Moving out, in and on

This time of the year traditionally sees much of the student body descend back upon Southampton for a few days in order to bid (hopefully!) fond farewells to their residences and move their bases of operations elsewhere, with cardboard boxes, cleaning products and removal vans commonplace among other things!

It’s fairly startling to think that it was just a year ago that I was making the move from the relative safety and comfort of halls of residence into my second year student house, given the sheer quantity of events and changes that have occurred since, and yet the time seems to have gone by in a flash. It’s been an incredible twelve months, incorporating a truly rich academic year on many levels, and I honestly couldn’t have asked for a more homely area, or indeed better housemates (I hope they’re not reading this!), with which to see it through.

So although there’ll be the usual excitement which accompanies moving into a new home, this one significantly closer to the library (with one eye on our third year dissertations!), it’ll be slightly tinged with sadness amongst us all as we depart a house which has served us well over our time there.

As is the case with most properties, it’s not been without its faults: there have been broken toilet seats (or indeed no toilet seats at all!), occasional water temperature changes giving whoever’s in the shower a shock, and a garden now strongly resembling a rainforest to name but a few! But these nuances contributed largely to the whole experience of living in the place, and I’ll remember them just as fondly. Having said that, I wish the house’s future tenants the very best of luck with the shower lottery – don’t worry, you’ll soon get used to it!

I’ll miss living on the top floor of my second year house, if only for the great vistas!

Of course, when moving home, even if it’s just into halls, there tends to be quite a lot to sort out, requiring you to be organised and, with boxes and furniture to lug aplenty, have some brawn to boot! There are numerous checklists online which I found last year were worth a glance to make sure everything was covered, but at a bare minimum, I think it’s important to take your time with the process and remember to manage your finances, including facilitating rent payments both to the old and new property, be sure to take readings and inform the appropriate service providers and, crucially, look over and verify that all contractual obligations and demands, particularly those affecting deposits, are upheld.

This usually necessitates a long day (or two, depending on the state of the house!) of solidly cleaning bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and any other communal areas to try and leave the property as you initially found it, but it can be critical when it comes to reclaiming as large an amount of any deposit paid as possible. So although I’m less than excited about the prospect of tackling the upstairs bathroom in particular this week, unfortunately it’s just got to be done!

And once your old home is newly vacated, it’s time to get set up again in the new property, with necessary steps including organising payment of rent and bills (and agreeing on this methodology with your housemates), taking an inventory (possibly with photographs) of the new house, and re-establishing business with service and utility providers, amongst others.

It’s then up to you to make the place feel like it’s a home, a task which I’ve always tackled by blu-tacking up copious posters around my room (be sure to check out the brilliant on-campus sales at the start of the year which offer a great variety of pictures at bargain prices!), photographs and other personal memorabilia. I also, from time to time, add homeliness by leaving a couple of dirty dishes on the kitchen side – or at least that’s the excuse a few of us use to procrastinate washing up!

I always feel that, with the home moving process complete, an old chapter closes and a fresh one opens. Personally, although most people tend to return to their homes for the summer, I’ll be sticking around Southampton for a while yet, as rehearsals for the Theatre Group production being taken up to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August, Hanging Bruce-Howard, kick off again at the beginning of the month. This should, in theory, give me a chance to start work on preliminary research of my dissertation field, before the rehearsals culminate in on-campus preview showings at the end of the month. With the show now featuring in the official event programme, the reality that we’ll soon be part of the largest international performance festival in the world is beginning to set in!

Fingers crossed our entry might attract a few wandering audience members 

whilst we’re up there! (Credit: Jed Marshall)

Looks like, in July, I’ll be moving out, in, and on!

Robin