I have been living in Globus2 for over two years now, the last two months together with Kelly. A minimalist existence in a van without a salary. And yet we lack nothing and have everything we need.
Minimalist
Okay, let me be open right away: Kelly and I do not live a minimalist existence. Globus 2 is equipped with a lot of luxury. We generally have sufficient electricity available, we have a kitchen with two gas burners, running cold and, when the weather is nice, hot water. We sleep on a normal bed and very important; we have 150Gb internet per month at our disposal.
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But we also don't have a lot. For example, we don't have a shower in Globus 2 and since we only sporadically stay at a campsite, we wash ourselves the 'old fashioned' way. We don't have a separate room to retreat to for the necessary me-time. We hardly buy stuff or clothes, not because we don't see nice things, but we simply can't find a place for it.
Money
We are also both currently not working. No work means no income and we therefore only have a limited budget for groceries, diesel, campings and other expenses. Eating out, visiting museums or other paid activities are therefore hardly possible. So you could say we live very consciously.
Abundance
And despite all these limitations, we feel like we are living in abundance at the moment. We really experience it as a privilege not to have to go to the office every day, to spend our time exactly as we want. To be in nature every day and to be able to take beautiful mountain walks. If we can take a shower somewhere, we enjoy it immensely.
"Minimalism is not a lack of something. It's simply the perfect amount of something"
Big people house with attic
And then to think that a few years ago I lived in a regular grown-up house and was also quite materialistic. Not exaggerated, but what I thought I needed I bought without thinking about it. And so you unnoticed have a kitchen with a Miele built-in coffee maker worth € 3,500, - and a shed and attic where hardly anything fits. This is in stark contrast to our life now. Everything we have is on that 8m2 and I feel perhaps richer than ever.
Illusion
What is it with this material success that we all strive for? It has given us two problems, in my opinion:
it did not bring the promised happiness and
it has caused us to destroy the beauty of nature
And that to be able to continue to feed the ever-increasing population and to continue the illusion that we believe in so much. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a saint. We drive all over Europe in a polluting diesel bus, I don't grow my own vegetables and I eat meat. And yet if I could do things over again, I would have chosen a more minimalist existence much sooner. This minimalist existence now ensures that I can live without an income for the time being.
Where are we?
5,100 km since our departure. The Algarve is really beautiful! We walk a lot and enjoy the beautiful coast and the nice weather. Free camper spots are much harder to find here so the overnight places are less Instagram worthy. We are very curious how busy it is here in high season.
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