
Extreme Minimalism: this guy owns just 15 things - wgx
http://andrewhy.de/extreme-minimalism/
======
jdietrich
This isn't minimalism in any sense of the word, it's just a consumerist
vanity.

OP's 'minimalism' is sustained by a reliance upon huge amounts of
infrastructure, most of it environmentally unsustainable. He doesn't carry
stuff with him, but uses money to access what he needs. It's like claiming to
be a minimalist because you own a second house where you keep all your stuff.
OP outsources the burden of sustaining his lifestyle to people poorer and
browner than himself.

He eats without pans and plates because he relies on an army of immigrant
workers to cook for him and wash his dishes. He doesn't own bedsheets or a
sweeping brush because an immigrant maid cleans his hotel rooms. I don't
believe that such an economic relationship is necessarily immoral or
exploitative, but it certainly isn't minimalist.

OP flew more miles in the summer of 2010 than most people fly in a lifetime.
That's hundreds of kilos of Jet-A fuel, a substantial share of the fleet and
fixed infrastructure, plus untold amounts of carbon (magnified manifold by
being emitted at altitude). He eats meat, which has a vast footprint in terms
of land, water and energy use. How minimal is a lifestyle that leads to
irrevocable climate change? How minimal is a lifestyle that wastes good soy
protein to raise beef cattle?

Real minimalists take less than their fair share, not more.

~~~
andrewhyde
OP here.

I don't see your point but feel all your anger. Not sure if I'm just catching
it from another project, but it is odd to me that you default from a guy
owning a few shirts to causing major economic injustices.

I don't own much physically. I spend my days volunteering and traveling living
a pretty simple life. I write posts and sometimes people like and share them.
This post was written in May of last year and reached HN today. I'm not trying
to promote this much, I'm just doing something for me and sharing it on a
bloggity.

The assumption that I'm just snapping my fingers to have an immigrant army at
my beck and call is laughable. I couchsurf most nights. I've slept under
overpasses. Not just swiping my credit card.

I flew more miles in 2010 than humanity did ~300 years ago. Times are a
changing. I could fly around the world for the equivalent to a mortgage
payment. What is excessive there? Do you default to negativity for anything
related to what is possible?

I'm living a different life that almost everyone I know. Nothing jaw dropping
or amazing here, just different, and treat it as such.

Hello from Colorado (this week).

~~~
jdietrich
> I don't own much physically. I spend my days volunteering and traveling
> living a pretty simple life.

That's the nub - you don't live a simple life, you live a very complicated
life where the "stuff" in your life has been abstracted out of sight.

To define ownership by physical possession is utterly facile. The economic
decisions you make result in great mountains of "stuff" being made and used
and consumed. You haven't structured your life to have less "stuff" in it,
only that you avoid having to carry it.

Aviation fuel is stuff. It has mass and volume, it smells and tastes of
something. Huge facilities have been built to extract and refine it, and vast
areas of land and sea have been irrevocably damaged by that process. Very
real, physical wars were fought over it. Your plane ticket is a stake in all
of that, a fractional ownership of the machinery that puts a plane in the air.

Viewed from inside your head, your life seems minimal. But from a bird's eye,
it looks like a bulldozer on the rampage.

This community is one of hackers, people who strive to look more deeply, to
understand how things work at the most fundamental level. If we do not
understand the deep impact of the things we consume and the lives we lead, who
else?

------
DanBC
Curious that he doesn't mention "big bank balance" which makes life a lot more
comfortable for him.

He needs food? He buys food. He needs emergency accommodation? (Because his
friend's house burns down or some such) He can buy that accommodation for the
nights he needs it.

Having just become homeless[1] myself (not through choice) I've whittled down
my possessions to something that's easy to carry. Following his rules (stuff
that'd be annoying to buy again) I have a computer; a games console; an mp3
player; some headphones; a kindle; one pair trousers.

I have more clothes, but they're easy to replace. The Kindle is odd - one
item, with many books on it. But they are easy to replace. Personally, I think
that's a flaw in his method.

By a more reasonable counting system I have money (not much, but much more
than other people in similar situations in my country, and very very much more
than people in other countries); I have the gadgets (and associated chargers /
headphones / cases / bags / media / software); I have clothes.

[1] As I've mentioned it, take a look at this website.

