AirBnB and Minimalism

I’ve never been someone who stayed in short term accommodation. I’m a planner, I like to know what I am doing and plan accordingly. So when I found out I was coming to back to medical school I was rushed to find accommodation. The plan was to book an AirBnB and live in it for about 10 days whilst I found somewhere to live. 

I moved back up to Warwick in under 24 hours. I backed a carry on suitcase, an under the bed box of clothes, a bag of shoe/coats and a bag of ‘uni stuff’ (printer, a few books and some notepads). I picked things that I deemed essential, or I believed could be used in a multitude of different ways. Its been interesting to see what I packed for 10 days, what I’ve used, what I’ve missed and what I’ve coped without.

Five days into my stay I was stressed, still struggling to find good accommodation that fitted my needs but wasn’t a waste of money, especially with my student finance drama. My parents where extremely helpful and helped me to fund an extension of my AirBnB until the end of the month. Not only has this given me some breathing space from the stress, but its given me this amazing opportunity to experience an intense version of the the ‘box method’ of seeing if you need stuff that I took part in during my journey to minimalism.

Not only has it really given me this clarity into how maybe I wasn’t asking the right questions about myself and my belongings. But it made me realise that I also was giving up on living without something too easily, without seeing if you can solve the problem without that object. An example is a kettle. My AirBnB doesn’t come with a kettle, but I’ve coped perfectly fine without one. I’ve boiled water in pans to make drinks and gotten very good at not boiling too much water. Not that it doesn’t mean that I have decided I don’t need a kettle. I think it just made me realise that its not something that needs to be important in my life and I extended it into my other belongings. It led me into changing a lot of my questions about stuff in my life. 

> Can I manage without this?

> Does this have a positive influence in my life?

> Are there solutions that make this obsolete?

There’s a lot of clothes that I’ve bought with me that I’ve had this line of questioning, and clothes that I’ve left at home and really got better idea of what I can live with and a better concept of what I need to live me life comfortably. It’s also made me determine what is important to me. Leaving all my baking equipment at home was surprisingly harder than I thought for me mentally. It’s always been a good way of managing my mental health and preventing my social anxiousness from getting too bad. Without that coping mechanism and with not much of a social life I’ve really been struggling. The space it takes up is worth it for the benefit it gives me.

I guess the lessons I’ve learnt over the last two weeks or so have made me a better person. I’ve gained a lot of life perspective whilst living with as little stuff as I had. And though its definitely shown me that I need some of my stuff from home. I am on a mass clear out, stuff and bad habits. Its made me more determined then ever to sort myself out and be happy and live the lifestyle I deserve.