IT'S ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS in life where you'd say "enough is enough," leave a full-time job, and travel the world. That moment happened to me a few years ago. It's the time of uncertainty.
Upon getting my doctorate at mid-30s, having nowhere to go because of the academic job market, I decided to travel the world with the limited amount of cash that I had...which meant that I would have to travel super light to be able to get on the low-cost flights without paying extra and possess the fewest items so that I could roam without a fixed plan and nothing valuables attracting attention from thieves when staying at budget hostels.
So, as a full-time hoarder before that, I had to change everything — from the mindset to the action. Here're the list: Bigger isn't always better. Traveling with low-cost airlines meant that I could only take up to 7 kgs with me. I had a badass laptop (with 16" screen) which would take up to 2.5 kgs if I were to take it on the trip with me (meaning less room for important items). So, I traded it for almost a netbook which was less than 1 kg in weight.
The smaller size also attracted less attention and was less prone to break since there wasn't many moving parts. I didn't think I could live with such a small screen and a less powerful processor, but it all worked out well. In fact, I have also gained the power of being patient and being a single-tasking person. Wallah, a slow computer has helped me regain my focus and therefore my productivity. The water bottle is both the money and life- saver.
We all need to drink a lot of water every day. Even though a bottle of water isn't expensive, but trust me it adds up. I began to learn to carry around a water bottle with me, which saved me an enormous amount of money daily. Tap water was free almost everywhere I went. I often just stepped into a bar and restaurant and asked politely for a refill and had never been denied.
In some places, natural spring water was available fresh and cold — much nicer than drinking anything at all from a plastic bottle from a convenience store. This water bottle saved my life. I went from a "not-so- practical" one (and quite heavy) to a perfect one (that I could open with one hand and would not spill inside my bag if placed upside down). Weight mattered, so I gave the old ones away as soon as I got a new one that worked better.
Since the amount of space in the backpack was limited, so I had to choose to carry just one best water bottle. Wash clothes daily. Since I only had room for up to 2 pieces of all my clothing items (one for jeans since it's heavy), I never spoiled any opportunities to wash clothes. They dried well in an air-conditioned room. Or, for me, I tied them around the outside of backpack when I moved to quicken the drying process, which worked like magic.
I washed my clothes by hand daily and made sure to wash everything I could when chances permitted. Also, only get the quick-dry non-iron synthetic fabric. Throw them away to make room when they're no longer wearable. Also, use packing cubes to separate everything in your bag and organize them neatly every chance you have as if you're organizing your thoughts for a very important exam. Get rid of the big camera.
I loved my digital SLR, but I could not rationalize having it in my backpack since it would take up to 1 kg of weight. Also, it attracted attention from those who might want to steal it from you. Instead, I'd gotten to learn how to take modest-quality photos with my smartphone and new storytelling techniques to make my story worthwhile without having to use a fancy machine. Keep everything in digital format + just 1 physical paperback at a time.
I ditched all my books — more like a collection since I had more than a hundred of them. I gave them all away and rebought them in various digital formats (e.g., PDF, Kindle, Apple E-Book). I came to fall in love with audiobooks which I could listen to while on the move. During those travel years, I finished more than 50 books in total. Some of them I listened to them twice, such as Daniel Kahneman's Thinking, Fast and Slow.
A physical book was with me from time to time, but never than one and it's always in a paperback form. Once finished, let it go to someone else. Trade it for another title, or give it away at a hostel for the next readers to be enlightened. Here they are my tips that got me through 2 years of world traveling. I hadn't counted how many countries I visited because I just let my travel plan changed as I probed.
I hitchhiked (in a trusted place), shared a ride with folks whom I just met, and used all sorts of travel opportunities that I had never tried before to get from places to places. I kept track of my family daily making sure that they weren't too worried about my being on the road.
I made a few bucks here and there doing micro jobs such as paper editing and reviewing products to support myself during the trip but never tried to make more than I needed (since having cash on me was also dangerous and would steer me away from more important things, such as using my time to experience the world).
Looking back, I learned so much from the 2 years of giving away stuff, having less, and "being nobody." I learned to let go of my ego and my confidence for being lofty above others (well, thanks to the "Dr" in front of my name that had, for a while, got me to think that I was superior to others). Really, nobody cares if you have a Ph.D. when you're on the road traveling the world almost cashlessly.
