In the last post, I defined slow travel and outlined 3 slow travel myths. If you're ready to get started with slow travel, the tips in this post will put you on the right path. Just like you don't want to live a superficial life, don't skim the surface of your travel. Live—and travel—intentionally. Go deep! Get an appreciation for a different way of life (which some would argue is the whole point of travel in the first place). — Intrepid Travel¹ 10 Slow Travel Tips … [Read more...]
5 Origin Stories of “Keeping up with the Joneses”
"Keeping up with the Joneses." The epitome of lifestyle inflation. The tourist in the story of the tourist and the fisherman. We've all heard it. But, does anyone know why we say it, or where it came from? This little research project turned out to be much more fascinating than I expected going into it. No matter which origin story you want to believe, we've been using the phrase for over a century. 5 Origin Stories of "Keeping up with the Joneses" No one seems to agree on … [Read more...]
Lifestyle Inflation: The Danger of “I Deserve This”
I was recently inspired by this Twitter exchange between The Minimalists and The Container Store (yes, this really happened). The logic here is sound, but don't let it stop you from treating yourself once in a while! -CZ — The Container Store (@ContainerStore) May 27, 2018 Treat yourself? Those are the words of a playground drug dealer. Going to the @ContainerStore to fight clutter is like visiting a gourmet cake shop to combat obesity. https://t.co/ftJSVnWFzP — The Minimalists … [Read more...]
How Minimalism Helped Me Stop Buying Clothes in 12 of the Last 16 Months
Earlier this year, I wrote a post titled "Oops Minimalism" about how I spent $0 on clothing for the first 6 months of 2017. I attributed the success to: Wanting to minimize decision fatigue — Having less clothing means needing to think less about what to wear everyday Eliminating cues so I could break shopping habits — Deleting shopping apps, unsubscribing from shopping emails, and unfollowing brands on social media meant out of sight, out of mind (after awhile, I just forgot to shop and … [Read more...]
Experiences vs Things: A Thought Experiment on Spending Money
This has been top of mind for a few years now — the experiences vs things showdown. We've all seen the headlines — spending is shifting from things to experiences. FOMO is the new "keeping up with the Joneses." Blame Millennials for your favorite thing-based business going out of business. Well, what's the truth? Experiences vs Things Research There are research studies that try to resolve this never-ending debate. I've pulled the abstracts from two of the more recent studies … [Read more...]
