Extreme Minimalism: Andrew Hyde and the 15-Item Lifestyle

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Last week, Andrew Hyde made headlines after doing an interview with ABC Radio News.

If you aren't familiar with Andrew Hyde, he'due south a technology mogul and consultant. Like many in his field, he's constantly on the move, working out of New York and Silicon Valley in equal measure out. He is also the founder of Startup Weekend, and organizer of the TEDxBoulder conference. He mentors immature companies and is working on a new business venture that will create art out of discarded vinyl records.

Sounds like a pretty typical business professional, right? Well, Hyde does have i other claim to fame that sets him apart from his contest.

Andrew Hyde only owns 15 things.

Hyde is intentionally homeless. Later leaving his job as community organizer for the New York-based get-go-upwardly incubator TechStars, he sold all of his posessions and decided to travel the world. And for Hyde, everything is coming upward roses.

Minimalism is something I've been intrigued by for years. In fact, 1 of my first posts here at Lifehack was nigh 100-item minimalism. And while I'grand making a concerted effort to through the clutter in my own life, paring down all my holding to 100 items is something I'm not certain I could ever attain, permit alone the incredible challenge of selecting only 15 items to alive on. So i has to wonder…merely what 15 items would yous choose to alive with?

In this picture of Hyde, you can encounter him and all his worldly possessions. In add-on to the apparel on his back, you'll see two pieces of outerwear, some workout clothes, an orange backpack, a pair of socks, a pair of sunglasses, a phone, a laptop, and a few other sundry items. In other words, everything he needs for a tech chore on the go. (You lot can read the full list of Hyde's holding circa 2010 hither.)

And while not having a permanent home certainly helps to limit the number of possessions a person tin have (unless you're investing in a long-term storage unit), just fifteen items seems crazy to most people, especially to anyone who likes fashion and wants to have more than i pair of shoes.

But it's worth remembering that merely considering y'all don't own any given item doesn't mean that you can't ever access 1, should you need it. The larger your network of friends is, the fewer items you need to own. You lot can always borrow what yous don't own from friends or colleagues, whether it's a suit for a formal occasion, a goulash dish for cooking dinner for your in-laws, or fifty-fifty a whole business firm while your friends are on vacation.

And while you might call up that at that place are just some things a person tin can't live without, there are decent alternatives for almost of them.

Cooking basics like pots and pans aren't needed if y'all are traveling and either eating out for every meal, staying in a hotel, or staying in accommodations provided to you past your employer.

You don't need article of furniture if y'all don't have a home or apartment.

You don't demand a Television set or a cable box to lookout your favorite shows, as long as you accept a laptop. Same goes for video games, books, and magazine subscriptions.

And recollect of the savings. No car payments, no mortgage, no cable or utility bills. Without those burdens, yous could probably afford to go our to dinner every night and travel extensively.

Then how would yous go about paring downwards all your property to just fifteen items? For Andrew Hyde, it was a tiresome process: "I started with my clothing basics: two shirts, ane pant, one short, 1 sandals, ane sunglasses and underwear. I added a few 'must haves' for me like an iPad and photographic camera. I added a haversack, toiletries kit, towel, and a few random things (pen, connector cablevision, chargers) and tried it out. After v weeks of the trip, at that place is more than that I have not used in the bag than there is in the handbag."

Socrates once said, "The clandestine of happiness, you see, is not found in seeking more than, simply in developing the capacity to enjoy less." For a guy who lives with only 9 pounds worth of personal belongings, Andrew Hyde is living a Socratic ideal that meshes surprisingly well with our modernistic perceptions of what a person needs to exist happy.

Could y'all always live with just xv items? What 15 things would you choose? Tell united states of america in the comments beneath!

Featured photograph credit: Stocksnap via stocksnap.io

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Source: https://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/extreme-minimalism-andrew-hyde-and-the-15-item-lifestyle.html

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