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If Your House Were On Fire, What Would You Take?

That's the question Foster Huntington asks on his blog, The Burning House. And to answer the question, you have to submit a photo of what you'd take.

Few of these piles really resemble what one might grab in a panic. They are carefully contemplated and arranged. And the responses vary. Some interpret the question to mean: What would you need to survive? (Advil, scissors, rubbing alcohol.) And others take it to mean: What are your most irreplaceable possessions? (Photos and stuffed animals.)

Huntington, who started the blog, falls into the latter camp. He'd grab family photos and a few blank rolls of film, he says.

At the time of its launch, he was a fashion designer in New York City, "surrounded by a culture interested in definition by possessions," he writes via email.

Last summer he quit his job and bought a Volkswagen van, and since then he's been living on the road — dispatching his photos on a personal blog and via Instagram, with the hashtag #vanlife.

"Hearing and interacting with thousands of people's responses to the question has helped me realize I need a lot less to be happy," he writes.

A book edition of The Burning House: What Would You Take? will be released next week.

And how would you respond? Submit it to The Burning House — or to us!

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Claire O'Neill
News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.