Beside the worldwide famous skyline and the Peak, there's a fabulous food scene to discover, a creative local street art, many gorgeous markets, and -believe it or not- stunning outdoors! One way or another, this city will surprise you...
We stayed almost a year in Indonesia, expats, based in Jakarta. Unfortunately we had to eat, therefore, we had to work -and couldn't spend all our time traveling. But, still, we took the time to explore the islands and discover heavenly places. Let me think back to these amazing memories...
"If you're not where your want to be, if you don't have what you want to have, if you're not where you think you should be at this particular point, it has nothing to do with the system but it has everything to do with the fact that you're not making the sacrifices. Make your dream become a reality, because if you don't you'll be working for somebody else to make their dreams become a reality."
Sometimes project is so big, so fuzzy and so scary that you simply don't want to contemplate it at all. But you can do something about that, and you can do it right now.
We spend half our life working to earn money, so we can spend our free time spending that money on things we don't need. Things that end up make us feel suffocated. Rooted. Imprisoned. Imagine if tomorrow you were to wake up owning just a few things -only the things you really need and love. It’s kind of exhilarating, isn’t it? Can living with less make you happier?
At some point between our six months road trip in New Zealand and our life being constantly on the road, long-term travel has turned us into minimalists. Or so we thought. Since we settled down in Hong Kong, we've started to accumulate a bunch of crap we don't need. Last year, I stumbled upon Marie Kondo's brilliant book "The life changing magic of tidying up" and started to declutter following her mantra : keep only the items that spark joy. And it felt INCREDIBLE. So good I decided to take it to the next level. That's when I discovered that documentary about the important things... [photos ©TheMinimalists]
Can living with less really make you happier? Let's talk minimalism!
Adopting a minimalist lifestyle is as simple as it sounds. It's a zen-living where you own less materials and objects, only to focus on LIVING life. We often create attachments to inanimate objects, making them seem like they represent something big -when they don't. We think the more we have, the happier we'll be.
The truth is, living with only the bare essentials does not provide only superficial benefits such as the pleasure of a tidy home, it also lead to a more fundamental shift. Getting rid of the clutter in your life creates more opportunities for you to pursue your passions. For me, that means traveling, running, creating more and consuming less. Attachment to too many things create clutter and can block our freedom to do whatever we want, whereas minimalism helps us start new projects.
Living out of a backpack changes you. First, there's the packing situation -it always feels extreeemely difficult the first time, letting go so many things. How could I throw this away? And what if I need that one day? Then you realize what really matters. After six months on the road with only a few outfits, a tiny computer, my notebook, camera and watercolors, I didn't miss the things I left behind. Actually, I didn't care at all. Life was suddenly so easy. It felt right being so light, free from any clutter.
I thought coming back home and retrieve all my belongings would make me feel happy. To soon realize it didn't. If my stuff was a reflection of life, my life seemed to be filled with junk. Thus began the purge...
It's crazy how sometimes you think accumulating things makes you happy, when actually, getting rid of possessions brings you a lightness and joy that's hard to name. I'm not saying you should throw away everything you own. In fact, I love Marie Kondo's philosophy: only keep things that bring you JOY. Because that's what life is about, isn't it? The pursuit of happiness.
Once the clutter is done, try not to give a meaning to possessions anymore, learn to avoid excess and adopt the 'one in, one out' rule.
Here's the trailer of a brilliant documentary examining many flavors of minimalism by taking the audience inside the lives of minimalists from all walks of life—families, entrepreneurs, architects, artists, journalists, scientists, and even a former Wall Street broker—all of whom are striving to live a meaningful life with less. - The film is now available online.
“Minimalism is a lifestyle that helps people question what things add value to their lives. By clearing the clutter from life’s path, we can all make room for the most important aspects of life: health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution”
The city sits within a volcanic crater and as you walk through the streets of the city, you can literally see holes in the ground with bubbling mud pools and steam! From giant shooting geysers, colorful crater lakes and natural hot springs all over the place, Rotorua is a stop you can't miss on your New Zealand itinerary...
With a beautiful mountains, a magnificent coast fringed with golden sand beaches, picturesque fishing villages and mining town, the Coromandel Peninsula is fabulous. And not only it's rich with a gorgeous nature, this region is off the beaten path -which means you might find yourself alone on the road with the most scenic views for yourself.
The islands of the Kerama group are a world away from everything you know. An archipelago surrounded by coral reefs and unbelievably transparent seas where time has stopped years ago. A place where you live in close communion with the ocean, in a unique atmosphere. It consists of 22 small islands, southwest of Okinawa's main island. It's picturesque, with few people and an incredible wildlife.
![#EXPATSERIES : An adventurous life in the middle of the Amazon [french article]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53806bd1e4b08791cb6d533f/1614930962366-XEN8JGT93LL6EIO35QP6/Guyane_TBN3.jpg)
![Alone through Iran - 1.144 miles of trust [inspiring traveler]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/53806bd1e4b08791cb6d533f/1499078988319-KI72AU6Y9RDOM2LRYOV0/Alone-through-Iran_TBN.jpg)
