Flip-Flops and Utility Pants

In the last few days I've managed to clear out my closet, my bedroom and my book shelves almost completely. I've given away dresses that no longer fit, shirts I'll never wear and suits that will be out of style by 2010. I've sold furniture that made its way from Pennsylvania, but won't make its way out of New York. What I brought to this city in the back of a U-Haul will be leaving inside of an airplane carry on. But purging is good ... Right?

This seems like the natural "next step" for someone heading to the developing world as a Peace Corps volunteer. It's teaching me how to cast aside unnecessary possessions (which, after some face time with my closet, I now see means most of them), and it's redefining the essentials. Today they look a lot like flip-flops, t-shirts and North Face utility pants. Sure, they aren't very "office appropriate" or chic by New York standards, but I've got just three weeks left and not much else to my name.

People who know me will remember when my weekly wardrobe at NYU consisted of two $5 t-shirts from a Village thrift shop and a pair of Saturday pants. Now I'm finally getting back to those (not so fashionable) basics. And while it's easy to focus on scaling down as I prepare for my departure, it's harder to imagine returning home, two years from now and nearing 30, with all of my possessions in a pack on my back. But I guess this is part of the process. In 2009, I'll be who I am, instead of what I have. And after spending the last six years in New York City, maybe that's a lesson I need to learn all over again.