(<http://gloshomeseeker.co.uk>)

It's aimed at people needing "social housing". (I don't; I have no idea why I
was given that URL, maybe it's just the script they follow.) IT IS AN
APPALLING WEBSITE, AND A DREADFUL FORM. From the broken security mixing secure
and insecure stuff, to the weird form flow.

~~~
rufibarbatus
I'm not sure if Mr Hyde's definition of a personal possession was a (well-
played) PR trick or simply a certain lack of accounting intuition. Which is a
shame, because his putative balance sheet should be a fascinating thing to
think about.

If we were to take a look at his assets and guess reasonable values for each
category of asset, I wouldn't be surprised if all 15 items he listed (give or
take his wallet and computer) ended up in a catch-all 1%-of-total-value "other
assets" category.

In reality, Mr Hyde's own description of how he lives (and how he manages to
get around with so few 'objects') suggests that the most valuable things he
has, by far, are (and probably in that order): his contacts, his reputation,
and his cash.

Close to these three, his clothes, iPod and sneakers, however annoying to
replace he imagines them to be, should be next to meaningless.

------
ck2
When you go to starbucks each morning, spending $100 a month there instead of
owning your own coffeemaker - it's not minimalism.

It's consumerism.

Trying living with just what he has in a 3rd world country and it's
minimalism.

~~~
readme
Starbucks does add up, but I would say that it is minimalism (Especially if
you are using it as an office)

From an individual's perspective, it is not minimalist, because now you will
need to have an entire coffee shop in your life to obtain coffee. However,
from a societal viewpoint, it is very minimalist, because now each person can
share the means to produce coffee, thus consuming less: electricity, water
(assuming most dump some out), coffee supplies/coffee, and coffee brewing
equipment (really, we don't all need our own machine... well, I do. but that's
why I am a capitalist)

~~~
Retric
I think just printing a receipt for each cup makes the whole process less
efficient for society. Let alone disposable cups etc.

~~~
ctdonath
Starbucks doesn't print a receipt unless you want one, and you are welcome to
bring & fill your own mug there. You can even use your smartphone to pay.

------
epo
I had a boss once who went on at great length about the benefits of the
paperless office. His office was indeed devoid of paper storage, his
secretary's office however, had loads of filing cabinets stuffed full of
papers.

Self-regarding parasites like this just offload all their support systems onto
other people and then brag about how minimal and self sufficient they are.

~~~
waitwhat
_Mr. Hyde [...] is currently homeless_

 _I don’t have a permanent address_

 _Alex Hillman let me crash on his couch_

So basically: Homeless man has few possessions.

~~~
DanBC
...and is lucky that he know people who do have houses, and houses big enough
(with couches) who let him stay.

~~~
matwood
...and TVs for him to watch, food for him to eat, coffee makers for him to
use...

Years ago I was pretty minimalist. I didn't want to own anything that I
couldn't walk away from. So in my apartment I had a bed, a computer, a small
TV, a surfboard, and a couple of plastic deck chairs to sit on.

Today I have quite a few more things in my house but my _attitude_ towards
what I own is still the same. That I think is what is important.

------
fauigerzigerk
My own experience from living out of a max 20kg suitcase is that owning too
few things forces you to think about things a lot more than you would like to.
Do I keep this? What do I throw away instead? Where do I get this quickly if
such and such event occurs? What's the cost of buying this versus
keeping/transporting it. Who can I borrow this from? Am I bothering them too
much if I borrow this again? Etc, etc.

My conclusion is that owning too much stuff increases complexity, but owning
too little does too and it can be very expensive.

~~~
zerostar07
Agree. I think the key idea is to minimize the time it takes to think about
the things you own.

------
sequoia
In this picture as well as many other such collections, one thing that stands
out to me is the fact that no one has any food. The idea put forth here is to
keep in ones life only "absolutely necessary" things, ostensibly as a reaction
to consumerism, but when creating lists of absolute necessities, somehow
_food_ and _shelter_ do not make the cut. How is this possible?

My view is that this "reaction to consumerism" is actually a _celebration of_
consumerism; consumerism boiled down to a pure extract. "Don't do anything for
yourself, don't make anything for yourself, don't clean up for yourself: Buy
and Throw Away Everything."

