One thing about life is that no one ever talks about moving. Not in detail at least. We see it displayed in movies or on tv shows, but never in detail, so anyone who has never moved before is in for a nasty surprise. Nothing can prepare you fully for moving except for a previous move. So what all does moving entail?

Boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. When you move, you need so many boxes, you don’t know what to do with them all. Think about it. You need enough boxes to move literally everything out of your home that isn’t furniture. More than likely, what you thought was going to be enough is never going to be enough.

Because of all the boxes, the entire house/apartment turns into an obstacle course. The boxes are stacked everywhere. You start seeing more boxes than floor. They’re everywhere. The obstacle course gives you a very distinct path to be able to get anywhere. If you step even slightly out of line, even to move another box, you could easily run into the boxes and get more bruises than you can count.

Can’t forget all your pictures and other breakables when you move. Bubble wrap enters the stage. You’re probably going to need more of that than you anticipate too. As you go along packing, you find more and more that you want wrapped in that protective goodness.

Just like boxes, you never seem to have enough tape. You need tape for all those boxes and let’s not forget the bubble wrap. You can’t have the bubble wrap coming off of all your breakables.

You can’t forget the moving van/truck. That costs money too. You have you make sure that everything fits into one trip if you’re moving long distance, so you have to play a lot of life-size Tetris. Not everything is perfect square or rectangular shapes, like furniture. You have to move all that too, so don’t forget to make the space.

Once you finally have everything out, you have to clean. The entire. House. Depending on how big your home is, this alone could take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two. So make sure you pack your cleaning supplies last, you’re going to need them.

Let’s not forget that you have to cancel utilities. You can’t pay for utilities at a place you no longer live as well as your new home. That’s just not practical and they won’t know you’re moving unless you tell them.

This says nothing about your emotional state. Moving is beyond stressful. Something about putting your life away in boxes is a little terrifying. It’s a huge change in your life that you may not know how to handle. Change is hard, even the good kind, and that makes moving hard.

Moving could be an adventure too. Yes, it’s hard. Depending on who you are, it might be one of the hardest things you ever do. College dorm life is kind of like a mini trial of the whole affair. It leads to new friendships, new experiences. Some of these changes have the potential to be a really good thing. Moving doesn’t have to be a bad thing. It’s a door to a new stage in life. So you don’t have to be afraid of it. Be realistic with the process, and go with the flow.