check in to see what Seth’s up to.
Seth Werkheiser is a self-described nomadic bike nerd. He states on his blog “In July 2010 I ditched all my stuff and left Brooklyn, NY on my bike.” That’s it in a nutshell. He’s on his own, on the road. He works when he wants, he relaxes when he wants and he travels when he wants.
He’s currently the publisher of ThisIsTheConduit.com and previously the publisher of Buzzgrinder.com as well as the former editor for Noisecreep.com at AOL Music. He maintains a personal blog detailing a lot of his bike adventures as well as thoughts on life at TheBikeNerd.com
For quite a while I’ve followed Seth on twitter. As I read the tweets and started to dive into his blog I discovered he was living an extraordinary lifestyle. He carries all his possessions with him as he travels the country on his bike – with occasional aid from a Greyhound Bus or airplane to get from city to city. I had so many questions about what he does and how he got down to such a small amount of stuff that I emailed him random questions after he submitted a guest post for my Favorite Things series. Together we decided it would be more fun to interview him and let him share his views on minimalism and bike riding with all of you. Here’s part one of our interview, part two will be published later this week and will focus more on the bike riding part of his life.
Craig: What was the inspiration for getting rid of the majority of your possessions?
Seth: I was at a point in life where nothing felt permanent. I just felt like things could be pulled out from under me at any point, and well, they were. I had been reading Far Beyond the Stars from Ev Bogue for a few months, and reading a handful of other “minimalism blogs” and it just made sense to pare down so I could be more spontaneous. When my hours were cut at work, I lost a lot of overtime pay. It was a complete life-style change in pay. I could either move to a less desirable neighborhood and find three other roommates on Craigslist, or bounce from couch to couch, staying with friends as I crossed the US with my bike. I chose to ditch my stuff and hit the road.
Craig: Still, that’s a HUGE step to make in one’s life. Many people, likely me included, would sell some stuff and move into a cheaper apartment or living situation and then tough it out while looking for a new job or additional income. You must have come to a realization that no matter what steps you might take your life wasn’t going to be what you wanted it to be.
Seth: Well, to be honest the money I was making from billing 11 hour days was quite good. I mean, getting my hours cut was a total lifestyle change for me. I was living in an awesome neighborhood, I had money, things were good. And even the job – I mean, I really enjoyed my work. I was working all those hours for something I believed in at the time. I created this site from the ground up, and ran it, from passion. I mean, I started Buzzgrinder.com back in 2001, so running things is what I loved doing. Funny story – I was on an OkCupid date when I got an email that Ronnie James Dio had officially passed away. I mean, those two things couldn’t be more opposite. A date, a FIRST date, and the death of a metal icon. But there I was, tapping away on my iPhone to get the story written, get the photo from our photo editor, get the post edited and published. I liked doing that stuff. I mean, maybe that’s why my dating life at the time was pretty bad, but I’ve since learned. No more checking emails when on dates.
Craig: Are you a minimalist or a guy with very little stuff?
Seth: I think I’m a minimalist. A lot of people who get pegged as something never seem to want to own up to those titles, but I’m a minimalist for sure. I own like six shirts, a lap top and a bike. I’ve learned to live with very little and be completely content with that. I’m fine with identifying with the title, because I know I’m minimlist outside of the stuff I own. My head isn’t filled with clutter and anxiety and the projects I work on are lean and efficient.
Craig: How long do you anticipate living this way?
Seth: Well, it’s been about nine months so far. I hope I can keep living like this. I want to keep travelling, and working from the road. I don’t really aspire to go back to the office life, or having a daily commute ever again. Seriously, in just nine months my focus and outlook on life has changed entirely. A bed would be nice, sure, but I like the freedom of working anywhere, and hanging out with people I wouldn’t get to hang out with.
That said – my savings won’t last forever, but I’m working on that. I keep myself busy with projects like writing on thebikenerd.com and I just started an email newsletter for the heavy metal world called The Conduit, with hopes of monetizing that someday. I keep my expenses low so I can afford to take some risks.
Craig: Presuming that one day you settle down in an apartment or house how choosy will you be about what items you purchase for living there? Will you get a few select really good items or just buy whatever you need but get the pretty cheap stuff so that if you take off on a whim everything can go to Goodwill? Or has this even been a thought in your head ?
Seth: I HAVE thought of this. I know for sure I won’t be buying some bulky, fancy bed frame, or crazy desk. I’ll probably buy a very minimalist bed set-up, and a simple desk like this Muji one that I had before. That, a simple folding chair, maybe some speakers to I can play some music again. This is basically all stuff that can be moved with in the back seat of a car, then. This is all based on my current income and attitude though. Who knows? Maybe I score some fancy gig somewhere and have room for a dining room table, or a TV to watch sports on.
But yeah – I’ll be super choosy the next time I buy anything.