Some critics have described this lifestyle as parasitic, but I might also
suggest "infantile." Someone who lives this way becomes less and less able to
care for themself until... well, until they don't know how to make a cup of
coffee! That's not extreme minimalism, it's extreme dependence.

~~~
msh
Well written critique, much better that the up voted one that is just mean.

------
keiferski
Having been a "minimalism-addict", I've come to the conclusion that the best
part is the act of _getting rid of things_ , not the act of _having few
things_.

Getting rid of junk is liberating; living with 15 things is just a pain in the
ass.

~~~
engblaze
Absolutely... the spirit of reducing waste and consumerism is admirable, but
this guy is being ridiculous by claiming that he only owns "15 things". Not
only is he missing the point, but his hyperbole is out of control. A toiletry
kit is 1 item? Right.

Bike Snob NYC has a hilarious post on Hyde if you haven't seen it:
[http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2011/05/paring-down-and-
pair...](http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/2011/05/paring-down-and-pairing-up-
its-not-size.html)

~~~
mechanical_fish
Actually, the OP provides a fairly insightful definition of "item":

 _I count my things as resellable items I would be pissed if someone took._

By this definition an "item" is "one emotional connection to an object", not
merely an object itself.

Yes, this means that the guy carries around many more physical objects than he
counts as "items". This seems emotionally healthy, though, if one can afford
it. And affording it is easier than ever: This is not the 18th century, and
underwear is so cheap that, were a pair to be stolen, you're out the cost of a
cup of coffee.

(By his own definition, I wonder whether the OP really "owns" a toiletry kit.
Even a moderately fancy toiletry kit is worth maybe twenty bucks and can be
replaced in ten minutes at any drugstore. And they're certainly not
resellable. So I tend to suspect the OP's toiletry kit appears in this list
mainly for branding purposes: He doesn't want to give readers the impression
that his style of minimalism involves never taking a bath. ;) And he doesn't
want to get into a lengthy debate over underwear and soap: As he makes clear
in the rest of the post, his goal in life is _not_ to ever think or worry
about underwear or soap.)

~~~
reinhardt
_By this definition an "item" is "one emotional connection to an object", not
merely an object itself._

This would be a pretty odd definition of an "item". Going with this definition
though, I (and suspect quite a few others) don't have more than 1-2 "items",
or even any at all. I can't think of a single (physical) object I have
emotional connection to, as long as I am reimbursed so that I can replace it
it's business as usual.

~~~
mechanical_fish
That's probably a good thing. Lots of people are not like you, however.

If you want to understand your fellow humans better, take a glimpse into the
opposite extreme with this book on compulsive hoarding:

<http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/books/review/Kramer-t.html>

You may find it quite alien, or perhaps hilarious, or both, but I've met quite
a few people on the hoarding spectrum, and it is decidedly not fun.

And I'd venture to say that most people have _something_ with significant
emotional resonance that they'd be loath to lose it. A wedding ring. Objects
inherited from one's late grandparents. A few pieces of custom-built tools,
furniture, or clothing that fit you perfectly.

------
Alexx
Minimalism and 'getting rid of your possessions' has been one of those hot
internet topics for as long as I can remember.

The trend I notice is that the articles preaching the extreme end of this are
almost always written by 20-something bloggers who are so much happier now
they're couch surfing the world care free rather than 'working 9-5 to pay for
that TV'.

Obviously, there is a large truth in there. We all take only a few things on
holiday with us and enjoy it. But sleeping on other peoples couches, using
their kitchens, bathrooms and towels, and freelancing to get some money to
your paypal account now and then isn't a particularly sustainable lifestyle.

I suspect if you came back in 10 years you'll see a different picture. If you
want to think about having children or living a generally western lifestyle as
opposed to a '3rd world' or really homeless lifestyle then there's a sensible
balance point.

I believe rejecting materialism is about giving your energy, focus and love to
your passions, your family, and enjoying the experiences life gives you over
material things. Not blindly aiming to own 10 or 20 objects while you're
basically renting or borrowing everything else to keep living in a western
style. All things in moderation :)

~~~
georgieporgie
_I suspect if you came back in 10 years you'll see a different picture. If you
want to think about having children or living a generally western lifestyle as
opposed to a '3rd world' or really homeless lifestyle then there's a sensible
balance point._

There's no reason he couldn't continue to live a substantially minimalist
lifestyle while adding a family. He could migrate into living on a sailboat,
RV, or in a home considered tiny by Western (American, particularly)
standards.

~~~
eru
> or in a home considered tiny by Western (American, particularly) standards.

You mean a British home?

------
michael_dorfman
Most Buddhist monks could easily get under the "15 things" limit-- the
standard list of possessions is: three robes, an alms bowl, a cloth belt, a
needle and thread, a razor for shaving the head, and a water filter.

