So I've concluded that I would make a horrible nomad since I struggled to pack my belongings for 1 year into my Toyota Matrix. For some reason, I now have a better understanding of the statement "Americans live big." We live in big homes with big closets, drive around in big cars, purchase in quantity from places like Costco and Target, eat supersized meals, and shop in stores that carry XXXX large sizes. And I am an American (born and raised) so I have been subjected to this socialization process however, closing up shop here for a year has raised some questions for me. I was forced to take inventory of all of my belongings since I needed to account for them for my year abroad and was slightly horrified. I admittedly found: over 10 pairs of jeans, 10 pairs of black slacks (and white slacks for that matter), a collection of T-shirts that could easily dress me for a month without doing laundry, an enormous miscelaneous category that I prefer to ignore, and just an obscene amount of half used and unopened toiletrees. This list in nowhere near complete. This process brought me to some healthy self-reflection and cause for concern over American priorities. Granted I'm one person who lived in a 2 bedroom townhouse with basement, garage, and huge yard so nothing really made me seem like a hoarder; however my consumerism definitely runs strong.
Being a middle class American working in a stressful environment, earning a healthy salary just to maintain a mortgage, car, pay off student loans, and be a good American consumer created a busy void. I had a very comfortable routine consisting of driving my 5 minute commute to and from work and then using my membership to the health club for yoga and spending time at the local dog park.
To Be Continued.............
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