u/Inevitable_Lemon_592

A thought I had that ties into minimalism:

If you’ve kept up with r/workstations , review YouTubers, gaming stuff, you will know there is a culture now of optimizing the vibe of your room/apartment and overall lifestyle with buying many gadgets, tech, wall art, gizmos, home theater setups, virtual reality headsets, vinyl player, racing car wheels, watch/EDC/sneaker collection, pimped out home gyms, pimped out Mac desktop or gaming rig with the RGB lighting, espresso machines, maximalist fashion, speakers, or a car collection.

Bored with iPhones so we’re getting iPods again, PSPs, CRT monitors, vintage consoles, polaroid cameras, and VHS cameras, the list goes on for whatever consumerism appears on your thumbnail that inspires lifestyle/taste upgrades.

This is a captive animal.

This animal is captive and is trying to make the most of their cell. In doing so, the captive animal is also digging themselves further into captivity and farther from freedom by trading currency (stored units of potential freedom/experiences) for items, as the items also weigh them down to their cell, they can’t choose to up and leave as easily without having much more to liquidate and taking up mental clutter. They also take on spiritual weight due to the attachment they can develop to their possessions.

“What you own ends up owning you.”

A pimped out gaming rig with ultrawide OLED monitor, nice mechanical keyboard, nice lighting and gadgets and a with shelves of dozens of books and items? You could’ve just had a kindle and laptop. Cloud game. (One time I don’t mind the whole “you will own nothing and be happy” thing.)

A steering wheel for race car games and a VR headset? Does it make your handcuffs more golden?

There might come a time in life when you choose to settle down and start building your nest. It’s fine. But the way I subscribe to minimalism is keeping a low profile and discarding even the impulse to accumulate what’s unnecessary.

Curations (I call it curations, not collections) happen here and there but it shouldn’t be to the idea of your potential freedom’s detriment, or you’re just trading steel handcuffs for golden ones. This affects you on a mental, physical, and spiritual level.

What does the animal that escaped captivity and reached the jungle own?

A personal item (like a backpack) that can fit a laptop, earbuds/, cables. Flip flops on the sides, and other miscellaneous small items to fill in (gaming controller, small fan, sunglasses, kindle, camera gear, lighter, portable charger, etc.)

A duffel bag/carryon that can fit underwear, socks, fragrance, toiletries, running shoes, hoodie/sweater, swimwear

Luggage with tshirts, a polo, athletic shorts, jeans, couple dressy shirts, chino or two, dressier sneakers, jacket or two, hobby gear

A timepiece on your wrist and phone, keys, wallet on your person. Of the items I’ve mentioned, feel free to splurge on quality. We are not restricting ourselves of quality or even luxury.

This core can be modified slightly in any way for more bulk or less bulk, more or less formality, your spin on it. Purchases do creep up, it inevitably happens. The wardrobe expands, you get a few more gadgets, build some curations.

With that said, I highly advise any possessions beyond this be for hobbies that make you PRODUCE or be active (a MIDI keyboard for music, painting gear and easel, guitar, skateboard, bike, camping gear, things of that nature). Get rid of excess hobby items/equipment if it has accumulated 3 years of dust.

Outside this core, do we really need more or are we trying to make our captivity less dreadful? We must understand that like a drug addict, our desire for more possessions thinking it will improve our lives beyond the core items I’ve listed and some exceptions is just digging us deeper into the cell we’re trying to distract ourselves from with more possessions. The goal should be to optimize our lifestyle, philosophy, and subsequent state of wellbeing to not need much more than this.

Let’s press PAUSE on further optimization of our cell, and take back our life by reducing our clutter to primarily that which we can easily bring with us in a personal item, duffel bag, and luggage + productive/active hobby gear if we wished to, for the principle that outside of this amount of items, we’re not really optimizing our lives tbh. We’re just making our handcuffs more golden, our cage more bearable. And it’s sinking us deeper into it. Gain experiences. Keep a low profile. Keep your possessions mobile, even if you’re not.

With that said, obviously you can still have enough furniture, lighting, cookware, and decor to bring your dwelling up to a hotel or furnished apartment standard, and a vehicle for transportation.