~~~
its_so_on
that's pretty good. source? with a wish-list like that what do they need alms
for? I couldn't live without a toothbrush though.

~~~
wollw
The list mentioned is repeated here:
[http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/ariyesako/layguid...](http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/ariyesako/layguide.html#req4)

I've heard this list other places too but don't have a source. The four
requisites mentioned on that page are what I typically think of.

~~~
its_so_on
toothpaste and toothbrush are definitely medical then, as a dentist definitely
is in the field of medicine, and if you don't use them your teeth rot and fall
out. oral-B is definitely a medical brand. "warding off disease" simply and
clearly covers this, then. Thanks for the informative link.

------
rkudeshi
If you happen to be interested in more "minimalist porn", I too made a list of
the things I was living with at one point last year.

<http://raviudeshi.com/2011/02/75-things>

With hindsight, I can say it's not at all about the number, but more the
mentality. I don't know about this guy, but so long as you find a
hostel/apartment/friend with some basic cooking utensils and Internet, it's
not too hard to keep your costs very low.

~~~
edu
I'm glad to see you have deodorant, toothbrush, soap et al. That was my
biggest issue with the guy in the article.

~~~
js2
“8. Toiletry kit”

------
kennywinker
Headline: guy owns 15 things

... read article, guy owns more than 15 things.

New headling: "Guy reaches new heights of extreme minimalism by ignoring a
bunch of the things that he owns".

But I guess it was a minimalist headline, so that was too long...?

~~~
nodata
Laptop charger, phone charger, money to own washing powder to wash clothes.
"Toiletry kit" is a cheat, so add: razor, shaving foam, blades, toothpaste,
toothbrush, towel, shampoo, shower gel, etc. etc. etc.

~~~
JamesNK
It may not be physical but he has a blog, that's a thing. Email address,
tumbler account, Flicker account, etc, etc.

~~~
SquareWheel
I'd disagree, simply because you could take that to the extreme. Does he own
the water he drinks, the air he breathes, the life he lives through? As far as
I can see, we're talking strictly in physical items.

~~~
nodata
Then let's talk about items that were once physical.

He owns some music. He owns some movies. He owns lots of documents. et cetera.

~~~
SquareWheel
We can take that further. If clumps of data that make up a "file" is a
possession, what about the thousands of executable and library files that make
up his operating system? He may not use the calculator or chess game, but his
computer surely comes with that. What about every bit that make those up?

We need a clear line or this gets silly, and I think physical possessions is a
clear enough line.

------
jpiasetz
It's always interesting how people define what is a thing. He's got a good
definition but he should take it a step further. Expand it to anything that
you have that you would feel bad if you had to replace. The digital clutter
weights on your mind just like physical objects (files on the macbook, email
in gmail, all of it).

Also although he list the items that he'd be pissed if he lost he'd probably
be a lot less angry them a lot of people if he was robbed. Simpler and cheaper
to only have to replace 15 items.

------
TomAnthony
There are a bunch of comments that this guy actually owns more than 15 things,
and that others cope with less, and he isn't in the 3rd world etc. All true;
his system isn't as extreme as the headline would have you believe.

However, I see the takeaway is that he gets by with a _lot_ less stuff than
the average person in his demographic, and I think that is something to be
applauded. I know I wouldn't relish doing it like he has, but it has made me
think I could get by with less.

~~~
Avshalom
That he doesn't actually seem to get by with less is people's problem. He's
essentially just renting everything, very inefficiently at that.

