on the horrors of moving (again)

Apologies for the lack of posting of late, moving house has been an absolute nightmare. I'll be more prolific once the move is over and done with but for now the only things on my mind involve cardboard boxes and parcel tape. This whole weekend has been spent packing up boxes, which is a first as every other time I've moved  (that would be once per year since the age of 18 - I'm a glutton for punishment, what can I say?) it's been a "night before, oh holy hell why do I have so much stuff why can't I just embrace minimalism and only have three boxes to pack because seriously who needs this much stuff anyway and oh crap how can I not have enough boxes?" kind of deal. Never good for the blood pressure. So today, in between periodic bouts of working, rather than my usual video game breaks, I will be packing boxes, cleaning windows and scrubbing down woodwork. Fun!

As everyone insists on telling me ad nauseum moving house is one of the most stressful things you can do, according to RealAge it even has the power to take years off your expected life-span. And I do it once a year. Triffic.

What this all boils down to is the sinking realisation that at some point in the future I'm going to have to bite the bullet and think about buying somewhere in the near future. Even though I'm still crazily young and it won't be for a fair few years (at least until the PhD is out of the way) this still is a horrifying prospect. Aside from all the usual "oh my God I'd be seriously signing my life away and forced to settle down in one place with practically no freedom" thing there's just so much to think about. Even when it's completely simplified into terms even I can understand the house buying process is a scary one. It's enough to keep me up at night, and it does. Frequently.

Oh well, the chances of me affording a house in London in the near future are slim to none without some serious mortgage wranglings (and possibly a deal with the devil) I'm hoping to put it off for as long as humanly possible. Now if those nightmares would just go away....

Anyway - comments to keep me going please! Any sage words of advice concerning moving/buying/a way to stop nightmares about estate agents are always welcome!