Essentials before your Arrival

Along with many more mistakes that I made, which I will talk about in my other articles, an important one was bringing too many clothes and pairs of shoes. To give you an idea about the number of shoes I brought, I packed 12 pairs. Honestly, I have not even worn half of them and don’t remember the other half. You can get some of your special pairs, but you can easily get shoes from the city. Stores like JD Sports, Sports Direct, and official brand outlets sell shoes at great prices, and you can even avail a student discount (I hope you have downloaded apps such as Unidays and Student Beans by now).

Tip: Fancy travelling and are willing to take a train journey? I would recommend going to Portsmouth. Just a 40-minute train ride from Southampton, you can get shoes at great discounts as there are a lot of factory outlets in Gunwharf Quays. You can even visit the beach on a sunny day.

If you are an international student, don’t bring jackets from your country as they won’t be suitable in the UK weather. You can bring one for your first few days but make sure you budget for buying a suitable one in the UK.

The items you cannot easily get here, or that are significantly more expensive, are the ones you should focus on bringing.

I have given a list of crucial things along with a list of not-so-crucial things for your reference. The list is based on my own experience, along with my friends ‘experience.

CRUCIAL

Long-lasting food items: get some long-lasting and ready-to-eat pack of food items, to get you sorted for those busy mornings and a week filled with examinations and assignments.

Important medication (along with prescription): if there are specific medicines that suit you, then I’d recommend you get those, but don’t forget to bring a prescription along.

Spices: you can get spices in the supermarkets but at relatively high prices, so to get yourself sorted for a month or two, you can get all the essential spices.

Documents: bring all your essential documents (especially if you are an international student)

Utensils: You can/should bring your utensils from your country (if you are an international). You can get these here as well but they can be quite expensive.

Electronic kitchen items: items like a toaster, air fryer, and rice cooker (one of the best investments I made) are good to buy if you want to save time; however, your accommodation kitchen might already have most of these.

NOT-SO-CRUCIAL

Clothes: don't bring a stack of your clothes for summer or for winter. If you are imagining a city which doesn’t have any clothing stores, then it’s a zombie town and not Southampton. You can easily buy clothes from companies such as TK Maxx, Primark, JD Sports and Sports Direct.

Jackets: if you are an international, then, as I previously stated, bring a basic jacket for your initial days and then buy a good quality one from the UK. You can get a lot of good options in Superdry, Sports Direct, TK Maxx, and North Face. Jackets are a one-time investment, invest a good amount for a good one.

Sweaters: winter clothing like sweaters, fleece jackets, and sweatshirts is heavy and might take up a lot of space in your luggage. If they aren’t necessary, then get them from here just to free up some space in your luggage.

Shoes: Don't be like me who brought 12 pairs of shoes. You can simply get some of your important and luxury pairs and then get the rest from here. If you share my obsession with shoes, then nothing can stop us—they are just shoes for everyone else, but to us they are our babies.

Bedding: Stuff like duvets, bedsheets, and pillows are not essential to bring and can easily be bought in Dunelm Mill and IKEA.