How I lived out of one suitcase for two years.

Take a look around your room, your house, the place that you call home. I am probably right in saying that you are surrounded by the things you love, have collected, and owned for many years. Your closet is full of the clothes you love for all occasions and seasons, shoes for all weather, jackets, hats, accessories. Your walls and stands decorated with photographs of loved ones and knick knacks you've accumulated over the years. This is your stuff, the stuff that makes you feel at home, the stuff containing your memories and hold you close to dear loved ones.

Now if you were anything like me, you may have more stuff than you need. Rewind my life to three years ago and you will see a girl with large plastic tote containers filled with clothes. Clothes that I would never wear again but saving for a what if moment, my closet filled with shoes I received monthly from I am ashamed to say, Kim Kardashian website. I also shelled out a lot of money on name brand purses. I had drawers of makeup, accessories, hair products and irons. I had everything I could ever need and then some. All of this made up my possessions until the day I decided to move from my life of 26 years in Wisconsin to Hawaii.

I didn't know it when I bought the large purple suitcase several years ago, that this would be the space in which I could fit all of my belongings for over two years. I packed my suitcase and said goodbye to the comfort of having a lot, to only the necessities. Of course living on Oahu close to the beach meant I only needed minimal, my swimsuits and a few clothing items. I still had a hard time letting go and choosing which was most important. After about six months living on one island, I hopped over to another. Here I stayed on a community farm in the wet jungle. The only thing needed here was clothes to wear while hacking down cane grass and banana trees. It was a sustainability farm where we didn't create much waste, only compost. I really learned to live off of the land and the idea of materialism really began to feel suffocating. I lost interest in fashion for the three months I was there, I didn't need much, and didn't want much either. If I wanted new clothes I did something I had never done before, I bought them used. There was a farmers market that people could sell their clothing at, most things cost about one dollar. I was learning to let go of what I was attached to for so long.

After my time on the farm I packed all of my belongings in to one suitcase again and moved to Maui. If I accumulated more than I could fit in my bag, I would give the extra away. I knew that I would always find more, I would always have enough. I spent much of my time as a nanny and cook for families on this island. One of the mothers I worked for let me borrow a lot of her clothes, and I also had friends I would do clothing swaps with. I didn't want to buy a lot or accumulate much stuff because I was always moving. About every three months I would pack my suitcase and live someplace new, having too much stuff just frustrated me. Although it was easier to live this way, I would often find myself thinking of all of my old clothes and things I had in my old life. I would find myself emotional wishing I still had certain things, but I would remind myself of the path I chose and that traveling made me happier than coach purses.

The last few months I spent on Hawaii I really thought I was going to settle. For the first time in two years I had my own bedroom, my own sheets. I created my own artwork, and had little knick knacks, and even a closet. I started to create my life and myself, started to feel that comfort of a home. I even had my mother send me some of my favorite shoes and purses. I was combining all of what I had learned about materialism with a good balance of having a little. A few weeks later I decided to move 8,000 miles away to be with my now husband Beni in Switzerland.

Once again I packed my suitcase this time possessing much more than the times before. I had to give away a lot this time, once again saying goodbye to things I had grown fond of. It's been a repeated lesson for me, not becoming attached and letting go, understanding that I do not own anything. When I arrived to the airport my one suitcase was twenty pounds over weight. I had to throw away many items just to fit the weight limit. I arrived to Switzerland without much of my own, and once again I was provided for. Beni's mother has been very generous going through her closet and giving me things to wear. She says, "A woman has to have options" and really cannot believe I have lived out of one suitcase for over two years.

I have been very blessed on my journey and have experienced a world wide community of people coming together as my friends, guides, and mentors. I feel grateful to have gone through every lesson that I have. I still enjoy having beautiful clothes and possessing things that make me feel happy but I now a have healthy relationship with materialism. There was a time when I spent every last cent on clothes, and now I know how irrelevant that is to my happiness.