Boundaries

standing close & letting go

Every culture seems to have its boundaries about what you talk about (no religion or politics, for instance), what you do, how you act…and how close you stand to someone else.  I asked someone for directions to the grocery store tonight, and he was totally in my personal space. Most of us in the US have a big personal bubble. If you don’t believe me, try taking a step towards someone when you’re standing with them and see if they don’t back up.  Now that Chad and I are at our Air BnB in the city, I’m going to test my theory that Spain has a smaller bubble than we do. Because that’s how I roll.  I’m such a nerd.

Today has been a pretty chill day.  Just had to do a lot of figuring out.  “200 meters down the road,” that nice man said.  19 said the A/C remote.  34 Euro said the cashier.  30 said the weather channel.  4 kilometers said Google maps.  220 said the frozen pizza box.  Every one of these involves translation.  Aka Math.  I’d rather work on my Spanish.

Anyway, since we were moving from Pritch & Jodi’s today, we had to pack our bags.  We had let them explode, so it took a while to cram everything back in.  It made me consider what I’m going to let go of this leg of our Amazing Race.  I’ve already left behind a pair of shoes, some books, that travel pillow, and potentially an “emergency” credit card.  (Argh on that last one.)

The blue bag we’ve been checking in on flights is looking even more like the place to regain space.  It’s the one we leave on the edge of our pile whenever we’re traveling.  It’s the one we’d be least upset about losing, which makes me think about the other bags we have.  You can tell how are important they are by the proximity to my body: the big green one has most of my clothes on it, and I wear it on my back where someone could potentially dig into the top of it if they were behind me.  The small backpack has my laptop and other electronics, and it’s on my front, so it would be harder for someone to rummage through.  My little black purse is slung across my body under the small backpack, and it’s got my $ stuff.  And when we’re going out where I need to bring them, I’ve got a passport belt that has Covid records, Global Entry, passports, as well as the backup emergency credit card.  So, if I were to lose the blue checked bag, I’d be ok.  If I were to lose the green bag, I’d be ok.  Blue backpack, a bit more of a hurt.  The black bag, more hurt.  The passport belt, no bueno.

Let’s apply that to you.  There truly are some things that you may be thinking are important (because you are keeping them,) but they really aren’t as important as you think.  Are you keeping clothes that are worthy of the black purse status, or are they more of the blue bag, something that you wouldn’t miss too terribly?  Or be honest, are they even further away in importance and really belong with all of the clothes we left behind at the Goodwill?  What about your collection of kitchen items or decor or books?

Look at the things.  Do they fit easily in the boundaries of your walls?  If not, could you let go of just one thing?  Maybe two?  Maybe do like the Minimalists suggest and do a month of clearing out.  Each day, you get rid of at least the number on the calendar,  So when October starts, you’d find one thing to find to donate, give away, sell, etc.  By the 15th, you’d challenge yourself to do 15.  On Halloween, 31 things to let go of.  By the end of the month, you will be free of some number (remember me + Math = ?) of things.  It will feel good, I promise!

Our backpack boundaries right now are tight, especially tight when we try to cram everything back into them.  One of the reasons I need to let go of some clothes is that it’s still pretty warm here in Madrid.   (Mid-high 80s)  I am going to the Corte Ingles tomorrow to find some shorts and another short sleeve shirt.  It will be strange to shop for something to keep.  Before we left, Target sent me a letter concerned about my well being because it had been so long since I had used my Red Card.  Since we were in full-on purge mode, Target got left out.  What would it be like for you to shop mainly for consumables?  The Halloween decorations can wait until next year.

Your homework:  test my personal bubble theory, do some math, take the Minimalist challenge, do some more math, try buying mainly consumables.  Bet you didn’t think you were going to be getting assignments today.

I have one more!  This one is a request, pretty please with cherries on top!  As I’ve already told you before, my birthday is Friday.  You’re off the hook for buying me a gift since I have no room in my bag.  There are consistently around 125 views of this blog so unless my mom is rereading over and over again, there are plenty of you who could make my wish come true. I’d love it if 50 of you would write a comment ON FRIDAY (ideally on the blog, but ok if you prefer to write me directly) telling one of your most memorable travel stories.  It can be exhilarating, funny, a comedy of errors, something/somewhere beautiful, a bucket list, something/somewhere that scared you until you did it, life-changing, relaxing, etc.  If you don’t want to tell a whole story, you could just recommend a place we should consider visiting and why.  Be thinking!  Y’all will (fingers crossed) be writing my post on Friday!  : )

FOOTNOTE:

1. Writing prompts:

• boundaries

• personal bubble

• why should/shouldn’t the US adopt the metric system?