It's ridiculous to applaud the idea -of buying coffee at a restaurant every
day instead of owning a coffee maker- as "doing with less"

~~~
mechanical_fish
Not ridiculous at all, in context. It's all about marginal costs.

If owning something would require you to rent a room that you might otherwise
not have to rent, its marginal cost could be hundreds of dollars per month.

There are portable coffeemakers for backpackers, but there's no such thing as
lightweight portable coffee beans, and buying coffee beans in one-cup units on
an as-needed basis is pretty expensive, in time if nothing else.

As for whether traveling constantly and renting all your stuff is
"inefficient": Well, sure. But to be alive is to be inefficient. Dead people
are maximally efficient. But they also aren't having any fun.

There's no prize for having lots of leftover money when you're dead. As they
say, you can't take it with you.

------
waitwhat
There is also the hipster version of this: <http://theburninghouse.com/>

"If your house was burning, what would you take with you? It's a conflict
between what's practical, valuable and sentimental."

~~~
arethuza
If our home was burning the only things I'd be bothered about getting to
safety would by my wife and son, then our cats.

Nothing else matters in that context.

~~~
Retric
It's situational. Outside of a major emergency, taking an extra 15 seconds to
get your cellphone, wallet, and key's would probably would probably be worth
it, come home and your house is on fire just let it burn. Also, as long as the
fire is contained in a single room simply closing the door can do a lot to
save your home.

------
bane
My wife and I were were struck by something recently while standing at the
checkout line at a Nike store, looking at a display case full of specialized,
expensive, pedometers.

Not a one was a useful as the jogging app I have on my phone.

And when we're out jogging, I listen to music, or streaming radio...on my
phone. And oh yeah, if it's late and I'm going through the local woods, my
phone has an app that turns it into a flashlight.

And now suddenly a bit of enlightenment hit us. A modern smartphone replaces a
great many discrete devices that we used to have to carry around, or at least
store someplace:

Common uses for our phones:

1) A portable phone

2) A small portable computer

3) An address book (yes, I used to carry one around with my old non-smart
phone)

4) A map book

5) A GPS

6) An mp3/music player

7) A radio (fm tuner, but more importantly streaming radio, flipping through
global stations on my phone reminded my of being 9 with a shortwave receiver
and picking up broadcasts of Voice of America going into Europe)

8) A flashlight

9) A pedometer

10) A portable book (actually a library)

11) A thumb drive

12) A portable translator

13) A portable gaming device

14) A camera

15) A videocamera

16) Alarm clock

17) Portable calculator

18) Barcode scanner

19) A wifi signal scanner

20) Portable movie player

21) Starbucks card

And a few others...

And suddenly all that junk is in one device, a _backpack_ full of stuff.

Coming up this year they're going to be useful as credit cards, business
cards, some have projectors on them, better optics and I can junk my
binoculars, a decent way to hook up a keyboard and monitor (it can already act
as it's own trackpad, oh I forgot to mention that, I can use it as a trackpad
on my computer) and I can junk my laptop for 85% of what I do.

These aren't phones, these are some kind of sci-fi multi-tool. We're ending up
in a measure of minimalism de facto just by having more versatile stuff.

So yeah, looking around my house, I could probably ditch a _ton_ of stuff (I
mean literally, I have several full bookshelves I could potentially replace)
and not miss it.

~~~
mahyarm
A portable monitor, keyboard and battery for that monitor will take about as
much space and weight as an ultrabook anyway. You'll probably shave off a
pound & half an inch and get similar battery life at most. The closest thing I
can think of that would be as portable as a phone would be something like a
laser keyboard and a mini projector built into one.

------
andrewhyde
OP here. I've updated the items I own list (now 39!) and written a bit more
about it here. <http://andrewhy.de/minimalism-project-update-39-things/>

The linked post up top is from May. Lots has changed since then.

Great discussion here. Always interesting how people look at the project.

------
kevinpet
This guy is clearly a professional attention whore. It's good to contrast him
with "early retirement extreme" who lives in the RV in the East Bay who gets
posted from time to time.

"15 things" isn't sustainable. It's fake minimalism. It's like saying you're a
minimalist after your house burns down and you escape with nothing but your
cell phone and credit card. He imposes a significantly higher load on the
infrastructure around him (whether he pays for it, or just the kindness of
friends letting hin crash on the couch).

In contrast, "East Bay RV" really has whittled down his life to just the
things he needs.

~~~
mahyarm
Mr. ERE got a job as a finance quant recently. He's still financially
independent.

[http://earlyretirementextreme.com/so-long-and-thanks-for-
all...](http://earlyretirementextreme.com/so-long-and-thanks-for-all-the-
fish.html)

------
giddas
Amazing how offended some people seem to be by him omitting a few thing - who
really cares

~~~
kahawe
> _Amazing how offended some people seem to be by him omitting a few thing -
> who really cares_

If I promise to give you 50 bucks for some software you wrote and then I only
give you 10, you wouldn't be offended or complain, right?

~~~
drumdance
Seriously? Clicking on a link with a vaguely misleading headline is the same
as giving someone $50? Really?

