Running Away: A story of minimalist travel

That headline makes this post seem much more dramatic than it actually is.  As you may have noticed if you've read some of the other posts on this blog, I've been feeling a little worn out, a little overwhelmed.  I had what *should* be my last real estate exam this past Saturday (assuming I passed, fingers crossed) and I had been getting antsy from being on the ground so long (haven't flown since the end of March since things are so slow at the airline).  One of my closest friends, we'll call her E, calls Edmonton home and my sister and a few other friends live in Calgary.  I used to see these people fairly regularly since I could pick what flying I did and would opt to have layovers in those two cities.  Since I lost the ability to choose my schedule when I took the Service Director position, I haven't seen them for long time and I was *not* enjoying the time apart.

I had contacted E and Sis and told them if it was at all possible, I was going to be flying in for a whirlwind visit this past weekend.  Since I was couch surfing between several people, 2 cities and would potentially be spending a lot of time on my own, carrying everything with me while waiting to meet up with my next host, I knew I'd want to pack light...even lighter than I normally do.  I made a list of what to pack and then edited it down to what I thought were the essentials for a 3-4 day trip.

What you see in the above picture is EVERYTHING I brought with me (except for 1 thin paperback which I left behind at a thrift store since I had finished reading it and my iPhone which was being used to take the picture).  I apologize for the quality of the pic but I'll list everything here and then comment on how this packing experiment worked out for me.  

What's in the pic (even if not perfectly visible):

• Jackets: Spring-weight knee length jacket, black, lined blazer
• Tops: long sleeve quick-dry style athletic shirt with a paisley design, plain white t-shirt, black tank with sequins
• Bottoms: skinny jeans in a dark wash, black knee length jersey skirt, yoga capris
• Intimates: convertible bra, flesh toned, sports bra and 4 prs undies (packed away in the black bag you see *under* the bra in this pic)
• Hosiery: 1 pr black tights and 3 prs thin socks
• Accessories: light, pashmina style scarf, black belt, sunglasses, beaded cuff bracelet, watch, claw-style hair clip
• Footwear: flat, knee-high leather boots and black ballet flats
• Travel conveniences: water bottle, travel mug (there were tea bags tucked into the travel mug), 2 paperback books (I left the one I finished behind, it was good but it wasn't one I was going to bother reading again), purse-size umbrella, phone charger, ear bud earphones, luggage lock, eye mask
• Travel necessities: wallet (containing the standard wallet stuff), passport and security pass (since I work for an airline, travelling with my security pass gives me access to extra seats that the public is unable to use), 2 pens
• Makeup (non-liquids packed into a tiny makeup pouch): powder foundation, 1 blush with travel brush, 1 lipstick, 1 cream eyeshadow, 1 tinted moisturizing lip gloss, 1 eyeliner (I've had it for awhile so it's basically just a stub now), 1 tube of mascara
• Personal care: 1 sample size deodorant (super happy I found that in my HBA stash), 1 travel size toothpaste tube, toothbrush,  1 bar of soap (gentle enough to use on face as well as body), 2 sample pouches of shampoo/conditioner (only ended up using one), hair brush, tweezers, compact mirror, 3 hair elastics, razor, medicated ointment (for my psoriasis...boo, packed a bit in a sample container instead of bringing the normal tube), hand lotion, pill box containing ibuprofen, tiny bottle of dish soap
• Black purse and LeSportsac tote

Some comments on the items:

• The yoga capris and sports bra functioned as my PJs while sleeping at my friends' places and, had I been able to spend more time with my sister, would've actually been used for a yoga class (along with the long sleeve top I brought)
• Notice the boring colour scheme (black, white, grey and denim)?  It was deliberate...everything went with everything else.  This just happened to be what was in my closet (I LIKE black, white, grey and denim!) but sticking to the same colour group when packing will achieve the same thing.
• My makeup looked the same everyday and that's perfectly okay!!
• Visiting Alberta always means pack for a wide range of weather possibilities; the longer black jacket, white scarf and boots (instead of just black shoes) were all packed because I was keeping that in mind.

What I'd edit further in the future:

• Tiny bottle of dish soap - I carry that as an FA to use in a pinch if something (travel mug, clothing, etc) needs to be washed.  Staying at friends' places means it wasn't necessary since I had access to laundry facilities if something got dirty or if I was extending my trip.
• Travel mug - again, this was from my FA habit of always carrying a travel mug so all I need to do if I want tea is find hot water.  As I walked through Calgary, I *welcomed* the opportunity to step into a cafe to buy a tea and relax for a few minutes.
• Water bottle - this IS an essential for me since I try to avoid bottled water but I wouldn't mind having a smaller sized bottle if I can find one.
• Footwear: if I was making this trip again later in the Spring, I'd switch out the boots for a pair of black heels and leave the longer jacket at home.  The scarf is handy on the plane since wrapping it around exposed skin helps keep you warm if you feel a bit chilled so, since its so small, it still would've made the cut.
• Little things: bring 1 book instead of 2 (thought I'd do more waiting around!), leave the eye mask and bracelet at home - I didn't really need them.  I did use the hair clip but, if pressed, could have left it behind and just stuck with ponytails and messy buns while I was travelling.
• Personal Care:  I really did have the option of leaving behind the shampoo/conditioner/toothpaste and just asking to use what my various hosts had.  If every ounce of weight was critical, that would've been done but it clearly wasn't terrible to carry around the samples I had found at home.

