choosing to live a life that you love requires you to take risks the risk may be to get out of
your comfort zone to leave behind everyone you know and to question what you're familiar with
to step into an unknown territory breaking out of the status quo can be intimidating because it
requires you to carve your own path instead of following the plan that's been laid out for you
but despite it all if you still choose to follow that spark of curiosity and lead with your heart
i truly believe that you will be rewarded with a life that's full
of purpose and the freedom to create the most beautiful story that is uniquely yours
i chose to take that risk with a one-way ticket to portugal
some of you guys have been asking me why portugal well there's layers to that answer but to sum it
up i fell in love with the country when i visited for the first time three years ago
i immediately felt that the pace of life here was more aligned with how i like to move through life
people of all ages having conversations over a cup of coffee families
taking time to enjoy the food the neighborhood park the long sunday afternoons i know the grass
is not always greener on the other side and i didn't move here with unrealistic expectations
i just had a strong feeling that people here seem to value the same things that
i value and i wanted to find out what it's like to be immersed in it every day
so after months of being on the road we finally made it to our new home i
was trying to piece together what this place looked like from just a few photos that i had
so seeing it for the first time in person felt quite surreal thankfully we found a
place that's already partly furnished so all we had to do was just move in with our stuff
it's an older home with so much character and charm and it's dotted with little details that
tell the story of the people who lived here in the past we're going to be here for at least one year
until we find our permanent place so i don't want to make big changes to this place maybe i'll look
for some cool art pieces add some plants just for some personal touches but that's about it
welcome to our new place i am so excited to be here after months of being on the road and being
at my parents house i feel like i can finally breathe and relax a little bit so we signed the
contracts before actually seeing the place and i had no idea what to expect but everything so
far has exceeded my expectations there's a little cafe or restaurant right outside our window here
so we can hear people talking and eating which i don't mind at all it's not the sound of traffic or
honking things like that i can't wait to settle in i think i'm gonna go look around
the house a little bit more explore clean up a little bit and start unpacking our bags
as you guys know ever since we left maui we've been only living out of five suitcases between
the two of us that in itself has been truly an eye-opening experience because i realized how
little i really need to live my life and how little my happiness depends on stuff
sure at times i miss the comfort of my own bed
and the familiarity of all my stuff but when it all went away
i adjusted to a new normal and it didn't affect my quality of life as much as i thought it would
i don't think i could just live out of a suitcase forever nor do i plan to
but it did change my perspective on what i want to work towards moving forward
instead of being swayed by society to buy cool things and have those things define me i want
to spend that money to do all the things that i've dreamt of doing and to build the life that i want
the past me would have wanted to buy all new furniture new appliances new outfits and
completely redecorate the space but now i would rather spend it on taking portuguese lessons maybe
even enroll in sailing or surfing classes trying different restaurants just traveling around europe
for most of us money is a limited resource so as our time our energy effort and focus
so if we're not intentional then it's really easy for life to just pass us by until one day
we realize that we've given it all the way to everyone and everything except for ourselves
but if we can look past the definition of success and happiness that the media and
society throws at us then we have the freedom to choose how to direct our precious resources
this is truly the biggest lesson that minimalism has taught me
maybe you don't really care to buy a house but instead you want to save up to start a
little non-profit for a cause that you deeply care about maybe you don't want to have a big
white wedding but instead want to travel and experience the world with your partner
maybe you want to hold off on going to college and take some time off to learn a skill whatever your
dreams may be the choice is yours it's always been but we're influenced to think otherwise because we
live in a community society full of other people who tell us what to do and what not to do but as
someone who tries to deviate from that path if i can share just a little bit of my experience i
can tell you that those who don't really know you won't care and those who love you will eventually
come around and support you it can be scary to find out that there might be no one in our
lives who support our dreams but i guess that's another risk that we have to be willing to take
we woke up really late today i feel like our bodies are still jet lagged and still
need a lot of time to kind of recover from all the traveling and moving all those bags from one place
to another but today is a really nice sunny day it's not too hot not too cold so we're gonna walk
around and explore the neighborhood i really want to get to know the restaurants and the cafes and
the little stores nearby so i think today is a perfect day to do that i'm going to take my
camera along so i can show a little bit for you guys yeah i can't wait to take you along
it's incredibly important to enjoy the simple and little things like being able to see the beautiful
details in our everyday life finding contentment and the repetition appreciating what we have
instead of what we don't this is slow living and this perspective changed my life for the better
and i hope that it will for you but don't forget that in the background of our everyday life we
have to simultaneously build a life that we actually want to live i believe this is where slow
living meets minimalism and together it creates a perfect balance between our reality and our dreams
so ask yourself what am i actually working for how can i use the resources available to me
for the things that i value and what am i willing to sacrifice to get there
i hope that these questions will spark an idea
or at least a little curiosity to lead you in the right direction