Are 33 items enough?

feeling a little unused

This year I have spent time reflecting on simplicity and understanding what it means to me in my life. Simplicity gives me more time to enjoy the things I love – experiences, relationships and travel.

I have recently travelled to New Zealand and was inspired by its natural beauty and the Maori legends and wisdom. As a challenge to myself, I chose to travel lightly and partake in Courtney Carver’s Project 333. All over the world like minded souls have been inspired to join her Project 333. I am not the first. And I definitely won’t be the last.

It worked so well for me! It was simple magic. I loved the freedom of travelling lightly, while choosing what to wear became super fast and easy. Gratitude to Courtney for this inspiring project!

Breathe in. Breathe out. Now simplify.

Are 33 items enough? The short answer is YES!

  • I used all but four tops (2 x T-shirts, 1 x shirt and 1 x sun top).
  • I had enough clothes with me and I didn’t forget anything.
  • I packed a few too many summer items, as the weather was still cooler and in some spots cold. We even had snow on the ground one morning on the South Island.
  • I received a winter Icebreaker merino top (you can track your sheep!) as a gift from my soulsister E. so I had one more warmer item. Icebreaker rocks!
  • I had more than enough to choose from and was never bored of wearing the same things over the three month period.
  • No one even noticed or commented on me wearing the same clothes over and over and over again.
  • My back was truly happy with its lighter load.
  • My backpack was light and easy to carry around.
  • I enjoyed the journey so much more having less stuff to worry about.

Will Project 333 still be a part of my life? The short answer is YES again!

  • I decided to take October off and see how I feel about a fuller wardrobe again. I have more choices but I still don’t have a lot of clothes. Yet I still can’t see all my clothes in a glance and it takes longer to decide what to wear each day. It is no longer simple. This doesn’t fit in with my desire for more simplicity in my life.
  • After this break, I will do Project 333 again for the summer and store the rest out of sight.
  • Like before I won’t count yoga, swimming and hiking gear.
  • I am making one exception this time. I love, and I mean LOVE shoes. While I won’t buy any new pairs, I will use those I already own. I won’t count them all in my 33 items. Instead I will add a token of 4 pairs as that is how many I took to New Zealand.
  • I don’t plan on buying anything new and my own budget restrictions will keep me to this. I’d much rather spend on experiences than more things!
  • If anything breaks that I can’t mend, I will swap the one item for an item from storage.
  • I received a gift voucher from my soulsister Y. for my birthday (thank you 🙂 ). If I find anything that I really like at the clothing store, I will spoil myself. If not, I will hold onto the voucher till next season.
  • While packing up the rest to store, I will swap, donate or move items to a new home if I no longer wear them. It is also a good time to do any mending. Thanks mom. 😉

This is only one way that I choose to lead a simpler life. It flows over into many other areas of my life too. I make different food choices, I own less, I have more time for the things I love and I feel less distracted by things. It’s an on-going process and I am learning to let go more. I have often said I prefer one quality item to many fashion items, so now I am walking my talk. I will be looking at my wardrobe in this light from here on in. Wish me luck.

In. Out. Simplify.

YES!

Have you simplified your life in any way? Have you tried Project 333? Lets help each other to simplify more to give us time to focus on the important things in our lives.  Share your tips, brainwaves, ideas or experiences so that we can inspire each other, connect with like minded souls and learn together.

simply yours, Delicia

10 thoughts on “Are 33 items enough?

  1. Hi mdssD

    Your striving for simplicity is inspiring. I am not a hoarder, neither am I a great collector of things, but as I have a fixed address it is easier to fill my space with things. Your gypsy lifestyle lends itself to having less stuff, as you are restricted by space, mostly what you can fit in your backpack.

    Interesting the number 33 as this is also your personal numerology number. So just perfect for you.

    I think it is ones attachment to things, more so than the acquisition of them, that one should guard against.

    Ok! Off the clear out my cupboards……

    As always thanks for sharing.

    YssGilli
    X

    • Hi mssGilli,

      Such a great point about guarding against attachment to things. Thank you for sharing your thoughts. How funny as when
      I wrote this I reflected on the coincidence of the 33 and my personal numerology number too. Like minds!

      Enjoy your cupboard clearing!
      Love lots

    • Well spotted Gilli! as I wrote below I make very good use of the things I acquire (and I think this is a good point for me 😉 ), but I am also struggling with letting go of what I do not need anymore. This, together with the awareness that I really do not need much to be happy, is what prompted my decluttering efforts. I will just need to find the right balance between keeping only what is relevant to the NOW and a reasonable number of mementos.

