Minimalism

I was sitting down by Turtle lake in the gardens and for some reason I got onto thinking about people doing the 100 things challenge. So I got out my trusty notebook and decided to jot down a list of sorts. I got up to about 50.

Here's the list. I'm putting them in a semi order, with reasoning for some of them. Some of them I'm including together (ie Laptop + Charger) while others won't be. I'm not keeping to any hard and fast rules about it because it's the ideal I'm thinking about here.

Anyway.
1) Phone
In this case, my good ol' Galaxy S. Although a Galaxy Nexus would be pretty schweet. It's first on the list because it's a means of communication, reference, entertainment, book, magazine, music player, camera, wifi hotspot, and about a million things that I'm not remembering. It's the first thing that I make sure I have with me if I'm leaving the house (unless I have a reason not to). Because it does all these things it lets me cut right back on a whole heap of other stuff.

Also included in this list is the charger, the cable that connects it to the laptop, and a pair of headphones.

2) A bag
Because I'm going to have to stuff all this stuff somewhere.

3) Pen and notebook
Because sometimes you need to be an analogue guy in a digital world.

Also because I can rip bits of paper out of it, sketch in it, write in it, all that sort of thing. It's useful and without it I probably wouldn't be writing this all down right now.

4) Sunglasses
My cheapish, mirrored aviators will do. I want to be able to do anything wearing them without worrying too much about breaking them.

5) A laptop
As much as I love my dv6 to bits, It's big, clunky, heavy, and has pretty average battery life. So I'm going with an ultrabook.

The obvious solution here is to go for the Macbook Air. Which would be fine, except for the fact I loathe OS X. (I'll probably put the reasons why in another post, but it doesn't matter for now). So I'd put Windows on it.

Aside from that, Either a Samsung Series 9 or an HP Envy 14 would suit.

Why go for a laptop and not a tablet you ask? Mostly because I want something I can do "media creation" on. It's just easier with the physical keyboard for anything that's longer than a quick email. Plus I can store all of my music, photos, and video on a laptop.

6) A watch
My GShock is pretty good. Rugged, does all the stuff I want.

7) A wallet

All of the above would be stuff I'd have if I was just going out somewhere, where I could get home and change, wash, etc. If I was staying somewhere that wasn't home, or travelling, I'd need to add some more stuff.

8) Toothbrush and toothpaste
9) Shampoo and bodywash
10) Towel
11) Tee Shirt (3x)
12) Pants (2x)
13) Jeans
14) Shoes
15) Socks and underwear (3x)
16) Shirt
17) Icebreaker top
Just clothes. Nothing too interesting.

Beyond that, I'd want:

18) Raincoat
19) Waterbottle
20) Sleeping bag and pillow
Sleeping stuff and keeping warm

21) Bike
22) Helmet
23) Bike lock
Mobility

24) Swiss army knife/multitool
It's like a smartphone but for cutting, bottle opening, tweezering, nail clipping, and tooth picking.

25) Sweatshirt
26) Tee Shirt
27) Jeans
28) Shorts
29) Icebreaker
30) Socks and underwear (2x)
More clothes

31) Togs
Because I want to get some fitness. Running would be my first choice but swimming all you need is togs and a towel.

The list comes out to about 50 things. Without any emergencies and assuming some temperate weather I think I'd be able to survive just using these. Now I think about it it's a good list of stuff to take while off travelling for an extended period of time too.