‘The most important thing in life is not to have the most, but to need the least’ (Plato)
In this era of conspicuous consumerism, of ‘shop until you drop’, of buying more of what you already possess, and loading credit cards with money that you don’t have, I consider myself to have been most fortunate in having parents who had a ‘waste not, want not’ attitude. We had the basics, but no more.
When I left home at 18 to migrate to Canada, my posessions barely filled a very small suitcase. Apart from the clothes on my back and the shoes that I was wearing, I had a couple of shirts, underwear and socks. I had also my football boots and a sweater for when the weather got colder. There wasn’t much else, for the case was very small.
My ambition was to see as much of the world as I could, so keeping my processions to a minimum became a priority. For the next 20 years, I roamed, working for a time in each destination, to Canada, Australia, US, England, Nigeria, Venezuela, Peru, slowly enhancing my IT career. Sometimes I was employed, at others I was a contractor. Regardless of the mode of employment, I made a point of never leaving a project before it was completed to the satisfaction of the client. My professional reputation was important to me.
When I eventually settled down in England and had a family, my minimalist habits still prevailed, with one exception: my collection of books. They were intended as an intellectual investment for my dotage when I might be no longer able to travel. In the meantime, they remain unread in their bookshelves in England, for I am not yet ready to put my feet up and wait to die.
And now in Cape Town for the past nine years, I am still ambitious to see some more of the world, not as an old-age-pensioner-tourist on a cruise or bus, but as a traveller, with my pack on my back, and the open road ahead. Walking from village to village with a light backpack, through towns and cities, I realized how few are the possessions that I really need.
Way back in 1965, just before I left home, I saw Cliff Richard and the Shadows in a concert in Belfast. One of their hit songs was ‘Travelling light’. I often sang that song as I walked along on one of my pilgrimages.
One day soon I hope to walk another pilgrimage and sing it again.
The Irish Rover 