Craig: From articles I’ve read where people get rid of everything, pack up and become nomadic in the world they generally have a box or 2 at a relative or friend’s house with those tiny bits of life that aren’t conducive to travel. You opted to not do this, you have everything with you, why?
Seth: Well, I have a box of some winter clothes at my parents house in Pennsylvania. I also have some miscellaneous bicycle items. But that’s it. I carry my birth certificate, passport, legal documents, tax papers… I carry all that with me just in case. I don’t know, I like having it close by in case I need it.
Craig: Without Facebook, Twitter and blogs to help you keep contact with friends and family would you be lonelier on this journey?
Seth: Oh yes. I couldn’t imagine going a month without talking to some of my friends, or seeing what they’re up to via Twitter and Facebook. I get to contact old friends when I’m on a bus, or killing time at an airport. But when I’m with my friends “in real life,” like out to dinner or hanging out at at home, I focus on them. I think being present is huge, and you can’t do that when you’re constantly trying to keep in touch with everyone on your iPhone while you’re eating a meal with people you haven’t seen in two years.
Craig: Before your thorough decluttering process, were you a keeper of things, did you have collections?
Seth: Not really. I liked the idea of vinyl toys and Robotech-type robots and such, but my job never afforded me much stability, so I never invested in anything personal really.
Craig: With accessible wi-fi pretty prevalent these days and the impressive things smart phones help us accomplish, do you think this lifestyle was possible 10 years ago?
Seth: Well, lots of bands managed to tour and attain legendary status booking their own tours before the internet, so maybe. I played in bands back in the day and I have no idea how we managed to ever get to a show without GPS or iPhones, or book shows without email and social networks.
Even then – the way I’m living now, I’m able to make a few dollars here and there while on the road. Some people pay for my eBooks, I’m able to sell items on eBay, I can write blog posts and get paid for them, and payment is made via PayPal.
So maybe not. It’s nice to be able to cozy up in any coffee shop around the country and work from my laptop. So maybe not, maybe this wasn’t possible 10 years ago.
Craig: I guess I think of this digital nomad lifestyle being easier in 2011 because you can access the Greyhound schedule online, get directions to a friend’s house from wherever you are on your iPhone’s GPS and check the weather radar to see if it’s safe to bike away from the park shelter you’ve been sitting under since a storm began. Plus, having music on your iPhone and books to read on your laptop or iPhone means there aren’t any CDs or paperbacks to carry around on a bike. And making money on the internet through ebooks was really not happening very many years ago as well as getting paid through a service like PayPal.
How’d you get to be twitter user #2,873….that’s what I call an early adopter
Seth: I’ve always followed Ev Williams and everything he did. We were doing podcasts pretty regularly on Buzzgrinder.com back then and I found Odeo.com which was awesome for hosting our shows. I found Twitter, then called Twittr, from Odeo. I’m not sure I was a hardcore user in those early years, there weren’t really a lot of friends using it back then. My friend Bill Meis who does metal publicity at eOne Records, we both signed up around the same time and we always said, “Wow, this would be awesome for bands, and people at shows, to Tweet about what band they’re seeing, or what city they’re playing in.” And now, all these years later, it’s awesome to see that it actually happened.
Craig: Do you have regrets about getting rid of any objects?
Seth: Not really. Over the years I’ve always dumped photos or notebooks and drawing pads… sure, it’d be neat to look back through them, but I like moving forward I guess. I’ve spent enough years “looking back” at what I used to do, or how life was “cooler” back then. Over the past few months it’s been nice to actually just get back to that in the PRESENT. Instead of pining for the old days I’m doing my best to make today awesome, and those objects have nothing to do with that.
Craig: No one wishes anyone ill will but the reality is that you could be robbed at any point in your journey and if they took your bike and bag it seems like you’re absolutely SOL. do you have back ups in place for paper documents, computer stuff, etc?
Seth: Thankfully none of that happened. I’m going to leave my important papers at my parents when I set off again, and almost everything I do on my computer is on “the cloud.” Paperwork, email, calendar, files… the only thing I’d lose is my music and with a Rdio.com subscription that’s not as scary as it once sounded.
Craig: You’ve been involved on many levels with music based websites for many years and I can’t imagine the thousands of songs and hundreds of albums you’ve had access to over the years. Before getting rid of your stuff did you have a large CD collection? and when you made the decision to go minimalist what did you do? what type of setup are you using to save music?
Seth: I’ve been very digital since 2004 or so. I never liked having CDs around.. they were just too clumsy, and hard to move. My iTunes collection isn’t gigantic either. Maybe 20GB which, for a “music blogger” type, isn’t a whole lot. I’ve aquired a lot of music over the years, mostly from promos and such from running Buzzgrinder since 2001, but I’ve gone through and even trimmed that down, too. With a Rdio.com subscription and an internet connection, most anything I want to listen to, even if I don’t own it, is pretty much available.
