If you have traveled at all, you understand that there are drastic differences between the process of packing and the process of unpacking. With one, you get to decide what types of items you need for your trip, your school year, or for moving out completely. With the other, you get to decide where to organize all of the things you brought. Which is better?

Packing

I find this to be the more tedious of the two. Since I am currently moving out of my residence hall as well as preparing for a trip within the next two weeks and organizing what I should have for a possible job this summer, I need to be not only getting everything out of my room in an organized fashion, but also separating everything into groups of where they will be going. AH!

Fortunately, I have never gotten as frustrated as this guy. One reason is because I have something (whether it is a movie, TV show, or Youtube video) playing in the background. This makes the tedious process of packing into something more akin to a fun activity where I am entertained while doing some sort of physical or organizational activity. However, I find the most interesting part of packing up at the end of a semester is that you find items you completely forgot you had. Sometimes, they just surprise you with how ridiculous they are and you think, "Why did I bring this? I never used it. I never needed it and will never need it. I just created more work for myself." When this happens to me, I just leave bamboozled because I know that item is just laughing at me for bringing it along for no reason.

I would like to note that I feel packing should not always go hand in hand with cleaning. Sure, sometimes you noticed a spot of dust you had not noticed before, but if you are just now cleaning for the first time as you are leaving...dude.

Unpacking

To me, this is the fun part. If you are moving into your room, you have a blank slate on which you can carve (please don't literally carve something in your room) out your own space. When I unpack, I will still often have a show on in the background to pass the time, but my mind is mostly on where I want certain things.

Where do I want to orient my bed?

Where is the best place for the carpet?

Which poster should go where?

So many questions! It is all so fun!

Unpacking can go one way or another. This year, I rearranged my room multiple times until I got it perfectly. It is not just that I like reorganizing my room, the initial way I had unpacked it just was not working out for me. Just like many things, unpacking may not be very successful the very first time.

Okay, it may be strange that I am looking at packing and unpacking as these moments of bliss where the body and soul meet as one to create a final product to look back on as either new possibilities or wonderful memories. However, knowing how to pack and unpack are essential to many components of our lives and we will probably all have to do it at least once. Who am I to enjoy it immensely?