Is minimalism hereditary?

i think i get my minimalist streak from my mom. she is notorious for constantly throwing things out. and she often tells people how she only has the clothes that she wears in her closet, nothing more. she has been known to throw out birthday cards by accident that still had cash inside! whenever we'd be looking for something as kids, the joke would always be - mom probably threw it away.

when i went on my 7 day cruise with my family this past summer, all my cousins and my sister marveled at my tiny luggage that i checked in. everyone weighed their luggage to make sure it wasn't over the weight limit and they wouldn't be charged extra. and my luggage was only 33 lbs or so. people who had luggage over 50 lbs were scrambling to stash things in their carry-ons or other people's luggage and everyone told me that with my luggage i looked as if i was only going on a weekend road trip. i was proud of myself for that.

one simple bag and a carry on. the bag i checked held everything- including heels and bathing suits, flip flops, beach hat, sun block, hair products, etc. all i think i bought 2 pairs of heels (one black strappy pair and one gold) which matched with all my formal dresses for evening. i didn't bring complicated things like blow-dryers or flat irons, just letting my hair curl naturally while i was there. i often wore it in two low buns, one on each side of my head, at night, or pulled back in a ponytail. i borrowed my cousin's wife's blow-dryer on the last night so i could straighten my hair out. i borrowed a brush from my dad, since i only bought a comb. when packing i figured i could borrow whatever i might've forgotten from one of my family members (31 of us went after all) and i was right.

afterwards, my cousins all told me they were amazed, i had many outfit changes and pulled it off well with my tiny luggage. some of them bought entire suitcases just for their shoes! i'm up to 77 things thrown out so far by the way..