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Video Response
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- Vocabulary
Jonathan: I wouldn't really say my home is a suitcase, but I think that people really hold onto their possessions a little bit too much, and people think that they need to have their favorite books nearby when they probably will never even read it again. I really don't think it's necessary to have all of those things there, so I don't need to have a lot of nice clothes with me all the time. I don't need to carry around all of these souvenirs of days gone by. I'm perfectly comfortable having just a minimal amount of things with me. I have changes of clothes so it's not like I'm in any way suffering from a lack of personal hygiene and such things.
Jeff: So, but... so what do you do? How do you clean your clothes? What do you do when you want to buy something new?
Jonathan: Well, I find that in fact I don't often buy some many things when I travel. I buy the necessities, but I try to keep everything small in size so for example I have one small little pack that has shampoo, conditioner and body soap, and I can in fact, fill it up from a lot of hotels which offer those things to their guests. I can have a little bar of soap. I have a small towel to travel with. I can take my clothes to a coin laundry. At worst, I put on a pair of shorts while I'm washing my two pairs of jeans. If it's a cold weather country perhaps people look at me a little bit funny, but being Canadian and descended from cold weather countries, I don't have a difficulty with it.
Jonathan, you are the most prolific traveler I have ever met.
A 'prolific traveler' spends most of his time traveling around the world. Notice the following:
- After college, he became a prolific traveler.
- Wow, that old suitcase must belong to a prolific traveler.
How do you live out of a suitcase?
When we 'live out of a suitcase,' that means we carry everything we own. Notice the following:
- My trip was fun, but I hated living out of a suitcase.
- They lived out of a suitcase for a month in Europe last summer.
I don't need to carry souvenirs of days gone by.
We use the phrase 'days gone by' to talk about the past. Notice the following:
- In days gone by, people communicated by post.
- My grandfather often speaks of days gone by.
A lack of personal hygiene.
'Personal hygiene' means the way we keep ourselves and things around us clean. Notice the following:
- In many jobs, personal hygiene is a safety issue.
- Poor personal hygiene got him kicked out of the dorm.
I buy the necessities.
'Necessities' are daily things we need in order to live. Notice the following:
- They only have enough money to buy the necessities.
- I shop for necessities once a month.
