How (not) To Travel Light

There are two types of traveller: those who like souvenirs and those who do not.
I am not a person for souvenirs, having bought a few over the years and ended up throwing them away because once I return home they collect dust and become kind of useless.

For more than a year I have resisted the urge to Buy Stuff. I came to England with just a backpack (weighing less than 20kg) and intend to return home with a backpack of a similar size.

But there is this need to collect, to make a place a home and somehow I have tricked myself into finding a few exceptions to the rule of "I cannot accumulate Stuff."



Like postcards. I find it interesting to scan a few racks of postcards in a new country, checking to see if they have any historical ones or ones that are more stylish than the usual type. And how much do they weigh? Nothing! I can always post them home to myself when I return.



Like guidebooks. I've been given a few, have purchased a few from op-shops. They are useful. Clearly they are not to be classified as souvenirs.

There are other collections, too. A little pile of maps, about a zillion photos, a stack of paintings I've done on paper.

Is it really possible to live somewhere for a long time and not accumulate Stuff?
I'm beginning to think not.