Currently, Camilla and I are packing all of Camilla's stuff, in preparation for her leaving Edinburgh for, at least for the time being, good. Of course, we might come back at some point, in our pursuit of academic careers, but the future is still in flux. Or something.

Having moved numerous times, I have finally begun to get the hang of it, or at least so it seems. By far the cheapest way to move loads of stuff from the UK to Norway is to pack it all on a pallet and ship it on a boat, and at the moment I think we are almost done packing the things we are shipping into boxes. These boxes will then be picked up by someone with a lorry tomorrow, and we will leave on Wednesday. Now, I am sure any seasoned movers among my readers will see the potential pitfall ahead. I surely do, having walked into it at least once before.

When shipping relatively small amounts of things by boat, there is virtually unlimited space. I think I will pay somethig like £150, which allows me to ship up to a ton. As Camilla doesn't actually have a ton of books, even though it will probably feel that way as I carry it down from the third floor, this means I should really pack and ship as much as possible, as anything we don't ship, we will have to bring in our luggage when we leave ourselves.

Even if I know all of this to be the case, it is very easy to underestimate the amount of stuff left, thinking it will fit nicely in a pair of suitcases, only to discover as we are about to leave on Wednesday, when our only options are to throw things away or run out and buy more suitcases, that we have about three times as much stuff as we thought. I think I shall be able to avoid this classic mistake this time, but I'm not entirely sure.

Aside from the annoyance of moving, there is of course also the sadness of leaving Edinburgh. Camilla has been living here for almost four and a half years now, and I have probably been here for close to two years, when adding up all my visits. I will of course be visiting less frequently in the future, but we will definitely be back before too long.

-Tor Nordam