Because it's there!

When a New York Times reporter asked George Mallory why he wanted to climb Mount Everest, he infamously responded very simply, "Because it's there."

This enigmatic quote has been repeated by many for nearly a hundred years, and people are still enamored by it.  What is most compelling about this is nobody knows what was truly in George Mallory's heart but George Mallory.  What else is compelling about this is that climbing the big Himalayan peaks is infamously a death sentence.  And though some have reached the top, and lived, that danger is still inherent today.

In the early days of mountaineering Everest, when Mallory was being questioned, death was a mathematical certainty.  Sherpas call her Chomolungma, meaning 'goddess mother of the earth'.

Most importantly, the reporter wasn't asking him, "How will you climb Everest?"  He was asking "Why?", which to me meant, "What powerful force is driving you to want to spend a year preparing, weeks acclimating to prevent altitude sickness, just to risk life and death, only to get to the top of this geographic monstrosity?"

There's no riches.  There's no answers.  There's just the top and nothing more.   And the task is so formidable, that perhaps nobody would ever ask  Mallory another question as long as he lives.  So Why?

At least 290 people have died climbing Everest.  The last year that there were no known deaths was 1977.  In 1996 the death toll was 12 that died in just a matter of hours.

George Mallory was one who did not return.  He died on June 8, 1924, doing exactly what he wanted to do.  Most of us will die, alone, regretting things we never did.  So, climbers don't cry for the deceased.  Instead, they recite his infamous quote, and they do what they love to do. 

There is a big list of available mountaineering tools.  Primarily there is the map, and compass.  Then there is some clothing.  Add to that all the different footwear and accessories, the trekking poles, and ice axes, packs, straps, ropes, caribiners, maybe oxygen.

This is the kind of technical consideration a person would need to calculate when answering the how of mountaineering.  An ambitious climber might choose a different route.  Each mountain will have unique weather.  However their plans are drawn out, they carry as little as they need.

Such is the life of a minimalist.  Minimalists live deliberately.  We choose what we need to be who we want to be, and to do what we want to do.  And, we intentionally don't carry things we don't need on our journey.

People often ask how to live minimally.  How is incidental.  How can be determined by climate.  How can vary between different people coming from different scenarios, and striving for different goals.  How will come after.

First ask why.  Then ask what and where and when?  After those are figured and calculated, do you know who will best answer the how question?  You will.  Because it's there.

**Protip:  Where and when should begin here and now.

You are not alone.  Guidance and tools are available from minimalists, entrepreneurs, coaches, all over the world.  I have a few tools.  So do so many others.  To go back to the mountaineering metaphor, you wouldn't make Chomolunga your first mountain; you'd start smaller, requiring no more than some decent shoes and an adventurous spirit.  Trial and error will be your best teacher.  You'll know which tools best suit you when you start to see your design.