If there is one activity that one most decidedly does NOT get better at the more you do it, it has to be packing. Like, big packing, to move. I reckon I have got the hang of packing for holidays by now.

色々な箱や荷物やかばんを詰めれば、詰めるほどもっともっと困るんです。そんなたくさん物の中には、何が捨てればいいですか？ぜんぜん決められない。

I’m aware I have a phobia and a mental block around packing which simply arises from having too much stuff, and I know I have to be harsh and get rid of anything I don’t need, especially as I will have less storage space at my new place than here. But somehow – it is never as easy as it seems in my head.

And when you are as much of a packrat as I am – packing is a surprisingly emotional process. You unearth so many things you haven’t thought of for ages and have been living happily without touching for the past, oh, year. And yet, once you see them, you can’t bear to be rid of them.

I guess the one thing I could really use right now besides more time is my dad, master packer, to ruthlessly cull all my belongings without me looking so that I will never miss them. But there’s just me. And I have to consciously free myself, now, from the things I am clinging on to, as no one’s going to do it for me this time.