If minimalism is about being intentional with what you have and surrounding yourself with only the things that you need, and use, then packing for a camping trip is a great training…even for a professional organizer.  Professional Organizer, Liza Algar of The Less More Method, tells her story:

“My husband and I went on our first ever camping trip. We spent weeks preparing, and buying all the gear we anticipated needing. We even had a trial run sleepover in the backyard. 

As a professional organizer, I was so impressed with how compact, functional and ingenious camping gear is these days. Our tent folds into a small sack, the sleeping mats deflate and roll up. The cooking pots have handles that fold in, allowing the pots to neatly nest together. The cutlery does double-duty as forks and spoons. Even the LED lantern serves as our phone charger. 

But despite how minimal and compact the gear was, we still had the challenge of fitting everything we needed for 3 days into the back of our Mini Cooper. 

To figure out what we needed to bring, I started by visualizing each event of the day and making a list of all the supplies required for each event. From sleeping, to cooking, to cleaning, to recreation I used the list to guide me, but when it came time to packing I still needed to pare it down, and make some tough choices. 

It was similar to the process I use when working in a client’s home. Pull everything out and start editing back what you don’t need, or use. Start by eliminating the duplicates, and the single use items. 

With only enough room for a very small cooler we had to carefully plan our meals. We had to count out the portions, and decant from bulky packaging into smaller containers. It was fun to think about how we could reuse and repurpose the containers after each meal, turning yogurt tubs into mixing bowls, chip bags into trash bags, and even the melted ice in the cooler could be drinking water if we needed it. 

And we applied the same minimalist approach to everything else – clothes had to work in layers, and as pajamas. Only one book each, and one luxury item (I chose to bring my pillow, my husband brought his mini travel guitar). 

Packing our gear into our Mini Cooper was a game of Tetris. It took trial and error to get it all in, but by putting in the large items first we could fill the smaller surrounding spaces with softer items. Anything we might need on the road was packed last. Everything had a place.  

Living with less for a few days was a reminder that we don’t need as much as we have in our day to day lives. We can reuse, recycle, and do without. Having less choices to make freed up our time, and allowed us to truly enjoy a minimal lifestyle.” …at least for a few days.