In Part 2 of my interview with Seth we talk more about the bicycling aspect of his life.
Seth has also written a book covering the first seven months of his on-the-road journey. Please consider buying a copy to help him continue his journey.
I’ve been beating a drum about a garage sale for the last month or so in these posts. And then, finally, the weekend arrived.
My in-laws live in the next town over from us. Each spring their town holds a community wide yard sale. The town advertises heavily and hundreds of people flood the streets to get bargains on Friday and Saturday. We saved all the stuff we purged through the winter and spring just for this weekend and hauled it 10 miles to their place.
We worked hard to declutter various parts of the house. I got rid of tons of stuff, and my non-minimalist (but non-packrat) wife helped me clean from the attic all the stuff we didn’t use or want and the kids even cleaned their rooms and found things they could part with.
Here’s the video preview I mentioned last week. My video debut on Simple Black Coffee in fact!
Friday was the biggest payday of the 2 days. I awoke early to a rainy morning (it wasn’t supposed to rain ’til the afternoon) so I checked the weather radar and went back to sleep. After my second cup of coffee I checked the radar again and saw that the storm was almost over. By the time I got my loaded car to my in-laws the last of the raindrops had just fallen. It was almost 11am and I hastily got to work. Before the first load came outta the car I had people ready to check things out. I made my first sale before the 5th box was unloaded. After that things went swimmingly. I sold 98% of the big stuff in the first few hours: an old portable playpen, an old stroller, 2 tents, a cargo box that attaches to the roof of an SUV, a small table, some canoe paddles, some life preservers and boat seat cushions. Saturday saw slower sales, but pretty good for sitting there all that time. Overall we sold almost $450 of stuff in 11 hours over 2 days, that’s about $40 an hour, seems like a pretty good use of a weekend. After it was apparent things were winding down I took a good sized load to Goodwill. (TIP: always remember to make a list of what you take to Goodwill or another charity so you have an itemized list to write off come tax day) and then packed up the tables and headed home with great satisfaction and just in time for a nap.
Not everything that was left went to Goodwill. I brought home a few things that I feel I can sell on Craigslist or eBay pretty easily. An inflatable kayak, a trumpet, a Yakima bike rack, a couple old cameras. Apparently I’m still not ready to part with everything for free. I realized though that it’s not because I feel like I’m losing money anymore. It’s about finding the right homes for certain items. For example, I have an owner’s manual for a 1974 Volkswagen Bus Camper. It was our 2nd car when I was in high school and was the car I learned to drive in. When my dad sold it a few years ago I didn’t realize that I had the owner’s manual with me. I could trash it or Goodwill it but because it’s a cool item for another owner to have for their bus I’m taking it a local mechanic who specializes in foreign cars. There’s always a number of VWs there and I hope he knows someone that I can give it to. I feel because at one time I valued it that it seems deserving to go to someone new that can value it as well.
What did I do on Sunday? Got up late, enjoyed some of the empty space around me and I then organized my clutter free attic and put my garage back in working order. It was a good, but tiring weekend. I had to return to work yesterday to get some rest.
I skipped right over Week 21 because I was lazy. That and there was the long Memorial Day weekend that I spent camping with my family.
It’s getting pretty revved up around here as the garage sale is a week away. I’m not anticipating making a lot of money at this thing, I’m just looking forward to selling this stuff and donating the vast majority of what’s left to Goodwill.
I was going to make a big giant list of what’s in the garage sale -which would be boring- but instead I made my first video post for Simple Black Coffee. I know you can hardly contain your excitement! (don’t worry it’s not too fantastic and I don’t expect a lot of people to view it)
But anyway, here’s what left the house recently:
a pair of my wife’s old glasses went to our optometrist for recycling by Lions Club.
a collapsible camp chair went into the trash. I tried to replace the missing rivet in the leg with a screw but ended up messing the whole thing up.
a water heater blanket went into the trash. It was on our old water heater and when we got a replacement it got a little mangled when I removed it. Our HVAC guy that installed the new water heater said we didn’t even need it. Our new water heater, and old one for that matter, were well insulated.
2 pairs of socks that I realized were just not comfortable or meeting my needs as far as socks go. Now that I have limited clothing choices I feel my items need to be more ideal for me, they have to meet my new minimalist high standards. If they don’t they’ll be replaced by items that do.
And something I’m really proud of, my wife got rid of some sentimental things this weekend. She went into the attic with me to take a mental inventory (it’s maybe the 5th time she’s been in the attic in 9 years) and together we found some more stuff to sell. She brought down a couple plates she made as a kid and her high school varsity letter jacket. I thought it was stuff that would go on my pile to scan or take pictures of but she surprised me by setting up the tripod and camera and then took pictures of that stuff as well as some of the artwork the kids made that is too big to scan.
Made me very happy!