I wouldn't say I'd choose to do all of my travel with a minimalist packing style but it was certainly a different experience to be able to put ALL my belongings under the seat in front of me during a flight.  It was actually very freeing to not feel bogged down by a lot of stuff (and I usually squeeze everything into a carry-on suitcase so I wasn't packing excessively to begin with).  I spent one day walking around Calgary on foot (yep, I walked from just north of Prince's Island Park to Richmond & Sarcee in the SW) and although, it wasn't ideal carrying everything with me, it was completely doable.  However, if your trip involves having to trek around with all your belongings, I would suggest using a backpack instead of a tote so you can carry the weight spread across both shoulders instead of having to carry it all on one side, alternating every so often.

So now I'm back home, feeling more refreshed after my adventure and very happy to have been able to see my loved ones, even if only for a short time.  I'm back to the office tomorrow (probably should have gone in today) but am looking forward to the next time I can run away.

Happily,

Kris

I'm a hypocrite...because of my dining room wall.

I'm a hypocrite...

To the right, you'll see a (poor-quality) photo of my dining area.  *Please ignore the piles of stuff on my dining room table.*  I, the girl who says she's trying to be a non-consumer and avoid excess packaging, went to Ikea yesterday to browse.  My first mistake was going to an Ikea to browse since I get a high off of Ikea that most people need drugs to attain.  My second mistake was not running out of there at top speed when I picked up when one of their yellow shopping bags.

In my defense (excuses, excuses!), I had planned something for my dining room wall that had always involved Ikea components.  You can see the general idea taking shape in the photo.  I wanted to have my exhibition poster hanging above the sideboard, with some shelving and the Ikea wine racks you see in the pic.  I could've purchased or acquired shelving and brackets somewhere else and then painted them to match.  THAT would've been the non-consumer thing to do but apparently, I'm a hypocrite.  When I saw that Ikea had shelves that would match and brackets that had the sleek style I was going for, I caved.  It wasn't the cheapest way to accomplish this plan, it wasn't the non-consumer way to achieve this goal but it was easy and between being stretched thin time-wise and just wanting some of the things on my list to finally get done...I did it.  I bought the shelves.  How do I feel about this?  Honestly, not as guilty as I thought I would feel.  That little voice inside is saying "Tsk tsk." but I know if I had waited to find shelving, find the right paint colour, find brackets, paint the shelves and then hang them, finishing this task would be a lot further away.  As it stands right now, I just need to hang the poster (easy peasy, that's a one screw job) and the second wall shelf.  I'll have to get a friend to hold the poster at various heights so I can figure out how high it, and the second shelf, need to be hung.  If I didn't need to wait to do that, the whole job would be done by now.

I WAS better than I could've been an the Ikea.  I used to end up with a cart full of decorative accessories and trust me, there was a lot of temptation but I just kept thinking that I could probably find very similiar vases/pitchers/knickknacks secondhand at a thrift store.  Ikea keeps its prices really low (I'm intrigued how much of this is due to the size of their orders vs. externalizing the costs of manufacturing) so buying secondhand might not have a huge cost benefit but at least it wouldn't trigger the production of more items.

So yes, I'm a hypocrite because of my dining room wall but this was a guilty pleasure, I can't say I'd have chosen differently if I had to do it over again.  I'm going to go ahead and take "Finish Dining Room Decor" off my to do list now since the next step will likely get finished off tonight.

Do you make conscious decisions to go against your general philosophy every so often or do you have the willpower and determination to stick to it 24/7?

Happily,
Kris

Toot n Holler 2014

Booooo.  The weather for this year's Toot n Holler was cold and wet.  I bravely set up my tables and dragged my stuff outside but there were few buyers.  This might also be because my address didn't seem to make it onto the poster of participating homes despite the fact I had called the Chamber's office...

As it was, I made less than $100 and was left with a lot of the items I had wanted to declutter, still in my garage when the drizzle became an actual downpour and my  neighbour and I called it quits.  Here's a shot of my garage once the stuff was dragged back in.