      • Annalisa, I think the key is right there in what you said, finding the balance. In my life I find that balance is key for me and when I feel in balance all flows and when I feel out of balance, I struggle. I know what balance feels like, so I can strive for it again. As we have discussed previously, being out of balance is also a good thing as it brings us the knowledge of what we are seeking with being in balance. Happy decluttering and wishing you balanced moments in your now. x

  2. Oh laugh! last Saturday I said that in the next weeks I wanted to slowly declutter all things I have around and especially make a bit of space in my wardrobe… In my case the problem is that I still have clothes from something like 20 years ago! Yes, 20! well, in some cases even… 25 😉 like the shirt and sweatshirts I eventually managed to donate only three weeks ago, and not because I they were unused. Shame on me, but I guess the average age of my clothes is about 10 years (and only 10 thanks to all the ones that my family gifted me in the last years knowing that I had no plans to renew my wardrobe). This is to say that I am not fond of fashion, but I rather give preference to quality and comfort. So when I travel my luggage is usually pretty light. But I have to admit not too light because I struggle to limit the load of books, camera, computer, phone, pens, personal journals I want to carry with me to be able to enjoy what I love: reading, writing, connecting, photography.
    A month ago I went to Italy to the wedding of my cousin and I had some thoughts inspired by your Travel lightly post that I would like to share. During the last couple of years when I had three days business trips I had all what I needed in my 35 liters backpack. But when I go to Italy things are different! People do notice and comment on what you wear, and even if I do not pay much attention to this I can tell you they do not let you feel very comfortable unless you are fashionable. What usually happens to me is that my mum and my sisters start to offer me items that they find more appropriate… I guess they are embarrassed by having to go around with me wearing my old comfortable clothes. Laugh! I think Project 333 would never work with them! Would it work for me? Probably not because my family would make it impossible 😉 But I will let you know how close I will get to it. Anyway, what I wanted to say is that being true to one self can be more challenging than one can think of, and that for better or worse cultural background has a major impact in our way of living.

    I agree with you, simplicity allows to focus on those things that are important to us and gives more time to enjoy them. Having fewer things around I take note of them and it takes less time to keep them tidy. It is wonderful that simplicity brings quality to your experiences, relationships and travel. Less distraction makes us feel what is important to us and reach contentment. But I will write about this in your Simplicity post. Thank you for sharing and inspiring, and wish you luck!

    • Laugh indeed! Sharing your experience made me think about how cultural differences do impact things and like you said, sometimes it can be more challenging to be true to yourself. I know that we all find our unique way to do that within our own lives. And as each of our paths are different, the way that works for you or me or someone else will differ. It’s wonderful to explore and find the right option for ourselves. And then to honour that way for ourselves.

      Good luck with your decluttering over the next weeks and I would love to hear how it goes.

      Thank you for sharing your experiences.
      Namaste

      • 😉 sounds perfect!! I used my 35L backpack when I hiked the Camino in Spain for 35 days and there was more than enough space to include snacks and water for a day! For me, I always think I need more than I actually do, so I have set about changing how I view what I need. I am taking it layer by layer like peeling an onion. Namaste

  3. Hello,
    It is nice to find you here after IG. I started slowly to simplify my life about 2 years ago… In no way I went drastic, but I really took baby steps. I looked at project 333 but found out it would not work for me as I mix my clothes too much through out the seasons, so I made a project that could fit me better. I still simplify my closet a lot (I halved the number of pair of shoes I owned amongst others) and I try to stick to it. I love clothes and shopping but my mindset has changed and I buy less… If I buy something I really try to get ride of something else. I am not yet at the point where I do not shop anymore, I still make mistakes when I shop but they are less and less… I also have decluterred the house… It is still on-going and there is still a lot to do, but I am happy to be on this path… I also live much more naturally and again I love it.
    Thanks for sharing all this, it is very inspiring and wishing you the best of all.

    • Hello and so lovely to see you here too! Much gratitude for sharing your simplicity experiences. And wonderful that you discovered a way that works for you. I feel that that is the most important bit – to be uniquely ourselves. I agree that simplifying or living simply is an ongoing process or more importantly ‘a way of being’ and it’s about embracing that in our life. That’s what I try to do.

      Good luck with your living simply and embracing simplicity in your life. xx

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