Breakdown in BKK Airport

From my first night in Bangkok

Two years ago, as I was leaving Thailand to return home after a year abroad, I had a little breakdown in the Bangkok Airport.

I have no idea how I accumulated so much during one year in Thailand. I had two large suitcases, a backpack, and a duffel bag full of stuff. I had huge, unfinished bottles of shampoo and conditioner that I had brought with me from the US on a previous visit. I had books, unused notebooks, school supplies (I was living there as a teacher), clothes (even though I had already taken several bags of unwanted clothes to a fast-fashion store to recycle), general household items, toiletries, make-up, etc. I had tried to pack it all at my home in the city I was living in, then tried to repack and get rid of more things at my hostel in Bangkok, then again at my friend's apartment on the way to the airport, then before I got in line to check-in. Once I finally got up to the check-in counter, I was sadly informed that not only were the bags too heavy, but that I could only check two; paying to add an extra bag wasn't even an option.

This time-sensitive issue resulted in me basically giving away things in the Bangkok Airport. Some kids got colored pencils and notebooks, others little kitschy things for the house. One member of the maintenance staff took pity on me and was asking people in Thai if they needed some of these things. In the end, I didn't have to part with anything I actually cared about. And that's the point.

Once I had managed to drop a significant amount of weight from my bags, I was allowed to check-in and board my flight. But I wasn't in the clear. I then flew to Seoul, where I hauled all these bags to another friend's apartment. I left the luggage there and took the backpack and duffel with me to visit other friends in Daegu for a few days. After those few days I somehow was unable to pack everything back into the bags I arrived with, so my friend generously gave me a carry-on size suitcase of hers she no longer needed. Then it was back to Seoul for a few days before flying to the United States, where I stopped again in Arizona for a week before heading home. To recap, I now had two large suitcases, a carry-on, a backpack, and a duffel bag. I must have blacked-out most of these airport memories due to the physical exertion and mental stress. 

When I arrived home and began to unpack, I realized what a waste it was to cart half of this stuff home. I would take out a dress or a pair of sandals that were cute for a night out in Thailand, but were not appropriate for dead-of-winter Cleveland, and were not things that I liked enough to hang on to until the next summer. So away they went to be donated. 

This three-weak saga of travel with probably 150 lbs. of mostly junk broke me. I realized my lifestyle was unsustainable. I bought Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and Bea Johnson's Zero Waste Home, and I never looked back. For me, it was important to begin both decluttering and reducing my consumption together, as they are inextricably linked. If you buy less, and only buy what you need and makes you happy, then you also waste less in the end. Immediately the reusable grocery bags were put in the backseat of the car to make sure they were never forgotten. I became obsessed with trying to figure out what I could repurpose instead of buying new, and started evaluating my purchasing habits. I also began cleaning out what I already had, sorting through the boxes of stuff that had been packed up and then never touched again, saying goodbye to my childhood toys to donate, cleaning out my closet and my library, and in one of the more challenging projects, sorting through years of paperwork, from school notes to sticky notes, trying to whittle down what was necessary to keep. 

I wanted to be a zero-waste master, and a home-tidying expert. I didn't shut up about it. Until one day when something more pressing came up and all of a sudden my thoughts were distracted from this mission. When I ran out of toothpaste I just went to the store instead of looking up a homemade recipe. When my desk began to accumulate papers and stray bobby pins, I looked at it and walked away. I lost my edge, but the underlying values were still there. And they have stayed with me. For me, these two principles have helped me maintain stability through long-term travel and general uncertainty. 

I now consider seriously when making a purchase whether or not the benefit to me is worth the price of waste and space in my home. I no longer buy ten books at once that I will probably never have the time to read (I already have my own mini-library to choose from). I think seriously about a clothing item before I buy it - does this fit me perfectly? Am I going to wear it regularly? What is the quality of the material and will it last a long time? While there are some missteps, generally all the things I have now are things I use regularly and love. I may repeat outfits, but they look cute and make me feel confident wearing them. 

I recommend these books to anyone feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of stuff that they have or the amount that they consume. It can feel daunting when you don't know where to start. The same philosophy which says that you are happy only when surrounded by that which you need and love is the idea of consuming less in the first place. If you don't buy something, it doesn't have the opportunity to haunt you twenty years down the road when you wonder why you don't have any space to set the table for dinner. 

Even if you're not "into" reducing your waste or believe that everything in your home is necessary to your survival, it wouldn't hurt to take a look at either book (you can even check them out at the library or search de-cluttering & low-waste/zero waste on the internet), there may be some little nugget of wisdom that will help you in a way to improve your quality of life. I know that I have reduced my stress level and anxiety significantly since de-cluttering my house and adopting sustainable practices. It has been a complete transformation between then and now, and I could not be happier with my new lifestyle.

love,

greer