A Lesson from 3 Weeks in Europe

A recent trip to Europe made me realize just how little stuff I need to be happy and function day-to-day.

I recently returned from a three-week vacation in Europe. I visited Glasgow, Edinburgh, London, and Berlin, and had a lovely time in each city. I recommend visiting all of them if you can.

Living out of a single suitcase, plus a backpack with my laptop, for three weeks ended up offering me a lesson I’ve learned before, but evidently, I need to keep learning it.

I don’t need much stuff to be happy.

After a trip I make notes about it so I can reference them later for future trips to the same location or elsewhere. Each time the note making exercise yields information useful to future travel.

This time something jumped out at me more than it usually does. As I repacked my luggage in Berlin for my return to San Francisco, luggage that came in at nearly 50 pounds when weighed at the airport, I realized I was packing clothing and items I hadn’t used during the entire three-week adventure.

How much didn’t I use? I did a quick scan of everything, and I’d estimate I used perhaps 50% of what I had packed. I could have easily done the entire trip in a large carry-on sized bag plus my backpack. It would have made traveling through airports and transit far easier.

But the lesson wasn’t just about packing lighter. It hammered home the reality that I don’t need a whole lot of stuff to be happy and do the work I do. I lived quite comfortably in my hotel rooms for three weeks and didn’t miss a single physical item from home.

I’ve written extensively about owning less stuff on one of my other newsletter platforms, such as this “Wrestling With Stuff” article in 2022. So, these realizations that I don’t need as much stuff as I now own are nothing new. But this time for some reason it really hit me how little I need to be happy.

Anyway, that’s it. I know I need less stuff than I own. Maybe it will prompt me to purge my possessions even further. Maybe not. But being less attached to the stuff that fills my apartment and garage seems to be a recipe for more peace of mind generally. Maybe it will be for you too.

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