I learned new skills from almost everyone whom I met on the street. I learned to be humble, to be status-less, and to appreciate every micro-moment as constant rewards in life. Henry David Thoreau was right, learning to live with the minimal forced to me appreciate the most essential part of life and was the key to self-realization.
post Day 111: How 'Light and Cheap' Travel Helped me Escape Death Wed, 15 Oct 2025 00:00:00 +0000 In my darkest hours, during which I was choosing between living and dying, I found the perfect method to help me make such a decision — travel. I had no hope and nothing to lose, so I decided to go on for just one more year. Apparently, relocating myself from the place where I was constantly reminded of mu misery was an obvious choice. But where to?
I decided to go on a road trip. It's the combination of being poor and being destination-less, I decided to go 'light and cheap' backpack at places I wanted to see before my death. By 'light and cheap,' I meant travelling with 7 kgs or less and staying at places that were as cheap as possible, including free public spaces if permitted. Little did I know that it would change my worldview completely. This post is about how that happened. Travel made me live in the present moment.
As neuroscience tells us, the primordial part of our brain constantly brings us back to the moments of doubt, reminding us of risks and mistakes to help us navigate life. As for me, my cautious brain tried to get me to make sense of what, at the time, unmakesensable, which only furthered my sense of grieves. Travelling light and cheap with a single backpack, I had to be conscious of my own safety and appreciative of every little thing being experienced.
Although I heard of people's talking about the "power of living in the moment," I could not practice it until I was in that very 'humble state' that travel put me in. Via light and cheap travel, I found that switch in my brain that put me in the state of being present where the past could not overpower the presence and the future did not matter anymore.
I felt the presence of joy even though when I was living on the street with homeless folks with whom I made friends. 2. Walking around is the perfect activity for listening to nature (and audiobooks) I was never an auditorial person. In fact, I found noise to be the arch-enemy of focusing. Because I was travelling light and cheap, I moved mostly on foot, which allowed me to develop my sensitivity for sound.
Strangely, I could hear things that I could not before, such as a flowing river, birdsong, and the sound of the wind. I discovered that these sound made me feel as though I wasn't alone, which was the feeling that I dreaded and almost drove me to my death. Suddenly, the sound of busy neighbourhoods that I once disdained gave me the sense of peace and comfort of being surrounded by people. I walked around the city just to appreciate these sounds.
I even found the ambience sound of traffic to be quite present. I began to record these sounds and re-played them to help me sleep. Enjoying things I could hear when my eyes closed and my body's not moving, I began to appreciate Autonomous sensory meridian response or ASMR, which I could not sleep without now. Also, I learned to appreciate the beauty of audiobooks, which was a perfect companion when walking around. I finished more than 100+ audiobooks in 2 years of travelling. 3.
Travel connected me with likeminded strangers who told me that I was — and would never be — alone. Travelling light and cheap was, also, a perfect way of meeting strangers. I used low-budget travels such as third-class trains and buses to travel. Whether that be a short 1-hour or an 18-hour ride, I always chose buses and trains over low-cost aeroplanes because travelling long-distance made me appreciate the destinations more.
But the true bonus was how I got to meet so many people with whom I shared meals, drinks, stories, and laughter. Because we're travelling light and cheap, we connected easily and made friends sincerely. Before I knew it, usually, we would be conversing and chatting about the reasons for travelling. I learned, through these strangers, that a lot of hardships were about the perspectives. Little by little, I found peace with my own life. It's rough but that's because I was only capable of seeing it my way. 4.
Travel helped me regain my health. Before I began the journey, I was obese, unnaturally bald, and physically unhealthy. I didn't realize that it was because I overate due to stress, lacked exercising due to busy work, and constantly sick due to polluted city environment. Getting out of what I thought was "what I wanted," I allowed myself to live a different life.
When travelling, I only had 1 meal a day because that's all I could afford, and, almost by default, I had to walk more than 10 miles a day to save on transit. So, I became conscious of what to eat. I needed a lot of nutrition and good calories to get me through the day and the 10-mile-long walk, meaning no more junk food, sugar, and empty calories through snacking.
The healthy eating and walking turned my life around, as I begun to lose weight, gained bodily muscle, and became a healthier person. So, I did not think that I could turn my life around, but those 2 years of being on the road was nothing less than a revelation that I needed to experience life differently. I found later on that as psychology tells us that the best way to overcome an emotional crisis is to remove ourselves from the physical that makes us sick.
The idea of travel only makes such as removing more interesting, and, in turn, complete the ecosystem of overcoming a difficult situation. As the German philosopher Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once advised we should find an opportunity to travel, as the new experiences in unfamiliar places are the kinds of "productive uncertainty" that enables to grow.
An Old Machine and Work Ethics