~~~
kahawe
I was promised something by the (outrageously) surprising claim in the
headline and the article could not remotely keep up... and this was the first
analogy that came to my mind - in both cases something was promised but then
not fulfilled.

------
skbohra123
That's actually more stuff than most of the middle class Indians have. Hmmm

~~~
sopooneo
Maybe more retail value, but as for number of items? I believe a typical
middle class Indian has a lot more.

------
dimitar
Minimalism - asceticism for rich people?

Did I get it?

------
personlurking
If he can group things together like his 'toiletry kit', then I'll do the same
with my clothes (though I have toiletries, too). Aside from my clothes, I have
10 books, a laptop and a cell phone. If we're going off of things I'd be
pissed if someone stole then that'd be my MBA and all of my clothes...so I
guess I kind of own two things.

I've lived like this for 10 years.

------
mmahemoff
See also: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_nomad>

~~~
nickpinkston
[http://www.thrillingheroics.com/digital-nomad-
academy-–-were...](http://www.thrillingheroics.com/digital-nomad-
academy-–-were-doing-it) Neat site about Digital Nomadist, and an article on
the Academy for it.

------
Jayasimhan
Though Andrew is not a perfect minimalist, there are things that we can learn
from him. He has a angle on using minimal stuff and they are pretty much
valid. Shopping for fun is a plague in US and increasingly so in the rest of
the world too.

Here in the bay area, we were given free BART tickets [at the BART stations!]
to shop during the holiday season. The kind of minimalism that Andrew has
written about needs to be approached from that angle. Of course there is
travel, non vegetarian food, use-n-throw things and so on that we need to fix.
But this is a step in the right direction.

Btw,

Why do we need to be hyper critics here on HN? The blog was posted on his own
site. Not directly on HN. There is no attention seeking in it. I learn a lot
from the comments of each post in HN. The information is great and often eye-
opening. I just hope the tone of a comment doesn't fend off its readers.

~~~
ryanwanger
If you seek only comments to agree with the post, go to Reddit. If you seek
only comments that disagree with the post, go to Hacker News.

Frankly, both have been a HUGE turnoff for me lately.

------
pistoriusp
If he didn't have friends or family willing to give him a place to stay then
he would have to increase the number of things that he owned.

Which isn't a bad thing.

Certain objects are worthwhile owning. I'm particularly fond of robots which
decrease my need to do menial labour.

My washing machine and dishwasher saves me at least 30 minutes a day.

------
nodata
I'd like to know how many things he has on that Macbook air.

~~~
goo
You might be surprised -- a minimalist mindset can extend toward computer
habits as well. Also, just as he relies on society to provide him with
essentials like food, so too could he rely on cloud providers like Google Docs
to take care of his document storage -- though of course he would still own
his Google account.

It's no stretch to compare Mimimalism to a thin-client computing design -- it
is made possible by the existence of an excellent network of other person-
nodes, and it reduces the emotional and physical "computational" overhead of
owning things.

Also, in response to come other comments in this thread: to argue that he is
parasitic requires the moral stance that using things you do not own is
parasitic, regardless of the other contributions you make to society
(including paying for the temporary use of those things!). Which is bollocks.

------
driverdan
In May 2011 I sold nearly everything I owned and traveled for 6 months with
just a small backpack. My list was similar to Andrew's with a few more
clothing items.

I should write a blog post but DL;DR version is that it was well worth it. I
don't want to live that way continuously but it made me think a lot more about
consumerism.

For the most part I lived in hostels and cooked my own food. My living
expenses stayed about the same since I wasn't paying rent or maintaining a
car.

The biggest problem with owning so few items is convenience. You sacrifice the
convenience of doing laundry once a week (or less) and having everything you
need at hand.

------
rkudeshi
Looks like CNN did a piece on him back in September 2010:
[http://articles.cnn.com/2010-09-17/tech/gahran.blogging.ipad...](http://articles.cnn.com/2010-09-17/tech/gahran.blogging.ipad_1_blogging-
wi-fi-ipad?_s=PM:TECH)

Interesting that he left his laptop behind and used only an iPad then, but is
back to a MacBook Air now.

