Maryana Garcia: How to live light and make a place home

Living at seven home addresses across four cities has taught Maryana Garcia to live light. Photo / Getty

OPINION

Everything I own adds up to about 50kg.

I know that because all my belongings fit in three suitcases and I've weighed them.

You could roll your eyes, call it non-committal millennial behaviour or minimalism.

I call it living light.

After living in four cities and having seven home addresses in the past 15 years I've learned it isn't the stuff you carry with you that can turn a place into a home.

So when I decided to move from Hamilton to Rotorua for my dream job the process was simple.

Once I found a place to land, I put into practice three lessons I've learned from changing city over and over and over again.

Own your space

Owning a place as mine means knowing it.

To get to know Rotorua, I turn off Google Maps, put on a Spotify playlist or a podcast and drive.

Three months in, some streets have already become landmarks. Some cafes have already been bookmarked as favourites. I try to go for long walks at a different lake each week. I've gotten up early to see the sunrise over Lake Tarawera and watched the stars from Hamurana Reserve. There are memories warming the corner of my local bookstore and colouring the side streets of my neighbourhood.

The more I get to know the city, the more it becomes a part of my story.

Top walking experience so far: Lake Okareka

Living light means owning your space, finding your people and celebrating the small stuff. Photo / Maryana Garcia

Find your people

For me, living light also means making brain space and scheduling time for the really important things: family, culture, friendships.

Luckily, I can always rely on my faith and ethnic communities no matter where I'm based. The local church and Filipino community have been great starting points to meet people. Plus they can always be counted on for good kai and a warm welcome.

My work family makes the 40 hours I spend at the office each week a joyful and funny growing time. I'm trying to be a sponge and soak up everything they have to teach me.

I've also put time into keeping up with family and friends across New Zealand and overseas. These days the value of a video call, a personal message, an email or even a postcard has quadrupled. In-person visits have become priceless.

So I invest in relationships. I reserve the biggest compartment in my suitcase for memories of people I've met.

Next on the social calendar: Joining a French chat at Le Cafe de Paris on Hinemoa St.

Celebrate the small stuff

Instead of thinking in terms of haves and have-nots, I try to take meet life fresh one full day at a time.

I appreciate how the light comes in through my window at home, how frosty air feels when you breathe it in, the flowers on the roundabouts.

If you don't miss the little things it becomes easier to appreciate it when the real highs come along.

Currently celebrating: Warm-toned reflections on shop windows at dusk.

These three lessons add up to an attitude and lifestyle that are all I need to make a home.

None of them can fit in my luggage but I can take them with me and be happy no matter where I am.