The Suitcase Battle

I feel like everyone moving into residence this weekend can relate to this: How do I fit my life into a single suitcase? When did I acquire this much stuff? Why do I feel like all of it is necessary to bring with me? For people moving into residence, lots of people drive and have their entire cars to fill (aka jam with as much stuff as possible). For those of us flying into Vancouver, in most cases you only get one checked bag with your ticket price.

So, once I narrow all my possessions down to everything I can cram inside my purple suitcase, the darn thing is over the weight limit. Nooooo. Cue trying to narrow it down some more. Unfortunately, taking out a few pieces of clothing and a cookbook or two isn’t going to take the weight down by fifteen pounds. (Yes, I know.) Then I proceed to try to spread everything out into my carry on as well, but naturally it doesn’t all fit.

Having lost the war with my suitcase, I move on to the next solution: Check a second bag. Yes, it only costs $20 extra, but it will be difficult to carry with my carry-on luggage. (No one is coming to meet me at the airport.) Well, I was probably going to be taking a taxi anyway. Thank goodness I have a wonderful room mate who will help me carry my things into the building.

Even with the problem solved, I am still astounded at how much stuff I have acquired. I’m amazed at how much clothing I have, and how I can’t seem to let myself leave much of it behind. (Though I still don’t have nearly as many shoes as my room mate.) It’s weird, isn’t it? How our lives become an accumulation of possessions? Somehow this suddenly became philosophical.

How about you? Did you have an epic battle with your suitcase/trunk/moving boxes? Let me know in comments :)