------
agumonkey
Next step, extrem bootstraping, define the kernel to rebuild everything you
need.

    
    
      Living From Scratch v1

------
jodrellblank
Bit of a success for Apple that this guy pared his life down to 15 things and
2 of them are Apple products.

~~~
tambourine_man
Not only that, but all his consumer electronics are made by them.

Heck, almost everything not wearable or clothe related is Apple's.

------
jister
Balance.

An extreme of "something" is not good...

~~~
gizmo
I consider it a good thing when a person is extremely reasonable. Or extremely
thoughtful. Or extremely honest. Or extremely patient. Or extremely gracious.

We don't need balance in _all_ things. A rocket only makes it safely to the
moon if the engineers are _extremely_ cautious. Bill Gates is _extremely_
charitable. Einstein was _extremely_ intelligent.

The idea that "extreme X for any X" is bad is some sort of pseudo-wisdom that
doesn't even pass the sniff test.

~~~
nodata
If you are extremely thoughtful to the point that you never get any work done,
then this is also a bad thing.

~~~
gizmo
And if you're so patient that you keep waiting for food indefinitely you'll
starve. This is just silly.

------
vae77
In terms of software... very bloated.

~~~
nandemo
Indeed. If you own a device running a modern processor and OS, you got extreme
miniaturization hiding in (skimpy) minimalism's clothes.

A sheepherder in Afghanistan might own a hundred items more than this guy, yet
he lives a simpler life by any reasonable definition.

------
corkill
"Headline: guy owns 15 things ... read article, guy owns more than 15 things."

Haha exactly how I felt when I read it. This is a good blog post of gear for
this kinda travel or lifestyle <http://tynan.com/2010gear>.

The 14 things I own and the cost of each item.
[https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsFrsoFjrGmgdFB...](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AsFrsoFjrGmgdFB6UzFDNXhodFRiNG14bzQ0MWtwVFE)

------
gbog
This guy still owns too much. When I was in Nepal with a friend studying
migration, we saw many guys wlaking to India with:

Their clothes (2 pieces)

Their plastic slippers

A cloth bag with, inside:

One toothbrush

A few rupies.

~~~
ctdonath
Whenever preparing to travel, I always try to allay my wife's "maybe I forgot
something!" fears by asking "got passport? credit card? yes? then we're ready
to go."

My personal version: knife, firestarter, meds <http://db.tt/rU56upUK>

------
njharman
It's really really weird to me that someone who wants to own as few things as
possible (i.e. be unmaterialistic) is so focused on brands. (which to me is
the height of materialism owning/valuing/recognizing something for it's label
rather than substance).

Seems like it's just a gimmick, something to fill blog posts with.

~~~
lnanek
Brands are often a nice shortcut to find a quality item. I was researching a
coat for a woman the other day and was looking at a fancy brand one vs. a
knockoff. After reading all the reviews it turned out the brand one was much
more fitted (shows off your form, not a shapeless box) and had a better
closure mechanism (a series of snaps at the bottom below the zipper for
closing it up when you are waiting at a bus or something). The brand one isn't
competing on razor thin margins to be the cheapest version on the block, so
they can spend more money on materials and design and the like. If you don't
know clothes very well, it can be a shortcut to an actual, in person, feature
by feature comparison in detail. This might mean being able to buy online, or
only after visiting one store, instead of visiting a couple. At many income
levels, it can make sense to spend money to save time.

------
lelele
To move out of my rented flat without having anywhere to go - besides hotels,
I mean - I gave away most of my belongings and it amazed me watching how many
items I owned which were sitting there consuming space.

Then, after leaving my country with just hand luggage, I've been living
minimalistic for the last two months. Yes, it can be done, but it's either
time-consuming or expensive, depending on how much you are going to outsource.
I have to wash my laundry by hand each other day instead of once a week, and
lacking many kitchen items means I spend more time preparing my meals.

There is a trade-off to be made between space and time. When you see someone
who's consuming little space, it may be that they are consuming either a lot
of time or a lot of money.

EDIT: Thus, don't feel uncomfortable about owning a lot of things. If you feel
so inclined, feel uncomfortable about owning things you don't use. For those
who haven't read PG's essay about this issue, which played a part in making me
superfluous-aware: <http://www.paulgraham.com/stuff.html>

------
runjake
There's well over 15 things in the picture. Not shown: toothbrush, soap, wash
linens, contacts fluid, deodorant, etc. This seems like vanity over
minimalism/utility, much like the EDC "every day carry" crowd with their $150
flashlights and $50 pens.

Focus on frugality, not brands and numbers.

------
jiggy2011
I also own practically nothing apart from my clothes (all bought at discount
stores) and the food in my fridge.

All my tech needs are met by work , my furniture came with my (rented) house
and my TV etc are mostly other peoples cast offs.

