I finally have a plane ticket. After four months of waiting, and roughly one month of hair-pulling, I have my plane ticket. I won’t go into the boring details, but getting my hands on a round-trip direct flight to Seoul required three redundant phone calls, four incorrect charges to my credit card, and finally a trip to the airport itself to buy the ticket there. Isn’t that cute and quaint and old-fashioned? Who buys airplane tickets at an actual airport anymore? Precious!

But really, getting this ticket took way too much of my time, effort, and sanity than I’m comfortable admitting to myself. Still, I’m officially going to Korea in three weeks. I have a set departure date to which I can count down. I’m still wrapping my head around that. I’m ecstatic.

And it’s just now dawning on me how hard it will be to cram all my various and sundry knickknacks into two suitcases and one carry-on. I don’t even know if I’ll have enough room for my clothes to begin with (not because I have a lot of clothes; I just like boots and chunky things that take up lots of space), let alone all the items I’ve formed unhealthy attachments to over the years.

My dragon Pillow Pet! My papier-mâché eggplant! My crates of books! My stained glass butterfly lamp! What will I do without you?

I’m no stranger to packing light. On any given trip, I tend to make a game with myself seeing how little I can get away with bringing. The crowning achievement in my life thus far has been going through Germany and Switzerland for ten days with nothing but a small backpack. There is about a 70 percent chance I will bring this up at any social gathering.

But that’s just the thing– it was only ten days. I didn’t mind leaving behind everything but the bare essentials for such a short amount of time. During those trips, I knew I’d return soon to my own bed/desk/pillows/closet/boy band shrine.

This is different. It’s a whole semester. I know I’ll get homesick, so I want to be able to bring a few personal-but-ultimately-useless items with me. But I also want to fit all my jackets. And my boots. And hair bows. And I guess socks.

I realize I probably sound like such a diva right now. Honestly, I know I could probably take nothing but a burlap sack and some flippy-floppies to Korea and I’d still be overjoyed to be there and have an awesome time. But with the days ticking away and two giant suitcases in the corner of my room (my mom hit up Kohl’s– “I got the jumbo!”), I can’t help but think more about the logistics of packing for four months.

Luckily, I do have a few space bags– you know, the ones they advertise on TV that are supposed to make super-puffy coats as thin as a sheet of paper or something. I don’t have any-super puffy coats, so obviously I am expecting even more impressive results. I will have to put my faith in the power of airtight plastic and vacuum suction.