Check in

So today I avoided going out to eat with a friend, not because I don't like her, but because I don't want to spend so much money. However, I am still of the mind that I want to just allow myself to spend money on cooking when I want, I need to hold back from random luxuries for a while. I just bought my ticket to Brazil. In December I will leave the USA for the first time and enter a country I have always wanted to go explore. I do plan to travel around while I am there, so I am trying to decide how I will pack in the minimum to still be able to have fun. It will be an interesting test of minimalism for me because I will have to balance socially acceptable means of travel with personal needs. If it were just me, I would probably pack only a few shirts, and a few bottoms, and a bathing suit, along with necessary undergarments and toiletries. While that would probably pass over fine with my travel mates, I may also need to pack "going out gear" and other random essentials. Hopefully I can keep my packing down to one backpack so that when we traverse the random parts of the country I won't need to carry too much.

On another note, I have successfully gotten rid of a few clothing items, and the small brown suitcase that I had. I love suitcases, but I know that I don't need small hard cased ones for general purposes. However, I did acquire a bicycle, a bicycle helmet, lights, a lock, and a pump.... sigh... a few more things to add to the list of things I own. I am beginning to wonder what is acceptable to re-gift as well. For Christmas I have some valuable things that I don't need anymore, but were given to me as gifts. I don't want to donate them to a random charity, but I also don't want to keep them around building up dust when I cannot use them. So I will begin to ask the gift donors if it is acceptable.

Also, Chicago is getting cold, and I am actually not minding the weather at all, I have a sweater and a jacket and a coat and that should get me through the winter along with two hats, some gloves, and a scarf. As the days get colder though, I will have to decide to do laundry more often to maintain normal hygiene with my limited underclothes.