I have a lot of stuff.

I know this because I’ve had to pack it up and cart it around many times in the past few years. In fact, this week will be the seventh time I’ve moved in about three years. If you count the two summers I spent living with my parents, then it’s nine moves. Nine. Needless to say, I’m pretty tired of it.

I was lucky to have discovered a nifty company called U-Pak Mobile Storage very early, which has made everything a lot easier (I definitely recommend). It seems that every four months I stuff my entire life into boxes, call some of my (infinitely helpful and very strong) friends to take apart my IKEA furniture, and load up the big yellow box. My whole life is then delivered elsewhere or stored until I make my way back to Victoria.

The amount of stuff that I seem to accumulate year after year baffles me. Even though a few plates inevitably break with each move, even though I wear out shoes and recycle old magazines, it’s just everywhere. I’m starting to think I thrive in the chaos, but with every relocation I pack and unpack, hoping the next repack is not in the short-term future.

Do you dread moving as much as I do? Any suggestions on how to make it bearable when life makes it unavoidable?