We moved into our new apartment today, so I don't have a lot to say other than that moving is a good way to remind yourself that you have too much stuff. I was in my last place accumulating for over a decade.

I try my best to live minimally and there is certainly something liberating about this mindset. But there is also a part of me that is a collector at heart. (A great number of our boxes are filled with things like books.)

It also turns out that Boxing Day, or some other time over the holidays, can be an excellent time to move. Streets are calm. Buildings are quiet. The email firehose is off. And nobody else wants to move at this time.

Most importantly, though, it affords you some time to get your life back together. And that's exactly what I'll be doing for the rest of this week.

Yeah, I can't say I'm excited to try this. Japan Airlines has just launched a new year-long pilot allowing its passengers to reserve and rent clothes. The way it works is that you tell them what you're traveling for and then you get something like a "spring/fall x smart casual" variety pack delivered to your hotel or Airbnb.

The clothes, which look something like this, are a mix of excess stock and second-hand stuff, and so it is being positioned as a more sustainable choice. You're both using clothes that might otherwise go to waste and you're reducing the amount of weight that you're traveling with. (You still need to bring your own underwear.)

And this could add up:

The site handling the clothing rental system claims that a 10kg reduction in a flight passenger’s luggage results in an estimated 7.5kg reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. A 7.5kg reduction in CO₂ emissions, it adds for reference, is the equivalent of forgoing using a hairdryer for 78 days (based on an average use of 10 mins per drying session).

I suppose this could also be positioned as a convenience: why lug a suitcase full of clothes around when you can just reserve what you want and have it waiting for you at your hotel? But I also suppose that you need to be okay wearing well-used clothes. Maybe this matters less, though, if the clothes are really nice and fashionable?

I don't know. It'll be interesting to see if there's a market for this.

I would also say that even though I may not be excited about rental clothes, I take great pride in packing efficiently for travel. Unless I'm going snowboarding, I basically do not check a bag. I can do 2 weeks just fine with a carry-on and, to be honest, there's something liberating about reducing your belongings to only what is necessary.

So who knows, maybe bringing only underwear and toiletries would be even more liberating.

I love the contrast in this villa between the more private spaces, which are housed in a brutalist concrete structure, and the more public spaces, which sit on top and are housed in minimalist glass box that is reminiscent of the Farnsworth House.

All of this was done in order to maximize views of the surrounding mountains from this upper floor. But it also creates a certain lightness within the next landscape. And I'm sure that the views out are that much better after emerging from such a contrasting space below.

Located to the southwest of Madrid, the villa was designed by Spanish architect Alberto Campo Baeza in 2000. It's called the Casa de Blas and it's currently on the market for €850,000. Listing information over here.

But I would also encourage you to check out some of the firm's other work. It's absolutely magical. One of my favourites is the House of the Infinite, which was designed in 2014 and, in my mind, shares some similarities with the above villa.

In both the Blas House and the House of the Infinite, the rooftop spaces feel like everything. In some ways, they have been privileged over almost everything else. And so instead of wanting to be inside the houses, the architecture seems to pull you toward wanting to be on top of them.

Image: ArchitectenWoning