'Minimalists' bringing their message to Charlotte

It took about nine hours for Ryan Nicodemus, on the left above, to pack the contents of his home into boxes with the help of longtime friend Joshua Millburn, also shown here.
They stashed maybe 40 cartons in Nicodemus’ 2,000-square-foot home during the packing party. It was an idea to help Nicodemus, then 28, figure out what was important to him. He couldn’t tell anymore.
Three weeks later, about 80 percent of the stuff was still in the boxes. Nicodemus got rid of the excess, sold the house and started over.
“I went to Josh and I said ‘I think people will connect with this story,’” said Nicodemus, who will be in Charlotte with Millburn on Wednesday. “We did what any two male best friends would do – we started a blog.”
Their website, theminimalists.com, has more than 2 million followers who visit to read musings on their downsized lives. At 7 p.m. Wednesday at Park Road Books, they will discuss their recently published paperback, “Everything That Remains: A Memoir by The Minimalists” ($8.99, Asymmetrical Press).
For eight years until 2011, Nicodemus immersed himself in a demanding corporate life in sales and marketing. He flashed lots of cash, weighted himself with debt and lived to tell of his life’s luster.
Now, at 32, home is a tiny apartment in Missoula, Mont. And he brings an uncomplicated message for the 100-city book tour: “Love people and use things,” he said. “The opposite never works.”

Karen’s blog: http://homelifeclt.blogspot.com; on Twitter @sullivan_kms