If I told you I’ll give you a 5 month vacation to a nice furnished condo in a city of your choosing anywhere around the globe for a year, or a cabin or wherever you’d like to stay, and you can switch locations as often as you want to another destination to live there, what are you packing for creature comforts while being nomadic? I don’t see why you’d need much more than that in general. Seek experiences, and you will see you don’t need anything more than this.

I doubt this post will resonate as much with older folk/ people more settled in which is fine, but I’m hoping I can reach the ones that resonate with this post

It seems at least 75% of my aging father’s (mid 70s) Internet experience that I overhear is interacting with AI slop.

From AI reels about how mixing lemon with ginger overnight and rubbing it on your belly to cure back pain

To AI ads of a dropshipped product some 22 year old living in a Miami condo is making bank off

To AI ads games “play this game for a chance to win $200!”

To construction documentaries on YouTube where the whole video and narrative is AI slop.

30% of my interactions with him have become “hey check this out! Hehe” and I have to go “that’s ai.”

How have you guys proceeded? I’m planning to install some kind of adblocker on the router itself and see what I can do on his android phone. I tried to instill some tech literacy like “when you google something don’t click the sponsored result at the top, keep scrolling for the real result”. Ideally, I can get him to switch to iPhone when he’s due for a phone upgrade, better OS for seniors imo.

I’ve managed to try to educate him when I can. I took him through a whole “how to start a dropshipping business on shopify” tutorial to show him he can just buy the stuff for 99 cents on AliExpress. He actually understands this, so I’m trying to slowly educate him. Like “see the hands on that video being unnatural, this is ai”. It’s getting hard for me to even tell myself.

These people on the internet targeting seniors are so unethical man. At least those late night commercials on TV back in the day must have gone through some regulations. This is a completely unregulated Wild West our senior parents are being exposed to in the format of those old commercials they’re used to. YouTube should have a toggle for “disable ai content”, for example. Facebook ads should have much stricter guidelines.

Little things here and there, but not sure what to do. Wish I could just take away his internet access cause he’s retired and just rotting his brain. Bit disabled too so doesn’t go out and do stuff, hard for him to walk.

Doing what I can. Trying to get him into a gym routine at the local planet fitness by going with him, so he can at least have an hour or two away from brainrot through the day and some kind of hobby. Tried to get him into video games, but not working. Try to push him to getting back into painting but his dopamine reward system has been completely hijacked by the phone, while he has zero understanding of the mechanisms these tech companies use. It reminds me of The Matrix where everyone is getting siphoned while they’re in the pods.

Lost cause, leave him be, or can I do anything more to help? Thanks.

Also, any apps or hobbies I can point him towards that are more engaging?

Hello friends i am looking for the most consolidated gaming setup for a minimalist lifestyle.

Gaming has been an after thought to me since my teens,

I have a surface pro 6 that i run Xbox cloud gaming on which has served me really well tbh (at home).

While i was living abroad (the country didn’t have any cloud gaming servers), i bought a Backbone device (a controller for your phone) and emulated PSP games for a quick fix when I was bored.

As i see myself falling into doomscrolling too often, I have decided to get back into (mindful) gaming as the healthier alternative.

Since my surface pro is aging (battery can’t hold a charge), I’ve been thinking of getting a gaming laptop. But does a better solution exist that’s good for minimalism as in consolidating possessions? Like a steamdeck or something?

Hey everyone,

I am pretty minimalist in most things in my life then one type of collecting settles in and I can’t seem to manage to let go of this desire to hoard possessions in it.

For me specifically, that’s watches.

I really only need one or two, but I’m definitely developing into a sort of collector. I have the desire to possess many different watches for their unique characteristics. I spend hours in a week, minutes at a time, admiring the craftsmanship, messing with the gadget as a fidget, admiring my curation in the watch box. I’m at 8 watches and I still can’t get enough. I want to keep collecting.

Is there a way to nip this in the bud and go back to minimalist in this regard? I think my obsession started when I lived abroad for a year with nothing but the same colored shorts, black tshirts, everything sort of minimalist but I had 4 different distinct watches, a digital beater, a daily, a diver, a dress watch. It was fun where this was my main form of customization for the day and I spiraled from there.

It wouldn’t be a huge issue except I’m seeking to live a nomadic lifestyle and lugging around like 10 watches would be kind of dumb. And it would be a headache to think of all the value sitting around if I keep going forward, but remaining nomadic.

