Crystal Luong
Editor in Chief
Eight months in Malibu, eight weeks in London and eight weeks in (insert your hometown here) — times and locations may vary.
It seems a college student’s life, or at least mine, inevitably falls into the “suitcases and boxes” cycle: periods of packing, moving, shopping, unloading and rearranging. Though there’s little to complain about, this life out of a box can turn even the most eager travelers weary.
If only I could have learned earlier to be smarter about my retention habits and purchases, from clothing to furniture, the cycle wouldn’t have been like the song that never ends. I could sooner come to realize that everything necessary for a five-day trip to Greece can fit in one sturdy Eddie Bauer backpack. It’s sad to think of the two minivans and the eight-man team that it took for me to move into Dorm 5 three years ago.
At the roots of jam-packed suitcases, I believe, lie the inner pack rat, accumulator and shopaholic.
I’d introduce to you a pack rat, but most likely you are one, used to be one or live with one. The pack rat saves everything, including floppy disks, homework assignments from the ninth grade and nametags from Convention XYZ, with the hope that one day that random junk will come in handy. Just for that special day, which may never come, I have witnessed items sharing shelf lives for months upon years. When it comes to traveling, the pack rat lives in fear of forgetting a crucial pair of shoes, so she or he brings five or more instead. After all, one simply cannot wear the same pair to the museum as well as the restaurant.
Mr. and Ms. Accumulator find novelty in the hot cocoa maker, hanging photo albums, as well as matching waste-bin and storage boxes along the aisles of Target. He and she must also buy the lampshade on the next aisle because the one at home doesn’t have stripes. Every item serves a purpose, or at least give him or her time and a purpose will be created.
Shopaholics don’t need a case-by-case justification. After all, why not own more than 30 polos or 20 purses? Plus, it’s best to own every color to fit the occasion and their changing moods. The world is their mall and should boredom hit, he or she can switch focus from apparel to DVDs.
Fall into one of the above or embody a deadly double/triple combo, and the suitcases and boxes cycle gets to be cumbersome. With each move come at least three extra boxes and the need for more space under the bed and in the garage. It’s an endless growth you don’t look forward to or need.
My name is Crystal, and I was a pack rat, an accumulator and a shopaholic. I learned the hard lessons of trimming down after I realized Mom and Dad weren’t going to be around forever to help me move around.
Recognizing my habits was the hardest step. From now on, I’m shooting for moderation.
“Sustainability is like American Apparel and concrete,” a wise roommate said to me last week. In other words, it’s about the basics, buying what lasts, keeping what’s sentimental and tossing what won’t be used in the next year. It’s my only hope to reduce the burdens of this vicious cycle.
08-29-2005
