Happiness and the joy of doing more with less
Travel writer extraordinaire Pico Iyer recently published a thoughtful column in the New York Times about The Joy of Less. Iyer’s point is one that I think all vagabonds eventually embrace — the less you need the happier you will be. While there is no formula for happiness, voluntary simplicity certainly seems to be a big part of it.
Iyer recounts his own journey from a typical Park Avenue life to his current setup in Kyoto, Japan where he has no car, no bike, no television, no internet. In general, it sounds like Iyer is happiest with very little stuff.
And that’s exactly what I hear all the time from vagabonds of otherwise very different backgrounds. Which isn’t of course to say that getting rid of your stuff or your “distractions” is surefire way to be happier, just that it seems to be a powerful first step. As Iyer writes:
I’m no Buddhist monk, and I can’t say I’m in love with renunciation in itself, or traveling an hour or more to print out an article I’ve written, or missing out on the N.B.A. Finals. But at some point, I decided that, for me at least, happiness arose out of all I didn’t want or need, not all I did. And it seemed quite useful to take a clear, hard look at what really led to peace of mind or absorption (the closest I’ve come to understanding happiness).
It’s a theme we’ve covered before on vagablogging, and there are some more scientific studies that back it up, but generally speaking it seems that trying to do more with less leads to greater happiness.
Of course that doesn’t mean that you need to follow Iyer’s recipe. In fact, as he writes, “I certainly wouldn’t recommend my life to most people — and my heart goes out to those who have recently been condemned to a simplicity they never needed or wanted.”
The real point I think is to figure out what makes you happy. And the fastest, easiest way to figure that out seems to be eliminating, if only temporarily, everything from your life to see what remains. What do you do, what do you think, what do you feel when all the handy distractions are gone?
Certainly we’ve all met many a traveler who started traveling to answer that very question.
It might not be the easiest thing to do — in fact I can almost guarantee it will be a painful process, both mentally and physically — but sometimes it’s exactly what you need to do to learn what makes you happy.
[Photo credit singsing_sky, Flickr]
June 9th, 2009 at 11:58 am
His name is Pico Iyer, not Ayer. One of my two favorite traver writers, Potts being the other one.
June 9th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Ooops, by “traver writers” I of course meant “travel writers”. How embarrassing in a comment about someone else’s spelling.
June 9th, 2009 at 2:33 pm
Thanks for the catch, Rob 🙂 Edited it.
June 9th, 2009 at 9:42 pm
Spelling typo’s aside… 😉 An interesting post and one I’ve lived for years. The greatest feeling about travel is knowing I don’t own anything I need to return to, be responsible for, or pay off; for me the freedom is in the not having, not knowing, and not needing to!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:22 pm
I think that attachment to things or believing that you must have them is a major issue. I like sharing a nice home with my husband and having a garden, pets, an internet connection, a atudio to paint in and getting to travel, but in studying and choosing to practice Buddhism, I came to realize that preferring to have those things is ok, but needing them is where the suffering can start if they are taken away. So I just cultivate a feeling of happiness with what I have, knowing that nothing is permanent, fortunately.
I do feel that I am past the point in my life where just heading out with a backpack is sensible or possible, but I love being able to come to this blog and get the perspective of those of you who “travel light” and lightly. It gives me good things to think about.
June 10th, 2009 at 11:58 am
I’ve heard that having “less is more” and that you’ll be more happier. I do think there is some truth to it. Most people believe in the 80/20 rule when it comes to the clothes in your closet—you only wear 20% of your clothes. The other 80% sits there collecting dust! Getting rid of clothing could help your travels…not a lot to pack!
If you have less stuff, you lessen your responsibility and increase your freedom. Plus, if you give up certain things like a car, you can help the environment. Not sure if I’m ready to give up my “wheels” just yet…
January 5th, 2010 at 1:51 pm
[…] also pointed out in the past that less stuff generally leads to a more fulfilling life. Study after study has shown that experience, not things, are what create memorable moments and […]