Wondering if anyone went through this where there was some type of collecting like blu ray DVDs or books or fashion or whatever you couldn’t mentally trim on, if you decided to keep it around or compromise.

I did notice I tend to go ocd with this when my life is idle or more purposeless so maybe I need to get busier to where I don’t pay attention to it. With that said, I do have a rule that I can’t go more than my 10 watch box, once it’s filled it will need to be one in, one out.

Just don’t know how this desire to collect took such a stronghold on me and why I can’t seem to let go

Always wondered this in these programs.

Most guys I know do a push/pull/legs split. I can’t fathom how you squat multiple times a week? If I squat, I’ll have soreness for many days and ready again the week after.

Is it that I’m starting off too heavy? Am I supposed to start with comically low weights to get my muscles ready instead of going to a challenging weight on day 1?

Greetings,

I’ll try to keep this quick, my Thailand travels is as follows:

June 2024: arrive, 60 day stamp

August 2024: extend at immigration office

September 2024: border run to Cambodia, new 60 day

November 2024: extend at immigration office

December 2024: border run to Cambodia, 2 day overstay due to bedridden illness, new 60 day

February 2025: extend at immigration office

March 2025: leave Thailand, 15 day overstay due to negligence. I was extremely apologetic towards the BKK airport immigration, they offered me nothing but a smile, said it’s no problem, and took the fine.

Obviously, the border runs aren’t a great look. The 2 overstays are a terrible look. Please, I ask the “well that’s why you gotta follow the rules! Actions have consequences” crowd to sit this one out.

How likely is it immigration allows me back without issue in, now over a year since I left, if I show them my return flight and all other requirements? This time I actually just want to go on a vacation. Can you give a ballpark estimate probability of how necessary a proper visa will be to return now? Also, I’m an American citizen, white-passing, and plan to wear a smart outfit to the airport, won’t be looking like some hippie druggie. Unless this would backfire as looking like I’m seeking work?

Also, I heard from someone here that the Thai immigration doesn’t have records on their systems, they go off what’s written in the passport. My passport is due for renewal, so I could come in with a new one with blank pages, though they have my fingerprints now. Would there be messages on their systems about my overstays?

Appreciate your inputs, know this is likely overasked. I’ve read around the forums but things change so often.

Hello all,

I lived in Thailand (BKK) for a year with the main goal of training Muay Thai and fighting. I’ve been back home for a year now and my depression just isn’t healing.

It was such a beautiful experience. The weather is amazing (I do well in tropical climates), the Muay Thai kept my body strong, flexible, healthy. The cheap excellent massages worked out my pains, I seem to suffer from muscle knots easily that Thai massages helped so much for my quality of life. My condo had a sauna and pool. Everyone was so kind, always smiling. It felt okay to simply exist. Countless rooftop bars and world class malls to explore if I’m bored, or local markets. The buildings were so colorful. I would walk around exploring random alleys in awe.

I had to come home because my funds were getting too low for comfort and to heal an injury (northeastern USA). The depression just isn’t curing. It’s been over a year now since I’ve been back. I wake up and take my mind to walking around somewhere in Thailand to get out of bed. My body’s in so much pain knotted up, and everyone has a hustler mentality in USA, I’m not doing $150 for subpar massages.

It’s like the USA is just a grid of fast food restaurants and gas stations. I’ve been put into a sensory deprivation tank. The long winters are bleak and colorless. While exercise was effortless in Thailand walking everywhere, training in outdoor gym with others, gyms here feel like an exercise simulation facility in comparison like a hamster wheel. A dinner from uber eats extracts $25 from me.

I could eat so healthily, I could grab a plate of grilled meat, rice, and veggies any time. Here, it’s like only Chipotle style restaurants give that. It’s mostly pizza or French fries around.

I’m just not healing. I’ve gained almost 60 lbs in less than a year from my depression. The Muay Thai gym here is just money-hungry and not the same. I’m bed-ridden most of the time (at least now that it’s summer, I’m a bit better).

Do I just accept this is life now? My life is reduced to a few weeks of PTO and the rest is just cortisolmaxxing, working to pay bills for a subpar quality of life? That’s part of the reason I’ve gained so much weight, I sorta gave up on life to the point I sometimes think “I wish I never was exposed to Thailand” just because if I didn’t know how life was outside of this cage, I wouldn’t have felt this bad.

