Simplify Explore Learn Together
Simplify!
Our homes are cluttered with stuff, our schedules cluttered with commitments, our minds are spinning trying to keep track of it all, and it all just moves so fast. We want to rest more, travel more, visit more, laugh more, give more… live more, but there just isn’t time, or money, or space, or energy. Or is there?
Like so many others before us, we are discovering that sometimes less is more. Here we write about our baby steps to reduce what we don’t really need, and how we are finding more space in our lives for what we want most.
Once again, it’s been much too long between blog posts. We appreciate your patience and understanding. This transition has been intense and demanding on our time and our energy. It seems there hasn’t been enough of either left at the end of the day to sit down and put it all into words. Today isn’t the day for that either…….
They say a watched pot never boils. We all know that this is scientifically untrue. The water in that pot will boil when it reaches 100C whether you’re watching it happen or not. All the same, we all know what the expression means and have felt its truth over and over again. The time we spend waiting seems to move……
When I first moved to Sweden at the beginning of fall 2006, I started language school almost right away. One of our early lessons centered around a well-known song. As I sat with my dictionary and translated the words to English, I was filled with a sadness and sense of dread that did not suit the upbeat, happy feeling of……
This morning we handed over the all the keys… the keys to the apartment, to the storage closet, to the laundry room, to the outlet on our parking space. After months of working to shed our belongings and a very intense last week of moving out what was left and cleaning, cleaning and more cleaning, it’s almost difficult to understand……
I am married to an eternal optimist. Most of the time, this is an endearing quality, and his voice is absolutely one that I need in my life. There are also times when he needs a dose of my realism (as I call it), though most of the time we’re able to agree that the reality is probably somewhere in……
At the end of January, we passed our first “point of no-return” as we pursue our dream of a location independent lifestyle: we gave our 3 month’s notice on our apartment. While we still aren’t planning to leave this area until the fall, we will be out of our apartment by April 30. From May 1 until we are ready……
It’s a strange feeling to stand at midnight on New Year’s Eve and toast the arrival of a year you’ve looked forward to and planned for but which has, up until now, remained stubbornly and elusively in the future as though it may actually be imaginary. But then suddenly there we stand, glasses in hand. And on TV, a stagehand……
This week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a favorite of mine. Here in Sweden, there’s even a word for this week: mellandagarna, the “in between days”. Even before I had a word for them, I’ve loved these days. There’s no school, many people are off from work, and there isn’t much going on except for gatherings of family……
A decision to live with less stuff brings with it a series of other decisions. Obviously one of the first decisions is what to get rid of and what to keep. Actually, this is often more of a process than a single decision, but nevertheless, hard on the heels of the decision to get rid of something comes the question……
A few weeks ago, unceremoniously and without even knowing it, I washed my last cloth diaper. Of course I knew we were in the midst of potty training and naturally I noticed we were using fewer and fewer diapers. But on that day when I washed the last one, I didn’t know it was the last. Packing, changing, rinsing, washing,……
“A place for everything, and everything in its place” has always been a bit out of reach for me. While I like it in theory, it always evokes an image of a woman wearing those stereotypical librarian glasses on a chain with her hair pulled tightly back into a bun, as though nothing out of place refers just as much……
“Okay, now that I’ve seen your house it feels okay to invite you over to mine.” She said it with a sigh that was something like relief but also with a smile that invited me to friendship. I laughed, my heart warmed by what is still one of the best compliments I’ve ever been given. We met at a church……
Welcome to the new Lindstroms on the Road! We started this blog nearly three years ago to share our preparations for, and eventually the details of, our three-month road trip around the United States with our two young children. Though the trip is over and our travels have been chronicled, the blog remains and we’ve even put some effort into……
Renovation seems to be very popular right now. Chances are, if you’re not involved in your own remodeling project right now, you’re helping someone else with theirs… or at least watching a stranger’s on TV. Though we’re not usually the type to follow trends, it just so happens that we have our own little renovation project underway. We’re gutting and……
