Life in 20 +7 kg

20 kg is the luggage limit and 7 kg is the limit for hand carry. Here I am somewhere in a remote place, with no internet in the city except in my office, trying to minimize my needs, limited to total of 27 kgs. This is the height of an oxymoron - trying to have the maximum in life by having the minimum. Am I being minimalist?

3 pairs of pants, 1 shirt, 4 t-shirts, 3 pairs of shoes, 2 jackets and a laptop, chargers, daily hygiene stuff like toothpaste, trimmer, papers, 2 books, a kindle, and a mobile phone. What else do I need?

Every day I pack, lock my suitcases in the morning before leaving for my office and unpack every evening when I am back.

I will check out from the hotel tomorrow for 2 days and I will again check-in.

The mobile phone has been the most used item so far, even when there is no internet. As it has photos, Whatsapp messages that I revisit, and emails that I read and reread, delete some, and reply to. Whenever I am connected, it syncs, downloads new what's app messages, new emails, and posts my blogs. I assumed that I will be reading a lot when I don't have the internet, but it is not true till now. I spend a significant amount of time on offline YouTube videos, movies, and emails. The mobile screen addiction is true with internet connection and without internet.

This first week in a new place has been all about trying to know the locals and setting up. My sleep is getting normal, my food habits are being set, and also getting to know that Ethiopia has its own time. 7:00 am is 1 o'clock and 7:00 pm is 1 o'clock again. As my Ethiopian colleague says, "we have uninterrupted day and uninterrupted night from sunrise to sunset and from sunset to sunrise." It makes sense.

The habitual is amazing in Human nature. As time passes, as the dust settles, the differences start to normalize. The local ecosystem takes over the preoccupied perceptions. One habit demises and a new habit emerges. The new local lens helps me understand the underlying reasons and at the same time, my old lens helps me to accept the facts without judgment. The world is less complex than we think. We complete things with explanations and with our logic. The 27 kg of stuff is all we need. Plus, internet, plus an apartment where I can unpack my luggage bags, plus a new iPhone 12, plus a new iPad air, plus a new pair of shoes, plus few more t-shirts plus an office desk in my apartment, plus I want a kitchen set, plus a coffee, plus........ Yes, it's a paradox.

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