What does Wanderlust Minimalism mean to me?

Minimalism is a word that gets thrown around a lot and often conjures an image of stark, white walls and bare, empty rooms. However, the idea of minimalism can mean many things and only suggests living with the bare minimum. We can be as strict with the definition of need as we want. Some people choose to let go of everything but the food and water that sustains their life. Others will include the things that protect them from the elements and bring warmth and joy to their life. One thing is sure, when I bring up the word minimalism, people run away assuming I want them to throw away the personality in their home. However, my definition of minimalism leaves room for dreaming and even expansion. It is about defining what is core to you and weeding out the bullshit.

Wanderlust is another word that has grown in popularity in the English language, originating from German, describing the feeling of wanting to travel the world. Before I lose those of you who are perfectly happy hanging out around your hometown, I am not taking this literally either. Travel is something that fuels me personally, but you may lust after different experiences and feelings. Maybe there is a word in another language that encompasses that feeling of yearning and wanting more from life around you (and if you know one please share it with me!), but to me, wanderlust is the closest I have found to describe that it.

So I chose to combine them here and form something new (tempting to borrow a page from the Dutch and Germans and smash them together -wanderlustminimalism-). This is about embracing the deepest passions in your life, trimming away the things that hold you back from living your life to the fullest, and cultivating the lifestyle you want for yourself at this moment. For the vast majority of the world, this doesn’t include material things. I am talking about stubborn habits, old traditions, and unhelpful thought patterns. I don’t believe life has to be all sacrifice and it doesn’t help us to hold on to the things that make us feel unworthy. Sure, we can’t play all the time, but we don’t have to wait until we’ve ‘made it’ to enjoy the awesomeness of life now. We are much too focused on what we are achieving in life instead of how we are living our life.

This is where we come together to share what our wanderlust minimalism looks like to us. Fame. Fortune. Freedom. Something else? What drives you? How do you live your life to honor that?