One Year Without All the Small Stuff.

This is the fourth post in the blog series One Year Without. See all of the posts here.

Moving abroad, giving up our cars, going without community – those were all huge life changes. But what about all the small stuff that we went without? All the smaller comforts of home that we left behind had a big impact on our comfort levels and approach to minimalism as well.

I’ll break down all the small stuff that we missed the most during our year without by category:

Kitchen

Refrigerator and freezer – We left behind generous refrigerated space in our US apartment and were greeted by a mini-fridge in our new German home. Kneeling or sitting down to unload grocery items into the mini-fridge reminded me of my college days. The tiny freezer meant I wouldn’t be cooking large batches of meat to save for later and we had to choose between using the space for frozen fruit, veggies, or ice cream. This downsize also meant we needed to shop more frequently, change our meal styles to include more fresh or packaged food, and go out to eat more often. While it was inconvenient, it also meant that we never forgot about food items hidden in the back of the fridge or had to worry about using something up before it expired.

Appliances – I left behind some fantastic appliances, such as my crockpot, hand mixer, and waffle maker. Not only were those appliances too large and bulky to include in our air shipment, but the electrical currents are incompatible without expensive and complicated adapters. Fortunately, our furnished suite included a toaster and coffee pot. Cooking meals became labor intensive, difficult, and awkward. I often chose simple smoothies, salads, or roasted veggies in favor of more elaborate home cooking and I certainly gained a new appreciation for all the kitchen gadgets that I use on a regular basis.

Dishwasher – My mom loves to tell the story about when she and my Dad were shopping for their first house and the realtor told them that one home came with a dishwasher. She replied, “Really?!” and the realtor said, “Yes, you!” I think I finally understood how she felt in her first home after going without a dishwasher for the first time myself. At first we thought that our tiny sink and lack of counter space would force us to keep our dishes clean – as the only other option was impossible clutter – but we ended up with a dirty, chaotic dish situation more times than I’d like to admit. But at least we didn’t have many dishes to keep clean.

Overall shortage of items – I sent our nice Tupperware, casserole pans, cookware, beer glasses – you name it – into storage. We thought that we’d have everything we needed or that we could learn to do without, but we were somewhat mistaken. Living with only three plates and five spoons is hard. Perhaps the hardest part of not having much is that what we did have was rather low quality. If you can only have one or two pots, knives, cups, etc., you need to have quality ones.

Bathroom

Hair appliances – I only did my hair once during our 13 months abroad (using borrowed appliances). My curling iron and hairdryer were electrically incompatible and I decided to go without for a year. The pros were that I spent less time in the bathroom and caused less damage to my hair. The main drawback was that I had very little control over my hair; bad hair days were often a reality when I only had hairspray on hand to tame the beast or a hat to cover it up.

Bathtub – This was the most difficult item for me to go without. I suffer from chronic pain and soaking in hot salt baths is an excellent way for me to treat it. Bathtubs are a rarity in Europe due to the extra space required and the fact that they tend to increase water usage.

Household

Washer and dryer – Not having my own private laundry machines was something I hoped to be done with forever after graduating from college. There was just one washer and dryer for the 21 rooms in our hotel and the dryer had a bad habit of breaking frequently. We learned to do our laundry before it became absolutely vital, because there was never a guarantee you’d have access to the facilities when you needed them. This situation caused a lot of frustration for us, but having one in our building was at least better than having to go to the closest laundromat like we saw others doing.

Printer – Ah, the joy of having a little machine that can print, scan, and fax upon demand. We learned to save and print out every travel reservation or shipping label in advance at Mr. Meena’s workplace or at our hotel during reception hours. We also resorted to taking photos of documents instead of scanning them. Although it’s definitely a small thing to miss (and not worth the investment for one we’d only use for a year), relatively, there were plenty of occasions where not having our own printer caused us frustration.

I’ve only listed a sampling of all the small stuff that I’ve complained endlessly about missing we’ve gone without over the past year. We did have a few meltdowns and ended up purchasing a few things that we just couldn’t go without. But overall I’m glad that we learned what it was like to go without so much extra stuff that we’ve become accustomed to owning. We trimmed all the fat and excess off of our lives, boiling it down to just the essentials. It taught us a lot about what is important to us, why we need the things we do, how we can be content with less.

What would have been hardest for you to go without?

Read the next post in this series.

What we missed the most after giving up 90% of our belongings. #minimalism #expatlife Click To Tweet

Pin this: