Can you live with less?

Good evening everyone. I hope you are well!

I have just returned from a wonderful 10 days in Spain. We went self catering in a super cute little apartment because I have allergies so we find it easier to eat in. Of course when you're away you have to make do with what you have. You don't have all same the things you do at home and it got me thinking.... Can we live with less?!

Have you been away recently and stayed somewhere with a tiny kitchen? No local shops? No big supermarkets? No washing machine?

Did you make it work?

Of course you did! We always feel like we need more but in fact our happiest times are often when we have less.

I wanted to share with you a bit about our trip and how we made it work.

• Our apartment - We had a small 2 bedroom apartment for the 4 of us and in the kitchen we had 4 plates , 4 bowls etc. We had 1 frying pan, 1 small saucepan and 1 large saucepan. We had no can opener or bottle opener. no serving dishes and no oven! We had a hob and a microwave. BUT We got creative. We planned our meals in advance and knew how we would cook them and if it was possible. We ate so well. Healthy meals cooked from scratch everyday. Smaller portions (we always over eat) as we needed to fit it all in the pans and we ate as a family. It was lovely. At first we were a little worried and wished we had an oven but once we had a plan we didn't think about it again.

• Shopping - The area we stayed in had a tiny supermarket where you could get a few basic essentials - like the wine I fell in love with and fresh bread but not much more and definitely not anything I could eat with my allergies. We considered hiring a car as our nearest 'big' supermarket (although more like a Tesco express here) was a 20 minute walk and in 32 degree heat with 2 children it didn't seem like a fun idea BUT we decided to give it a go. We planned 4 days at a time what we would need and all shared the load of carrying. By doing this it meant we could have really fresh food and not think too far ahead as to what we would want to eat. Shopping as a family meant everyone was involved and got to choose new and exciting things to try too. I wont say the walks were always fun but we did it and we made it work for us.

• Luggage - We were very fortunate to have a high luggage allowance for our flights however as a family who don't have an huge amount of clothes we actually didn't always have enough of everything. I could have gone out and bought more but when I chose our apartment I made sure it had a washing machine. I took washing sheets which are fab for travel and as they don't leak. We took a large laundry sack and any time someone was running low I ran things through the wash and they were dry very quickly. I didn't even feel like I was doing chores. Just a small thing to help lighten the load and spending.

Have you ever been away and lived without all of your 'essentials' Did it make you wonder if you really need all that stuff?

We're not all the same but I can tell you from my point of view that even as a women with minimal stuff I could certainly live with less!! And so could my children. They both had spending money and often my 13 year old daughter would say to me "I'm not just going to buy something because I have money as it will just clutter my space, I will only buy something I really want". If a 13 year old can do it so can you! Remember children will often mirror what they see!

So next time your away and living with less, ask yourself this........ Can I live with less at home? Will it make my life easier? Am I happier not surrounded in so much stuff?

Have a fantastic week and remember - A perfect space is a space thats perfect for you!!

Lauren

xx