Photo credit: Huffington Post

Although you probably arrived on campus tired and jet-lagged, moving into your student housing at the beginning of the year was filled with excitement! It’s now time to move out for the summer, the excitement is gone and your belongings no longer fit into that one suitcase you brought from home. Moving out is especially challenging when you have to fly halfway across the world to go home. Here are a couple tips to help you have a successful moving experience.

Spring Cleaning

You may have arrived with only one suitcase and one carry-on, but your room is now filled with clothing and souvenir accumulated over the year. The pom-poms from your first football game, the hoodies from the university store, a pile of books you might never use again, and shelves covered with memories of the past year. You will want to divide all your belongings into three piles: what you need for the summer, what you need for next fall and what you don’t need.

Need for summer	Need for next fall	Don’t need
Summer clothing Favorite clothes Essentials you took from home Anything you will need to survive the next 4 months	Small furniture you bought for your room Bed linen and pillows Books you need for next semester Decorative items Anything else you will want to move into your room next year	Clothes you haven’t worn all year Books not necessary for next semester Furniture that has lived its full life Anything else you don’t have room for

Selling and Donating

Now that all your stuff is “neatly organized” into three piles, you need to figure out what to do with each of them. For the pile you don’t need, make sure to check if anything can be sold or donated before throwing it all away. If you have books you will no longer need, look to see if you can pass them on to future students. Any clothes or blankets you no longer have use for will make a great donation for those who do need it.

Storing for Next Year

A lot of the items you will have accumulated over the year you will want to keep but not necessarily bring home with you over the summer. The mini fridge you might have bought for your room, the books you still need to keep, all the bed linen you only need for your college room. The best thing is too look into some storage near campus to keep everything over summer. It will also make moving back in at the beginning of the fall much easier!

Shipping Boxes

Even with all the sorting and spring cleaning, it is unlikely that everything you want to bring home with you for the summer will fit into that one suitcase and one carry-on you arrived with. Especially if you are bringing gifts back for the family! Of course you can pay to take additional luggage on the plane with you, but very often you will find it cheaper to ship a couple bags or boxes. Look on the internet for international pick up and shipping companies. Once you find one you like, it will be easy to use it again when moving back in the fall.