 

It doesn't seem like much was gone but some of the bulkier items found new homes.  I debated keeping the items aside and trying to hold another garage sale again later in the summer but a) I will likely only have one or two more weekends off during the summer and I'd prefer not to have to spend them standing in my driveway trying to sell used goods and b) I just want this crap GONE!  I sorted through the items and packed them up again according to their destination (ReStore vs. colleague's charity garage sale vs. community thrift shop).  I'm hoping that all the items that fit in my car (pretty much everything except those leftover trim pieces on the ground) will be gone by the end of the week.

My other exciting event of the weekend was baking bread.  It didn't turn out but I have two delicious, wheat based bricks.  I think it was a combination of weak yeast and a bit too much flour but the results are edible so, in the spirit of not wasting resources whenever possible, I'm eating the bread anyways.  I don't eat much bread normally so it'll be a few weeks before I need to attempt again but I was trying to cover off my desire for bread (to go with chili and soups) without having to buy bread packaged in plastic so my heart was in the right place.

Have a great week!!

Happily,

Kris

This commercial makes me cry but it's so true...

Living Locally: Bistro Seven Seven in Alliston, Ontario

I'm lucky enough to work two jobs.  I'm both a Service Director (the "head Flight Attendant" on a flight) for a national airline as well as a Realtor.  To accommodate my flying schedule, although I'm licensed as a Registered Salesperson, I choose to work as a Licensed Assistant to another Registered Salesperson in my area.  He's a great boss, it's a great brokerage and loving both my jobs makes my life somewhat difficult because I DO overschedule myself.  Recently, my brokerage decided to treat the administrative staff for dinner as a token of appreciation for the work we do.

Our manager took us out to dinner at a great local restaurant called Bistro Seven Seven.  I had noticed this restaurant, located on Victoria Street East in Alliston, while driving around town and put it on my list of places to check out "some time" and of course, never got around to it.  I'm SO thankful I was given an opportunity to dine here, especially since this lovely dinner was on someone else's dime.  :)

The restaurant is set up in what appears to be a century home.  I didn't get a chance to really check out the interior since our party was seated in a private room upstairs.  I was lucky enough to score a seat next to the room's gas fireplace (the girl who is always chilly was toasty warm!!).  Eating here is definitely an experience, it's not a restaurant that you'd pop into for a quick meal.  While we conversed our tables were provided with fresh bread as well as some salmon croquettes and sweet potato fritters as appetizers.  I didn't have a chance to try the fritters but the salmon croquettes, served with a spicy mayo, were delicious.  Between the courses, we were offered a coconut sorbet to cleanse our palettes.  It was light and refreshing...a welcome addition that is often forgotten at restaurants these days.

The restaurant has their regular menu as well as a table d'hote or prix fixe option (I'm actually not sure what the english equivalents are for those terms).  I ordered the crab cakes to start, followed with their herbed gnocchi.  The food was fantastic and although it's not a cheap restaurant (for someone with my budget) it's DEFINITELY somewhere I'm going to try and hit up again if I ever have an occasion that warrants a nice meal.  I thoroughly enjoyed my evening!!

I'd recommend making reservations as, even though we were there on a Wednesday, the restaurant seemed to fill quickly.  Bistro Seven Seven was a wonderful reminder that you don't need to leave New Tecumseth to find fine dining options.  Check out their website at www.bistrosevenseven.com!

Happily (and with a very contented tummy!),
Kris

FINALLY got to use my drill today!

I had my drill and some time free between my workout and when I needed to show up at the office so I hit up the hardware store, got the wall anchors I needed and finally got it done.  :)

Raising the Bar

Happy Easter!!

I've a huge fan of the blogs The Non-Consumer Advocate and Zero Waste Home and through one of their readers, just found a new blog to follow; My Plastic Free Life.  Beth's website has a wealth of resources and now I'm laughing because it adds another dimension of difficulty to the life I'm striving to live.

So, I want to be a mindful consumer, try to lessen the waste of resources and avoid plastics as much as possible while working two jobs, attempting to improve my fitness, slowly tackling projects around my house AND taking a course?  Hell's yeah!

I mean..."No."  :(  I am willing to set these as goals but I've already mentioned I'm feeling stretched.  Things won't always be this tough...the course WILL end, the projects around the house WILL *eventually* be completed but I need to not bite off more than I can chew or else I'll simply get frustrated and give up on everything.  Although I do find Beth's challenge to be completely amazing and *do* want to try and work that in when making decisions, I'm not going to beat myself up if I can't manage it too well right now.  I'm hampered by a few things, most significantly, Bulk Barn and the other grocers in my area do not allow you to use your own containers when bulk-buying so I'm forced to use their plastic bags (which at least get reused when I clean the cat litter).  I do suspect that my desire to cut down on excess waste means that I'll be reducing the amount of plastic brought into my life quite a bit anyways.

This is just another thing to consider, this journey will be constantly evolving!

Happily,
Kris