Unfortunately, we’re at the time of the semester where life gets kind of hectic and crazy. Whether you have less than a month left or a little more than a month left, it’s still the same news: finals aren’t too far away, things you’ve been talking about doing all semester now need official plans, and studiers abroad are coming back for the last couple of weeks of American college freedom (since they’ll have no classes).
If you’re on one of these study abroad trips then you probably already thought about how you’re going to get all of your awesome souvenirs, random things you bought and oh yeah, the stuff you originally brought with you, back to your house in the states.
Packing sucks, and we all know that, especially when you have to find another human – preferably one who weighs more than you – to sit on your suitcase while you try to close it. Then if it does close and zippers don’t pop, you have to worry about it not meeting airport size regulations since its rectangular shape is bulging out to make it look like an alien spacecraft.
Chances are if you were in Europe you definitely brought back some glass and breakable presents for other people, in addition to all of the new things you bought yourself (come on, who goes away for four months and doesn’t buy anything for themselves?). That’s on top of your already obese luggage…We’ve got packing issues right here.
But if this is making you panic, take a deep breath and relax. There is a simple solution: It’s called shipping things home. I did it when I went abroad, and it worked out perfectly.
At first I couldn’t decide whether it would be worth it, since a typical moving box-sized package costs about $50 to get back to America, but then once I laid all of the information out in my head and remembered all of the new things I had to bring home and fit in my already filled-to-the-brim suitcase, I started to really entertain the idea of shipping.
So how do you do it? Or how do you know if you need to do it?
If you can’t fit everything in that bag of yours, or you’re worried about breakage, or you hate being that person lugging around 15 suitcases, then ship. That’s how you know. And it’s actually quite simple. There are shipping places all over the bigger, more tourist-populated cities abroad, and most are close to the universities. Just go in with all of your stuff, buy a box (sometimes you don’t have to actually pay for the box), and fill it. The kind person helping you will weigh the box, and then all you have to do is fill out a shipping label and pay and voila! See ya in a week, stuff!
It’s just like shipping from America – very easy. The things I shipped actually made it home before I did, if that’s any consolation for you (if you’re worried). Also, you really may not have to do this. If you’re a light packer or just capable of fitting lots of things into small spaces, then go you. But if you have to do it, the money is definitely well spent. It’s definitely safer than trusting the baggage handlers and airlines (who are known to lose luggage) to be careful with your fragile and possibly expensive stuff.
