I dreaded the day that I would have to leave Charlottesville at the end of the summer. I would not only miss UVA in our four months apart, but I also had no desire to pack up everything in my dorm room and load it into the car. Because I’m from Connecticut, it isn’t necessarily easy to transport all of my belongings by means of one small SUV. So, I started brainstorming ideas for how to lighten the large quantities of stuff I would have to bring home. Here’s what I found worked for me, and made the move hassle-free.
1. Purge your closet! You wouldn’t believe how many of your clothes you never wear. My general rule of thumb is that if I haven’t worn something in the past year, it goes in the “donate pile.” I recently went through my dorm closet and managed to clear out pounds upon pounds of clothes that I didn’t even know I had. Locate the Goodwill or Salvation Army closest to you and drop off everything you don’t need anymore! You’ll save a ton of boxes and the hard work of moving more than you need, while also giving to a good cause.
2. Consider renting a storage unit for the summer. If you’re planning on returning to Charlottesville in the fall, it may not be necessary for you to bring all of your winter clothes and bulky furniture back home. Companies like Summer Storage will deliver you free boxes to pack up all your stuff, come and move it out of your room, and then redeliver everything to your new place at the end of the summer. This is a great option for out-of-state students who don’t have the luxury of bringing everything home.
3. Sublet your furniture: Plenty of students stay in Charlottesville in the summer to work or take classes. Many of them choose to sublet an apartment just for a few months and don’t want to invest in an entire set of furniture. Consider reaching out to friends and offering them your furniture for a low rental fee! It’ll ease the burden of having to find a storage place, and you could make a few extra bucks.