I could go into details about the brand of my tent (the fact that it weighs a tad more than a kilo is a great selling point) or tell you that I have the lightest sleeping bag I could find and it works most of the time, except for Russian Winters and damp river campsites. I also carry very little clothing because it’s easy to find more. But what is most important to me is travelling without personal baggage.
In fact, I find that the longer I travel the more things I discard.
Judgement has been a big one. Not the type that you need when you make decisions about where to pitch the tent or should I swim in crocodile infested waters, but judging other people. It’s a human thing, something we all do, but it feels so much lighter to accept the idiosyncrasies of other people who are mostly trying their best in a crazy world. I’m certainly not perfect at it but I’m practising hard.
People are just people everywhere. Some of us have enough food and shelter, some of us don’t. Some live in safe places while for others it’s a war zone. But we are all trying to get through the day, hoping to make a difference in something small or big. Everyone needs to relax when things are stressful. And we all want to be loved and acknowledged, to be accepted and appreciated.
That’s the start of what may grow into a very long list.
I’d love to hear what you have discarded!
The Wildart Wanderer 
When I first started travelling giving up the books I’d slowly been accumulating since childhood was the tough bit. Giving up my bass and record collection was the impossible bit; so I made painful arrangements to have them carefully transported to distant relatives for storage while I was away.
It was thieves that finally cured me of those attachments. First around 200 of the roughly 700 records I’d stashed at my Dad’s place west of Kempsey while I was away, then the bass from my own home after I’d got back.
I gave up travelling about 20 years ago and my possessions have been steadily accumulating and weighing me down ever since. But at least I now know that I can let them go if need be.
I’ve still got about 300 vinyl records though.
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I seem to have been time travelling. Sorry for the delay! Yes, books and records are company that’s hard to leave. I wonder if you’re playing that old vinyl now?
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And now we let go of more liberties…
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