minimalist life » goals http://www.mnmlstlife.com clutter - a fate worse than dearth Tue, 05 Oct 2010 16:37:31 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Are messenger bags for everyday use? http://www.mnmlstlife.com/archives/38 http://www.mnmlstlife.com/archives/38#comments Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:28:38 +0000 admin http://www.mnmlstlife.com/?p=38 I loved my messenger bag. It is a Timbuk2 Covert Large bag (link) and I bought it for my motorcycle. The capacity of this bag is approximately 35 liters. This bag has a wide reflective strip running along the center band. It makes me very visible when I ride my motorcycle at night.

I do not use this bag on my bicycle at all. If I need to haul anything larger than a grocery bag, I use my Xtracycle.

I have traveled with this bag before. One, a leisure trip for six days and one business trip for four days. In both cases, the bag was tremendously capable of holding my clothes. The single shoulder strap bothered me though. I travel light but lots of walking in airports with all the weight on one shoulder is taxing. It feels especially silly when there are bags available that distribute load to two shoulders and the hip, namely a hiking back pack.

Moreover, when the bag is filled with many little items, the load does not always sit right. Corners and edges of different contents realign when you slip the straps on and poke your back unevenly.

The only benefit I see of messenger bags is the wide opening for larger packages. I have transported two cases of dog food in them. Since then, I have found a local vet who carries the brand and flavor of dog food I buy. I use the Xtracycle to fetch it. All my everyday motorcycle rain gear and lunch will fit nicely in the back pack.

I was talked into buying this bag by a friend who has an identical bag for over 15 years. He obviously likes his bag. I wanted a bag that would stay far above the hip so as to not interfere with the rear seat of my motorcycle. I need to find a backpack that does that. I have stopped seeing the practicality in a single shoulder strap messenger bag.

The messenger bag also loses out on being a good camping/backpacking bag.  Karol Gajda demonstrates that here: link. A 30 litre backpack will serve that purpose easy and is in line with my goals this year.

An object needs to have a functional and an aesthetic value for me to enjoy it. I will be selling the messenger bag once I get a back pack. There is no need to keep two bags.

]]> http://www.mnmlstlife.com/archives/38/feed 2 goals http://www.mnmlstlife.com/archives/32 http://www.mnmlstlife.com/archives/32#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:33:54 +0000 admin http://www.mnmlstlife.com/?p=32 I am not a new-year’s resolution kinda guy. This year, having de-cluttered my life a lot more than this time last year, I feel a mental freedom to explore more avenues. Hence, the 2010 goals. I took about a month to create these goals. Some were loosely formed last year, some this year. Coincidently, they total to six, in line with 6 changes by Leo Babauta.

I have divided them into three categories, namely biological, social and intellectual.

BIOLOGICAL
Go camping (involves buying gear)
Train atlas twice a week for bicycle tour (home to baldwin trail)
go on a bicycle tour
SOCIAL
do not eat any candy from coworker’s candy jar
buy no clothes all year unless absolutely necessary
INTELLECTUAL
start writing book about the people of jacksonville (project cup-a-tea)
BIOLOGICAL
  • Go camping (involves buying gear)
  • Train atlas twice a week for bicycle tour (home to baldwin trail)
  • go on a bicycle tour
SOCIAL
  • do not eat any candy from coworker’s candy jar
  • buy no clothes all year unless absolutely necessary
INTELLECTUAL
  • start project ‘cup-a-tea’
I want to some day be able to pack my xtracycle with camping gear and a wad of cash and take off chasing the sun, a dream or just plain answers. I want to be able to do it by myself. I have always been interested in camping but never had the opportunity. This year, I make my opportunity. To tour, I need to get into shape to ride a fully laden bicycle upto 50 miles a day. Hence the training. I dont do well with training routines, so this will be a good challenge.

My coworker generously lets us dig our hands into a bottomless candy jar. I am tired of my afternoon cravings for candy. I pledge to never touch that jar all year.

I have enough clothes. I have enough good quality clothes. If I lose weight with my bicycle training, I will get my pants altered. No buying clothes.

Project cup-a-tea is a super secret project. It is an intellectual challenge and will surely carry forward to next year’s goal. It involves some heavy reading.

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