Student Bloggers
Step One: Packing
Date
December 22, 2014
I am a terrible suitcase packer. No matter if I am going away for a weekend or for a week, my suitcase is a disaster. I somehow always manage to over pack while simultaneously under packing. I forget important things like a toothbrush but pack five different pairs of slippers. Then I’ll forget to pack pants altogether but will bring three different bathing suits “just incase”.
Packing for a semester of college is no different. I usually spend the entire week before move in day cramming every clothing article I own into various containers and then packing them all into my mother’s SUV like a 3D Tetris game. However, this semester of college will be very different. I’m going to spend my spring semester in London, England and I can’t drive my mom’s SUV to my new dorm room. The challenge I am currently facing is compressing five months worth of clothes into a packing situation suitable for baggage check.
My main strategy for accomplishing this impressive feat will be to focus on the bare essentials. Do I need five pairs of slippers for every day of the school week? Unfortunately, no. Do I need multiple bathing suits? Last time I checked, my dorm building doesn’t come with an indoor pool. Every clothing article that I put in my suitcase will have to meet two pieces of criteria. 1) Will I wear this? 2) Can I wear this with multiple different outfits? Yes, I got that idea from the “how to pack for study abroad” Pinterest page, but I’m going to play it off like it was my own brilliant idea.
I’m also focusing on clothes that can be layered. Basically, I want to construct all my outfits like those Russian nesting dolls. That way I can add on or take off layers depending on whatever the temperature is because the only thing I know for certain about the climate in London is that it rains a lot.
Hopefully, if I stick to these strategies, I’ll be just as prepared for this semester as I would be if I was not going abroad. Sure, I won’t have my three different jackets and my elaborate college bedding set, but I will be in London, so I think I’ll be okay.