When Taylor Casey went home for the summer last year, she brought everything with her. It took garbage bags, boxes, suitcases and an additional trip three weeks before the term ended to get all her stuff there, but she did it.
This summer, after spending her first year living in the Alpha Phi sorority house, she plans on leasing a furnished room and leaving a lot of her belongings at the sorority. This is convenient for Casey, who said she hasn’t had room to collect more things since she moved into the house.
“I’ve had to keep it small and simple,” she said.
Though students like Casey may choose to take everything along for the ride, some — whether because of costs or “pack-rat” habits — cannot afford to haul it all. For those that do not have the option of a Greek house or a friend’s garage, local storage facilities are a good solution when summer travel calls and things need to be left behind.
One thing to consider when renting a storage space is capacity — or the lack there of.
“We’ve had to turn people away,” StorItAll manager Richard Sayre said. The most requested storage-space size at Sayre’s business is 5 x 5, which tends to accommodate everything that a person can fit into a residence hall room. More recently, however, a lot of students have chosen to share spaces between two or three people, “which saves money,” he said.
Sayre said students should pick a good location for security, but he cautioned people who plan on using storage for the summer to get insurance coverage at every location.
“The storage lockers I’ve found are pretty insecure,” senior Justin Ginsburg said. “People can just cut through the fencing and get into outdoor units.”
Last summer Ginsburg stayed in Eugene to work, and he plans on moving into a new apartment after he graduates at the end of this term. After moving out of the residence halls at the end of his sophomore year, Ginsburg said he found that having more personal space and being self-sufficient made it easier to accumulate belongings as he went along.
Last time he moved, Ginsburg said he went to Uhaul for boxes and a moving truck; he said he would go there again for supplies and transportation if need be.
“I have a couple friends with trucks,” he said. “So we’ll see.”
Mark Stogner, general manager of the Eugene Uhaul, said he has never turned anyone away because of lack of space, but the facility has gotten very close to reaching capacity. He agreed that having friends store together is less expensive, but the 5 x 5 space is still the most popular.
As far as the issue of whether to store or take it all, Stogner said he doesn’t think people have caught onto the fact that it is more economical to store. With factors such as hitching, wiring, 24- to 48-hour delays and the added costs of one-way travel, renting a trailer can be expensive, he said.
“If you’re coming right back, just get storage,” Stogner said.
Another thing to consider are added bonuses and discounts for students and people who store their belongings for months at a time. StorItAll offers a 10 percent discount to students, while Uhaul offers the fourth month of storage free to customers during the summer.