Packing for Semester at Sea is not the cute little Pinterest moment people think it is — it’s me, my suitcase(s), and a full-on spiral because I’m trying to cram my whole life into a very finite amount of space. In this video I basically document the struggle in real time: the overwhelm, the second-guessing, the “do I really need this?” pile that somehow still turns into “why is everything essential?” I’m glad I filmed it because if you’re about to do SAS (or any long trip), you deserve to know it’s normal to feel like you’re losing it a little. I talk through the reality of planning for months away, juggling what I want versus what I can actually bring, and the mental gymnastics of preparing for a trip that’s part school, part travel chaos. The biggest takeaway is that packing isn’t just about stuff — it’s about decisions, priorities, and accepting you can’t bring every comfort item you love. If you’re heading into Semester at Sea F25, consider this your permission slip to have a breakdown, laugh at it, and keep going anyway.