What I Should Have Left at Home: A Uni Packing Reflection

Moving to university is challenging at the best of times. Regardless of whether you’re a home student or an international student, you’ll still have to make choices about what to bring and what to leave behind, and often it can feel like you have to pack your entire life into two or three suitcases. Nonetheless, once you’re there, you may realise you’ve somehow brought too much – so here’s my reflection on what I should have left at home!
Additional or ‘Spare’ Mugs/Plates/Bowls
I brought four mugs with me to uni. They were part of a much larger cutlery/tableware set I’d purchased, but realistically I only needed to bring one (or maybe two). Apart from the fact I don’t use the other three that much, they were fragile to transport and could have easily been bought once I’d arrived at uni for only a pound or two. The same goes for plates and bowls – I wash up immediately after I eat, so looking back, there was no need for me to bring the entire set.
Books
I’m someone who likes to be prepared – so I bought most of the books on my course’s reading list off of eBay the summer before uni. Even after only a few weeks, it became apparent I wasn’t going to use them: if I needed a specific text, I could get it from the campus library for free, and most of the texts I needed were available online through my university’s digital archive. Although they look good on my bookshelf, they were extremely heavy and I could have used that space/weight for clothes or more essentials.
Shoes
By this, I certainly don’t mean all of my shoes – I definitely should have still brought some shoes to uni - but looking back, I did bring too many pairs. Day-to-day, I only tend to wear two or three pairs, and I replace them when necessary with similar-looking ones. Aside from maybe having a formal pair for work/interview purposes, there was realistically no need for me to bring more than five pairs of shoes to uni; the eight I did bring ended up being far too many and I often feel like I have lots of shoes that just sit cluttering my closet.
What items did you pack that, looking back, you think you should have left at home? Let me know down below! 😊
Eve (Kingston Rep).