My Year Of No Shopping - Part 2 (Abroad Edition!)
Originally published Sept 20, 2020
>> Read My Year of No Shopping Part 1 here. <<
I spent nine out of the twelve months of 2019 traveling through Guatemala, Mexico, France, Croatia, Macedonia, Greece, Israel, England and Colombia. My plan was to continue My Year of No Shopping and therefore, travel for the first time in my life with the intention to BUY NOTHING. I packed as light as possible while attempting to bring everything I may need.
In total, I made 3 purchases in 2019: two pairs of earrings from artisans and a traditional Mayan outfit to wear to a ceremony.
In today’s post, I share my lessons from My Year Two of No Shopping - Abroad Edition.
WEARING NO MAKEUP FOR A FULL YEAR WAS PRETTY AMAZING.
When preparing to pack, two big considerations were what to do about makeup & haircare. I ultimately chose to not bring any makeup with me for two reasons.
I’m not a big makeup wearer and felt like the extra weight from a makeup bag was unnecessary in my small carry-on size travel backpack.
In my effort to live a more waste-free lifestyle, I realized that the packaging and containers of beauty products (even clean beauty), mostly end up in the landfill, so I chose to say goodbye to makeup and nail polish for now.
I saw this as a great opportunity to experiment with how I would feel without these in my life. As I write this post in September 2020, I have continued living a makeup and nail polish free life and it’s been great. Not only does it make getting ready and going to bed simpler, I’ve also learned to love the way I look, exactly as I am for any occasion. I even attended a friend's black tie wedding last year in a fancy (hand-me-down) dress and (borrowed) heels wearing no makeup and felt just as beautiful.
I wore makeup to two friends weddings in the last month and it was fun to play around with makeup again for the first time in over a year and a half :)
I BROKE UP WITH MY DEVACHAN HAIR PRODUCTS.
As silly as it sounds, the thing that stressed me out the most about packing for my travels was what to do about hair care. I’ve been using the same curly girl hair products for more than a decade. The bottle size would not work for my carry-on size backpack and in my efforts to live more waste-free, I needed to find a new plastic-free solution.
In the month before I left, I visited Package Free Shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and bought a shampoo and conditioner bar to try out. To my surprise, the products worked just as well as my curly girl products, took up a fraction of the space and created zero packaging waste in the process.
I made a few other simple toiletry swaps for more zero or low waste options like this razor, refillable and compostable dental floss, and a compostable bamboo toothbrush. These low waste options are easier than ever to come by and can make a big difference.
MAGNETISM HAS MORE TO DO WITH WHO YOU ARE THAN HOW YOU LOOK.
One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned through my no shopping and minimalism journey is that magnetism truly comes from being yourself. The more you follow your unique path, embrace who you are and trust your intuition, the more magnetizing you will be.
This sunk in for me in the Fall of 2018, during my first year of no shopping…
I moved out of NYC on July 1st 2018 to my family’s home on Fire Island, a car-free beach community off of Long Island. I came back to NYC for one week during September to attend events for the UN Environmental Summit.
One extremely hot and humid New York day, I was bopping around the city to a few events in hand-me-down leggings, a tank top and a messy bun. By the evening, I felt pretty sweaty and gross.
To my surprise, two different men approached me on the street that evening, striking up a conversation. They both were really cool and interesting individuals who by the end of each conversation asked to exchange numbers. I even ended up going on a few dates with one of the men. In the seven years I lived in NYC, this had never happened to me. And as I shared this story with a few friends, they reflected back the same.
I had experienced a similar type of magnetism many times during past travels, but never in New York.
That night, I truly realized that magnetism, both for friendship and romantic relationships, has little to do with your outfit, if you’re wearing makeup and have perfect hair, and more to do with the energy you put out and how you are feeling in your life.
This one experience has continued to ring true ever since…
EXPERIENCING MY STYLE AND BODY IMAGE ABROAD WAS VERY DIFFERENT THAN IN NEW YORK.
During my first 6 months of being out of the country traveling in Guatemala and Mexico, I almost never felt insecure. Returning to New York in June 2019 was a massive culture shock on every level, but especially in this category. I felt bombarded by endless stores, marketing in window displays, the streets and even the subway. I felt ‘less than’ and insecure about how I looked for the first time in 6 months, catching myself changing my outfit a few times and spending more time in front of the mirror getting ready.
Looking back, I saw almost no advertising in my months in Guatemala, and even in a big city like Mexico City, it’s not in your face. From my experience, these cultures put much less emphasis on fashion and body image.
Returning to New York shocked my whole system. It helped me take a deeper look at the impact that non stop fashion messaging and being surrounded by a fashion-focused and consumer-based culture had on me and how I felt about myself.
I realized that in this environment, I needed to prioritize my spiritual practice, self care & time in nature to feel more centered and grounded.
I BEGAN TO DRESS MORE MODESTLY.
Although most parts of Guatemala can get very warm, you almost never see anyone wear shorts. Many women still dress in traditional clothing and those that wear more modern clothing often dress modestly as well. When visiting lakes and waterfalls, I noticed that locals went swimming in clothing, no bikinis. Having a greater awareness for my surroundings, I’ve begun dressing more modestly. I do travel with one pair of jeans shorts, but the rest of the time, I opt for dresses or light weight pants.
REPAIRING CLOTHES IS REALLY EASY.
Traveling with a tiny wardrobe means that things will wear out more quickly. Instead of tossing these items aside, I repair when possible. For the first time in my life, I sewed up small holes in my socks, tears in the thighs of my leggings and repaired the rip in my backpack. It’s amazing what a small sewing kit can do!
STYLE TIPS FOR A MINIMALIST TRAVEL WARDROBE
Jewelry is key! I travel with a small pouch of colorful earrings and they can add a special touch to even the simplest outfit.
My minimalist wardrobe is made up of a handful of special items and mostly basics. The beauty of basics, like a simple black tank top, black loose pants or leggings and a sweater is that it could work for a hike or going out to dancing depending on what accessories you pair it with.
Sarongs may be the most important thing I travel with! I always travel with two sarongs because they fill so many purposes. Of course they are a great layer to wear at the beach, but they can also serve as a scarf, blanket, shawl, or pillow.
I have begun purchasing items in 2020 and will share my what and why in Part 3 (coming soon!) Thank you for reading and hearing about my process in experimenting with living a more simple way. If this inspired anything in your or have any questions or thoughts for me, leave them in the comments below!