January 24, 2007
(WCCO) Are you the kind of person who'd rather spend money on a concert than on a coat?
If you collect experiences, not stuff, you might just be a transumer.
Kat Jimenez is an attorney, just not the buttoned-up, settled-down variety. She pedals to and from her job at Legal Aid, but her adventures extend far beyond the bike trail.
Last year, she spent three months on the road, visiting Seattle and Phoenix and exploring New Zealand and Peru.
"Everybody said, 'Why, why?'" said Jimenez. "That's the question I get and you know they don't get it then. You don't have to ask why. It's for the experience. I mean, why not?"
Kat is a transumer. According to trendwatching.com, transumers are people who are driven by experiences not objects. They try to avoid the hassles of permanent ownership. Obsessed by the here and now, transumers want to collect as many experiences and stories as possible.
Jimemez has been all over the world, including Alaska, Africa and Thailand. Somewhat surprisingly, she still manages to save for retirement. People often ask her how she finds time and money to see the world.
Her answer?
She lives pretty simply and negotiates with employers to get extra time off.
"There's more to life than things, it's all about living," said Vickie Abrahamson, co-founder of Iconoculture, a consumer trend research firm. She said transumers can be young or old, rich or poor. According to Abrahamson, transumers share one common denominator -- the desire to feel free.
"(They) want to be very flexible, don't necessarily have to have a lot of roots holding them down," Abrahamson explained.
Car-sharing services are an eco-friendly example of the transumer trend. More than 300 Twin Cities residents have ditched their cars. Now when they need wheels, they reserve an HourCar online, pick it up and take off.
For the fashionista taking on the transumer trend, there are clubs like Bag, Borrow and Steal. It's the Netflix of purses. For a monthly fee, members carry a beautiful bag and then trade it back in when they want something new.
Rather have a plane than a purse? A handful of companies let pilots own part of a jet. It's called fractional ownership, which is big buck luxury at a fraction of the price.
Abrahamson is quick to point out that the transumer trend doesn't mean the end of shopping as we know it.
"I'd hate to say that people aren't going to be buying things anymore," said the trend-watcher. "That would be a drastic over-the-top statement."
Rather, it's how people shop that's changed. She said they're more spontaneous and less concerned with how long things last. She describes how shoppers are refreshing their homes with seasonal trips to Target.
"They're buying new things every season to actually change the mood of the environment that they're in," Abrahamson said.
The trend expert even sees the transumer trend in how younger people choose to live.
"If they're not in a marriage, they're maybe buying or renting with a whole group of friends or siblings, whatever. It's an easy way in and an easy way out," Abrahamson explained.
Jimenez is a good example of that housing trend.
"I moved in with my roommate, and she had everything, so it was perfect," she said
Next time Jimenez wants to take off an adventure, it will be easy. Everything she owns fits in a 10 by 12-foot room.
"The only thing I do move from place to place, the only thing that's consistent, are my photos and my journals," said Jimenez.
She could be the ultimate transumer. She's shed most of her belongings and is ready for the next adventure.
"There's nothing tying me down. I can do whatever I want," Jimenez said.
trendwatching.com is an independent and opinionated consumer trends firm, relying on a global network of 8,000 spotters, working hard to deliver inspiration and pangs of anxiety to business professionals in 120+ countries worldwide. For more info, check out our latest (and free) Trend Briefing.
