The Chaos of Packing Up

On the overwhelming process of packing up your life and moving to a new place

Why does packing up my entire room in these large cardboard boxes feels like a daunting task ? Is it because there's too much stuff or because I am just not ready to move out yet ? The 5 years that I spent being an international student here, I was always skeptical that I would have to move because of my coops and thus, shouldn't have much stuff in my room since then it would be easier for me to pack all my belongings. But I hadn't realised it then that all these small gifts, the photographs and their negatives, the posters I would collect, would become such core memories of my life that I just won't be able to throw them all away.

The empty fridges but the full suitcases

It isn't just packing all my belongings and moving to a new location, but this whole process feels as if I am detaching myself from my roots and planting myself again in a completely new environment, unbeknownst of what lies ahead of me. Never did I ever imagine that I would be so emotional to leave this place for one last time—the place I absolutely despised for the first 2 years of my university life. Why does it feel so hard to accept this transition ?

The day before the move-out (f.t. Keane)

Was this really it ? Was this really how the 5 most adventurous, most daring, most humbling, and possibly the most transformative years of my life would come to a close ?

Written on 2025-07-08