I packed incredibly light when I came to study abroad back in September 2007. I didn't want to have to deal with heavy bags and suitcases. I wanted to have the freedom of just having a backpack that I could just toss on and go. My wonderful friend Raya lent me her small Osprey backpack and that in addition to a small little tote bag was all I brought over. I had only one pair of shoes, two pairs of jeans, a couple tank tops, underwear and a few jackets, mainly the essentials. I didn't really pack any of my really cute clothes. I didn't bring a hairdryer or nicknack's from home.
My thinking at the time was that I was only going to be going to school in London for two months and then I would travel a bit afterwards. I figured that I would just pick up some cool clothes along the way and then I would go back home to find all my lovely clothes waiting for me.
Since I never went home, that meant that I never was reunited with all my clothes. Also since I was going to have to use all my money to stay in London for the entire year, I didn't have a lot of spare cash to buy clothes. Not to mention all my possessions that I left behind. Everything I own, and it's not much, is packed away in boxes in a basement in West.St.Paul. Thanks Peggy and Dennis!!!
I wouldn't consider myself a materialistic person. The contents of those boxes are items that I consider to be very sentimental personal items. I never want to be the kind of person who lets what they own ending up owning them, but I miss my stuff. I miss all my boxes and notebooks. I miss my photos and of course my clothes. I also miss all my music that's on my itunes. I just miss seeing my things around.
The last time I was back in Minnesota I went through a bunch of stuff that I had stored at my friend Angie Doerr's apartment and decided to chuck most of it. That was really hard to do. On the one hand, I don't know if I want to ship it all over here to London. I don't really need it, but it's like the contents of my life are all packed up. I've saved up some pretty cool stuff! I have been thinking a lot about what I am going to do with all the boxes in the basement. I don't want to get rid of them, but I feel bad about the boxes taking up space and being in the way.
I also planned to bring a lot of my things that were packed up in the basement back with me. Except that I discovered that my plane was leaving four hours earlier than I had thought.
That was awful. I had planned to spend my last day in Minnesota going through my boxes and bringing a bunch of stuff back. While I was getting ready to pack it all up I wisely decided to double check what time my flight left. I wasn't very happy to discover that I had gotten the time wrong and I only had one hour to pack and get to the airport.
It was so crazy. I had my clothes in the dryer, I wasn't dressed, I had to call a taxi to take me and it was snowing. I also couldn't get the electronic scales to work so I was worried that if I did just throw things in the suitcase it would be overweight. What a nightmare. So I didn't get to really bring much back. Matthew and I will be able to bring a good load over this May.
I still like the idea of not having a bunch of stuff to move around London, but I would love to have my Pyrex dish collection out here. We shall see.
Hah! I arrived in the United States with a backpack and a suitcase. There was box waiting for me that I'd mailed ahead that had sheets and a duvet in it. A month later two boxes of my favorite sweaters arrived in the mail - thank goodness they didn't get lost!
ReplyDeleteI don't want to even think about how much stuff I have now - but then again, I've been here over 20 years and this is home, so it's OK!