What I Packed for Studying Abroad in Canada (And What I Wish I Hadn’t)

By Rhiann Singh, University of Ottawa, Canada

Packing your whole life into a suitcase (or two in my case) is an extremely stressful thing to do. As a chronic over-packer I found this really difficult. Hopefully these tips should help you plan on what to take.

What I’m glad I packed!

• Thick winter coat (those Canadian winters are no joke! – I bought mine on sale in the UK and it was a 2-in-1 which was super useful)
• Thermal layers (these really saved me during the winter, I really underestimated how cold it would get)
• Power adaptors and extension lead (this was super useful as I didn’t have to constantly use adaptors for everything and just plugged everything in on one lead and adaptor)
• Travel-sized toiletries (this made it easier for me during the first few days before I figured out where to buy things from)
• Medicine (medicine is expensive in Canada so I came equipped with ibuprofen, paracetamol & a mini first aid kit)
• Home comforts (definitely make the most of pictures taking a small amount of space in your luggage – I printed pictures of my friends and family, and also packed some posters and wall art I used in my UK uni accom which made my new accom more familiar and comforting)
• IPad/Kindle (if you like reading like me, packing books takes up too much weight and books in Canada are super expensive)
• Reusable water bottle (definitely invest in a good quality bottle. Everywhere on campus has refilling stations)
• Bedding (a bit of a random one but I noticed that bedding in Canada was expensive, so to save money I bought some cheap bedding in the UK and packed it)

What I brought but didn’t need

• Waaay too many clothes (I packed like I was moving forever and didn’t end up wearing half of what I brought. If you have debating about whether you would wear it, you most likely won’t so don’t pack it! Also Canada has some good shops so I ended buying a lot oops)
• Notebooks and Stationary (I barely touched them and all my notes were written online)
• Formal clothes (personally I found that Canadian’s like to dress quite chill, so I definitely didn’t need to pack as many formal clothes as I did. One or two pieces should suffice)