I’d do anything to be able to get up, swim in the condo pool, take the canal boat transportation downtown, have a sour green mango, hit Muay Thai training, come back for a Thai massage, grab a bowl of pad krapao, hit a rooftop bar.

I do acknowledge a lot of it was the “arbitrage” where I was able to live a $150,000 salary lifestyle in USA for like $20,000. I was able to maximize USD to get human services like massages and everything else for what is very cheap to me. Though I feel even if I was a high income earner, I still wouldn’t enjoy the Miami equivalent of my Bangkok lifestyle as much. My cortisol is so elevated.

It was just so beautiful and I’m truly having trouble re-acclimating to the American grid now. I left my heart and soul in Thailand and only my body returned.

With that said, I am making lifestyle changes to be able to go back to Thailand over life. I am thinking of pursuing a maritime academy to be a deck officer, then I’d have 6 months of time off a year to visit or live in Thailand. And accumulate funds quickly for a possible early retirement to Thailand. I’m forming my entire life now around minimizing a trap like a mortgage or possessions or a committed relationship that would weigh me down here so I may live in the land of smiles again. I just miss it so much. I think of liquidating all my possessions and investments to be able to go again immediately, but that wouldn’t be sustainable and I’d eventually run out.

Well, if you read all that I appreciate it. Not sure if I’m just venting, looking to be validated by others who feel the same way, advice or all of that. Have any of you who felt like me re-acclimated to America eventually, or did you do whatever you can to move to Thailand or visit very often?

I recently found out about the maritime industry and I’m determined on a career as a deck officer.

Unfortunately missed the fall 2026 deadline for Mass Maritime (I also live in Mass) but saw Texas A&M maritime is still taking applications for this fall. They also give in-state tuition to all students now, so costs should be comparable.

I prefer what the weather looks like in Galveston, TX with palm trees compared to rotting in New England winters for 4 more years, though its convenient Mass Maritime is like an hour and half from my hometown. Strongly preferring Texas for the weather + sooner admission.

The main caveat to Texas A&M is from the videos I’ve seen of the regiment, it gives me a bad impression. Everyone marches very sloppily, compared to the videos I’ve seen of Mass Maritime. This alone makes me perceive Mass maritime as having a greater pedigree and being more put-together than Texas maritime. I understand a less strict regiment has its perks but not sure how to feel about this aspect. From what I’ve seen I think I’d be prouder to be attending Mass Maritime.

I get the end goal is the same, coast guard unlimited license, but would you go to Texas A&M in 2026 or bide your time until Mass Maritime fall 2027 in my shoes? (I’d be a mid 20s transfer student not fresh outta hs)

Okay, you enthusiast mfs.

I’m coming out with the harsh truth. Your 36mm Explorer that you adamantly go around gaslighting watch novices on forums to get over the bigger versions, just doesn’t look good.

Let me explain why.

You say it’s for historical accuracy, the true Explorer look.

That watch (Explorer 1016) had a printed dial. It wasn’t modern Rolex.

Even neovintage with the pressed clasp bracelet pull this off better in 36mm, if you were strictly going for the enthusiast vintage feel.

Modern Rolex, with its bulky clasp and applied gold indices, DOESNT WORK (as well) IN 36MM. This is still a flex watch, in the spirit of modern Rolexes. You’re not pulling off a vintage look the way you think you are, you’d be way better off with a 36mm Tudor Ranger for the 1016 experience than the Explorer.

This leaves guys who genuinely have small wrists (let’s say sub 6.25 inch wrists), absolutely nothing wrong here. This is a proportional watch for your wrist.

But stop gaslighting everyone else 36mm is the way to go, it’s not a 1016, they’d be better off with the 39mm mk2 or 40mm Explorer.

STOP GASLIGHTING NOVICES you madmen!

A trend on watch Reddits is a vehement dislike of iced out watches and Hublot.

These watches aren’t really for Hans of the Alps or Steve from the suburbs.

They’re for the counterculture. They’re for Jordan sneaker wearers, not people who wear Birkenstocks.

We get it, it’s not your taste. But to not understand their place in the counterculture and being too vocal about it just comes off as almost racist of the sheer lack of understanding of the place they take in the watch world.