On the left is when I bought my car 6 years ago. On the right is me last weekend, on the day I sold it!

In just a few days, I’ll finally be making the big move I’ve been talking about for months. This weekend, I’ll be getting on a plane to Honolulu, Hawaii (on the island of Oahu) with nothing but a backpack, a carry-on suitcase and a whole lot of trust in the universe that now is the right time. In many ways, relocating to Hawaii feels like the final stage of my journey to become location-independent. After two years of downsizing, traveling, building my business and experimenting with different living situations, I’ve achieved the possibility of being able to live and work from anywhere in the world. Something tells me that this move is only the beginning of another year of personal and professional adventure!

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared. But I’m feeling the fear and moving anyway. Here are a few other things that have happened ever since I made the choice to move to my ideal location. If you decide to embark on your own big move, you might experience some of them, too.

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Photo courtesy Pilar Harris

This is a guest post by Pilar Harris, a healthy lifestyle blogger in Los Angeles. Please welcome Pilar to the HBW Community!

I come from a very creative, woman-centric tribe of stylish black women who love to thrift shop and collect. Growing up, garage sales and flea markets were frequent happenings. I can recall my grandmother and aunties having several closets filled with clothes, much of it never worn, and knick-knacks, many unused.

The very day I arrived for my year-long stay in Germany, I knew I’d be forced to confront and reconsider my own habits of consumption. I quickly learned that minimalism isn’t just about living with less. It’s about making room for more of what really matters. I’m pleased to share some of the lessons learned from this experience of downsizing. I’ve been able to find more time and space for what matters most – the things I’m passionate about and the experiences that bring me closer to an understanding of my divine purpose.

So, here goes.

Lesson 1: Buy Only What You Can Carry Home

I lived in a 6th floor apartment in a beautiful pre-war building. You know, the kind with lots of windows (for letting in natural light) and no elevator. I developed the habit of only buying what I could comfortably carry home, up five flights of stairs. This meant buying less and making multiple trips to the grocery store in a week. Now that I’m back in the States, I try to maintain this mentality because it prevents impulsive buying. It really comes in handy when I’m at those big-box, super-saver stores that stock everything under one roof!

Lesson 2: Carpool

It’s not uncommon for Europeans to carpool with complete strangers. They even have websites, similar to Craigslist, that allow folks to post their trips and the number of open seats they have available for the ride. Coming from California, where it seems everyone has at least one car, the idea of this totally blew me. But I learned that it makes perfect sense, once you put your pride aside. Why not ride with someone and split the costs, especially for long distance trips? I can’t say how many times my girlfriends and I have gone someplace, the four or five of us arriving in separate vehicles! For safety’s sake, I still wouldn’t carpool with strangers. Yet, I have learned to be a lot less shy about the whole “can I get a ride” thing.

Lesson 3: Modesty is Sexy

This is not only a lesson learned in minimalism. It also relates to cold weather living and mindful dressing. I watched chic German women maintain their sexy through the long winter season while covered from head to toe. I discovered this culture of understated femininity where form-flattering turtlenecks, eye-opening mascara and waist-high trousers reign supreme. No punchy eyeshadow, trendy handbags, or statement accessories needed. It’s all about mixing conservatism with classics and basics for a wonderfully becoming wardrobe, instead of doing an overhaul in favor of the season’s biggest trends.

Lesson 4: More Experiences. Fewer Things.

Each of the friends I made in Europe had a rich past experience of travel that, in the States, is typically reserved for the well-to-do. The secret, I found, is not in having more money. Rather, it’s about leading a simple lifestyle and splurging on the experiences that enrich our understanding of the world. I watched a young couple lock up their humble one bedroom flat, headed for a one month winter holiday retreat in Denmark. My sweet university-aged friend, who lived at home with her parents and did not own a car, returned from spring break refreshed, after having spent a week in the Mediterranean (Mallorca) with her brother and cousins. It’s a tradition they’ve kept since the youngest of them turned sixteen.

Having seen this for myself, I feel I have an important choice to make when the latest gadget, perfume or platform shoe is released: to buy? Or to save for that South American expedition I’ve been dreaming of?

Lesson 5: Live Small

Small is the name of the game in most European urbanscapes. If you’ve ever shopped at Ikea, you probably have an idea of what I’m alluding to. Small are the cars and the kitchen cabinets. Small is every home appliance, shower and stairway. I practiced being more selective of the things I purchased and the junk I hung on to simply because there was no space for excess. It’s kind of like switching to a smaller purse. Inevitably, some of the things you’d normally carry around just have to go.

Now, whenever I find myself feeling “too big” for my surroundings, I immediately look for things I can get rid of. As I work on healing the packrat within, I am really enjoying this clutter-free way of living. It’s a one-way street toward the freedom of having more brain space and energy to dedicate to my work, relationships, and dreams.

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Pilar Harris is a healthy lifestyle blogger who is passionate about vegetarianism, travel, books and black womanhood. She is a twenty-something healthy lifestyle advocate in the making who loves hip hop music as much as she loves steamed cauliflower and independent bookstores. Stop by her humble web home, Pilar in Motion and say hi on Twitter @pilarinmotion.

Photo courtesy Toya Nicole

This is a guest post by Toya Nicole, a travel blogger and marketing consultant. Please welcome Toya to the HBW Community!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

I travel more than the average person. Between business travel, personal vacations and weekend getaways, I should have a reserved parking spot at the Chicago O’Hare Airport. I’m always thinking about what my next destination will be and am often called upon by others to help them plan trips. It goes without saying that I’m passionate about travel.

Perhaps it’s ingrained in my DNA. My mother was a woman who traveled across the world with ease! Whether she was exploring France on a European vacation, hanging with the locals in Guadalajara, Mexico, cruising through the Caribbean or sneaking off to Vegas, she lived it up! I still have the postcard she sent me from her Hawaiian vacation when I was a kid. Even as a divorced, single mother she still set aside time and money to travel. Sometimes she had kids in tow or her girlfriends, but often times she rolled solo. So I guess you can say I get it from my momma!

While it’s second nature for me to bounce across the globe, I’m very aware that most women don’t take advantage of opportunities to travel.

Last fall, I returned from a weeklong Italy vacation with friends. While conversing with an associate, she commented:

“When I’m blessed to be wealthy and I get a husband I want to travel, too!”

Wait.

Say what, now? I don’t have a husband myself and am definitely not cashing Oprah-sized checks at the bank!

This was a working woman in her 30s who still had not been outside her southern state line boundaries. Why she felt she needed to “get a man” or “hit the lotto” to take a well-earned vacation was beyond me.

Sadly, she wasn’t the first woman I’d encountered who felt this way. I think it’s unfortunate to see women who fantasize about dream vacations actually talk themselves out of it because of perceived “roadblocks” in their life:

• No friends
• No husband
• Too busy
• Not enough money

I’ve heard all the excuses.

But the truth is, we can’t wait on the right time or right person to come into our life before we get about the business of living! Instead of making excuses, you can find an affordable vacation package, the kids can be left with a babysitter and that all-consuming job (which you hate anyway) will still be there when you return.

I started my blog last summer not to brag about my experiences or show off my bargain-finding skills, but because it’s my heart’s desire to inspire and motivate others to travel. I truly believe its part of my life purpose.

The time to explore, dream and discover is NOW. Are you ready?

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Toya Nicole is a savvy marketing consultant, Six Brown Chicks correspondent, storyteller and jetsetter from Chicago who loves Jesus, chocolate,  music and handbags! Stay in touch with her as she blogs about life lessons and all things travel on her blog, Ms. Travel Chic.