Break the Twitch

Love Your Attention, Build Better Habits

Anthony Ongaro

How I Pack For a Three Day Business Trip

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This week I’m heading to a bike sharing conference in Chicago and thought it would be fun to show how I pack my bag. Whenever possible, I pack using only a backpack and carry-on everything with me. I’ve found it makes my life significantly easier when flying as there is almost no risk of losing luggage this way. In this video I show what I pack for a three day (business) trip and give a quick review of my Tortuga Air backpack.

As a note, I was not compensated by Tortuga Backpacks for this. Don’t buy it unless you truly don’t have any other reasonable solution. If you have to buy something, this bag is pretty good and cheaper than many other comparable bags.

In the video I mention:

So what do you think? What might you bring that I didn’t, or vise versa?

Intentional Weekend Inspiration Vol. 2

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Happily presenting you volume two of the intentional weekend inspiration round-up. Here are some posts that I loved this week, and I think you’ll enjoy them as well. Kick back with your favorite morning beverage and soak up the goodness. This week I’m heading to Chicago for a bike sharing conference, so Monday’s vlog will be all about what I’m bringing for the 3-day trip and how I pack light to make life easier. Have a wonderful weekend.

Minimalism

If you’re into podcasts, this one is worth a listen: Ryan Nicodemus (of The Minimalists) on the Intentional Wandering Podcast. I love what Ryan says about how happiness doesn’t exist.

I posted my 2015 travel pledge story over at Blonde on a Budget about how I gave up buying things so I could travel.

Owning less is great, wanting less is better.

True story: I don’t have a cellphone.

Personal Growth

Vulnerability is sometimes viewed as weakness, when in reality showing authentic vulnerability is one of the strongest things a person can do.

The short version: Nobody knows what the heck they’re doing, and that’s a beautiful thing. The longer version at Zen Habits.

“There is absolutely nothing wrong with money, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with pursuing more of it, if doing so will help you become more you, and allow you to do more of what makes you feel alive.” – Colin Wright

TEDxCapeTown Follow-up with Angela Gaye Horn

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Angela Gaye Horn TEDx

I’m super excited to bring you this TEDxCapeTown follow-up conversation with Ang. I was so energized by her talk that I included it in a previous inspirational TED talk post. We connected on twitter recently and she graciously agreed to answer a bunch of questions for us. Enjoy!

Tell us a bit about yourself and one thing that has you excited?

I guess you could call me the poster child for a recovered lifestyle. In my twenties I was about as unhealthy as one person could get. I subsisted on a steady diet of hamburgers, beer, coffee, nicotine and sugar, exercised intermittently at best, and thought water was something you drank when you ran out of tastier alternatives e.g. when lost in the desert.

When I turned 29 I fell in love and my life has been on an upward trajectory ever since. Initially Sporty and I were both unhealthy, but an aha moment involving a marshmallow fish and an Oprah Winfrey episode led us to rethink our ways. Over the next 10 or so years we quit smoking, gave up sugar, dialed back our drinking habits and became vegan (coffee remains a challenge).

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Why Minimalism Shouldn’t Intimidate You

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You don’t have to force yourself into a box to see the benefits of a minimalist lifestyle. Here are my thoughts about rational minimalism, what it means to me, and how Amy and I have designed our lifestyles to reflect our ideal goals.

In the video I mention:

Do you have a particular brand of minimalism? What philosophy best reflects your ideals and lifestyle goals?

Intentional Weekend Inspiration

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The internet can be massively overwhelming and often makes it difficult to focus on the types of pieces that fill you up instead of drag you down. I’ve curated some lovely content to share with you for your weekend enjoyment. Slow down, take some time to pour through these posts, and start your weekend with a positive mind. Here are the intentional living posts that inspired me this week.

This blog post about ‘the pause’, for a multitude of reasons, is one of the most impactful pieces I’ve ever read and has given new meaning to why Break the Twitch is so darn important to me. Please give it a read.

Cait writes about the evolution of social media and how she changed her iPhone apps to use them more intentionally in What Consumes Your Mind Controls Your Life. It’s really good stuff.

Amy has been making these awesome hydrating morning drinks recently instead of coffee. We’ve been enjoying them to start off the day.

Did you downsize all at once and did it leave a void? Ugh, yes! We felt this one big time. I even vlogged about it a while back.

Mike gives us four simple tips for becoming a better person. Step one? Surround yourself with good people (the people you want to be like).

The good homie Sam Lustgarten of Frugaling wrote his first book. I had the chance to preview it and it offers a unique and valuable perspective on frugality.

Sixty Minutes In A Sensory Deprivation Tank

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Sensory Deprivation Float Tank

I often write about the harmful effects of overstimulation due to the insane amount of information we receive daily. Putting away our digital devices for a weekend is one thing, but what would happen if this was taken to an extreme? What if we removed not just digital inputs, but sight, sound and touch all together?

I had heard of sensory deprivation tanks years ago, but due to a deal in a local coupon book I decided to finally try one. A health and wellness center about 10 minutes away from our house had one available. Some will know them as ‘float tanks’, because inside this human-sized chest freezer is about 8-10 inches of water, 35% saturated with over 800 pounds of epsom salt. As a friend of mine mentioned, “It’s like the Dead Sea in a box”. The epsom salt increases the density of the water allowing a person to float effortlessly inside the tank. From The Wellness Center website:

The tank is an enclosed shallow pool of warm water (93.5° skin temperature). Free from gravity’s pull, the body can release tension, easing pains and stress – often relieving long-held pain.

When I arrived to the facility I signed in and was given some specific instructions about the process. Using the float tank requires extensive showering before and after to prevent any oils from getting into the water. Total water replacement is not necessary, as the salt is a natural disinfectant, and the tank water is both filtered and passed through a UV light to complete the cleaning cycle between patrons.

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