The original concept of buying nothing new is going well, I think the point was to prove (to myself) that I have enough stuff; clothes, shoes, bags being probably what I had the most of, and while at the start of the year I was making a mental list of what I would like to buy once I reached 2017, and shopping with Ciarán as a way of satisfying my need to shop, I have now gradually changed my attitude to never buying anything new again (so it should be no problem seeing the rest of the year out)!
Home wares is another area where I purchase(d) a lot but I didn´t feel any temptation this year as I knew I would be moving half way through, let´s see how I fare with this in the second half of the year!
I had bought a new phone and computer about a year before embarking on this challenge, and since my previous computer and phone were about 5 years old, I wasn´t expecting much temptation on this front, I also own a projector, a point and shoot camera, a hair straightener (which I believe I have used one this year) a hair dryer which I left in Ireland, none of these things I consider essential, and if any of them did break, I would probably just (even next year) share or look for a second hand one (phone).
I was already getting books from charity shops and book exchanges, haven´t bought a CD since the year 2000 and been watching movies on the internet, so no issues there.
There are a few souvenirs I would have liked to buy from south America, like a hammock, but all in all the few pieces I picked up from flea markets are perhaps more authentic than store bought souvenirs, and I was always a bit skeptical about the need for a lot of my purchases after i took them home. This hat for example, currently lives on top of the TV and hasn´t been used as a sun hat since the way home from the trip it was bought on in 2014 (and probably only then because that was the easiest way to carry it).
Home wares is another area where I purchase(d) a lot but I didn´t feel any temptation this year as I knew I would be moving half way through, let´s see how I fare with this in the second half of the year!
I had bought a new phone and computer about a year before embarking on this challenge, and since my previous computer and phone were about 5 years old, I wasn´t expecting much temptation on this front, I also own a projector, a point and shoot camera, a hair straightener (which I believe I have used one this year) a hair dryer which I left in Ireland, none of these things I consider essential, and if any of them did break, I would probably just (even next year) share or look for a second hand one (phone).
I was already getting books from charity shops and book exchanges, haven´t bought a CD since the year 2000 and been watching movies on the internet, so no issues there.
There are a few souvenirs I would have liked to buy from south America, like a hammock, but all in all the few pieces I picked up from flea markets are perhaps more authentic than store bought souvenirs, and I was always a bit skeptical about the need for a lot of my purchases after i took them home. This hat for example, currently lives on top of the TV and hasn´t been used as a sun hat since the way home from the trip it was bought on in 2014 (and probably only then because that was the easiest way to carry it).
The only thing I am worried about (in terms of buying new stuff) is the need for an extra bag to get the rest of our stuff back to Ireland,But I am doing the last leg of my journey with Ryanair, so am not the best choice for a second checked bag, and so will leave Ciarán to deal with that problem.
So that was the original plan for 2016, 100% success so far (except for the race t-shirt, medal etc...but I have already given my excuses for that in a previous blog post) but before the year had started I extended the challenge to no packaging, the success rate in that category is not as good as above:
I was originally planning to make one long blog post, but because of technical difficulties (chunks of text disappearing) I have decided to split it into installments.
So that was the original plan for 2016, 100% success so far (except for the race t-shirt, medal etc...but I have already given my excuses for that in a previous blog post) but before the year had started I extended the challenge to no packaging, the success rate in that category is not as good as above:
I was originally planning to make one long blog post, but because of technical difficulties (chunks of text disappearing) I have decided to split it into installments.
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