~~~
jarek
Just because you didn't pay for your TV doesn't mean you don't own it.

------
brudgers
[tl;dr] Money is fungible.

------
sequoia
Similar, longer article with a ton of similar discussion can be found here:

<http://boingboing.net/2010/09/10/technomads.html>

------
jackfoxy
Never heard of NAU shirts, so I did a minimal look-up, and the minimum price
appears to be $72, but they claim to be _sustainable_ , whatever that is.

------
swah
Scheme vs Common Lisp

------
waldes
I don't have any issue with the way he counts his things. But seriously, he
must eat at resturants most of the time.

------
larrys
Well first he has one more thing of value in addition to those mentioned.

He owns andrewhy.de domain name which has links and traffic.

And he can sell that because the traffic and links have value. According the
the dubious compete.com numbers traffic spiked to about 25k visitors in Sept.
of 2011. (It's less now.) According to alexa.com he has 351 sites linking in.

Oh one more thing.

What he is doing is known as a publicity stunt. I've done them and I know one
when I see it.

------
ffffruit
I remember reading somewhere that S. Jobs was of a similar mentality; at times
he only kept a Tiffany's lamp, a chair and a bed in this apartment.

------
kingkawn
It's still too many ugly blue shirts.

------
DanBC
Does he have health insurance? I'm guessing that's a pretty big thing.

------
fedxc
MacBook Air and iPhone? C'mon!

~~~
antidaily
That's everyone I know practically. What exactly are you trying to say.

------
powertower
This reminds me of an old joke:

What do you call a man with no material possessions?

A man without a girlfriend.

~~~
zeteo
> What do you call a man with no material possessions?

Recently divorced.

------
its_so_on
my first thought was: "I bet three of them are macbook pros :)." seriously
though...

Where are his toiletries? Stuff for the kitchen? more socks? everyday bag as
opposed to that travelling one? a single book he's reading right now, or a
reader like a kindle or whatever?

This guy doesnt't look like he's actually living with 15 things, which makes
the point kind of moot. He doesn't even have a towel.

Let alone anything like a dress shoes.

I don't think it's possible to get ownership down to 15 things.

Each of the following is an absolutely minimal thing:

1) laptop

2) power adaptor for laptop

3) phone

4) power adapter for phone

5) toothbrush

6) toothpaste

7) underwear

8) underwear

9) underwear

10) pair of socks

11) pair of socks

12) pair of socks

13) shoes

14) jeans

15) jeans

16) everyday bag

17) towel

18) bodywash/shampoo/and shaving cream in one

19) which reminds me: razer BZZZZZZZT over the 15 :) and you're just getting
around to being able to shave.

20) shirt

21) shirt

22) shirt

23) sweater

24) sweater

If you add some moisterizing cream and maybe a watch and blazer, maybe a
second pair of shoes, you're pretty well set though to move to a new city. You
don't need a wallet, that's why jeans have pockets. a belt wouldn't kill you
either.

~~~
RandallBrown
If you read the article it says he counts stuff like you were buying it at a
store. Laptop and charger count as one item. He also said he only counts
things he can resell for value so socks and underwear don't count either.

~~~
its_so_on
That's interesting, though it's hardly true that "this guy owns just 15
things", which is what the title says. Meanwhile, fuckit, I got an actual
viable list down to eleven:

1) toothbrush

2) macbook

3) phone

4-5) charger for macbook, phone USB cable

6) some ID

7) jeans (you're going commando here)

8) shoes

9) heavy shirt/sweater type thing

10) a bag

And...

(laaa - that's angels singing) Credit card.

Bon voyage! You might want to buy a coat at the airport, and deoderant.

