7 Ways to Say Goodbye to Your Roommate

By Lorena Roberts 

Whether you live with one roommate or five, saying goodbye for the summer can be painful. The semester has ended and you're all going in various directions for the summer. Maybe you're going home to live with your family, maybe you're traveling all over the world, or maybe you're working full-time to try and save up for the fall semester.

Regardless of what you're doing, and which direction you're going in for the next few months, there are some important goodbyes that need to be said before you do so. Telling your roommates goodbye can be bittersweet. Either you're ready for the break, or you truly don't know what you'll do without each other. Even if you think you'll be happy to never see your roommates again, you should plan a little something special to say goodbye before you leave for good. Here are seven ideas for saying goodbye to your roommate(s).

 

 

1. Roomie Dinner

Roomie dinners are the greatest. Whether it's a local diner that you all enjoy, or it's a fancy restaurant in the town square, enjoy some quality time with your roommate(s) before you split ways for the summer.

Getting dressed up and going out for a night of pure fun is one of the best ways to enjoy your roommates before the summer. Make sure you take pictures together and caption them cleverly on social media. After all, we want to document making memories here, folks.

 

2. Movie night

Re-watch one of the first movies you ever watched together. Maybe now that you've lived together for a year (or however long...), you'll see the movie in a different light -- you'll relate to it in a different way.

Glamour.com put together a list of some of the best roommate movies you should enjoy while you're together. On the list are funny movies like Bridesmaids and You, Me, and Dupree. You'll definitely get some laughs out of hanging out with your roomie in front of a good comedy.

 

3. Throw a going-away party

Get all of your mutual friends together for one last shindig before you all take off for the summer. Maybe some of your friends are graduating and moving away for real. There are various reasons why some of your friends might not be coming back in the fall. Take time to hang out with your roommates and friends before what's been "the norm" changes.

 

4. Tackle spring cleaning

If you and your roommate(s) have accumulated way too much stuff over the course of your time living together, it's time to start going through your junk. Tackle a spring cleaning to-do list together and then packing up to move won't be as tough as you thought!

You'll realize that you collected too many things over the course of your 12-month lease and it's time to start giving some things away. Donate to charity, sell your items on the marketplace, or just plain throw it out. You'll feel a weight lifted off of your shoulders if you know the only things you must pack are the necessities of life.

 

5. Write each other letters 

Saying goodbye in a letter can be one of the most sentimental ways to go about it. Writing down some of your greatest memories with each other, the good times, and maybe even the bad, will be a way for you to each feel some closure about opening the next chapter of life. Giving each other a letter means you'll each have something to cherish for a lifetime.

 

6. Plan a trip together

Whether it's for sometime this summer, before you leave, or when you get back in the fall, plan a trip together! Quality time is the greatest way to strengthen a relationship. So if you and your roommate are wanting to stay close pals, you'll enjoy a weekend away from your apartment in a new place with all kinds of things to explore.

 

7. Acknowledge that it's a goodbye.

If you aren't planning to be roommates again, it's best that you discuss this before you leave for the summer. How awful would it be for one of you to assume you're moving back in together, when in reality, you aren't? If this is going to be goodbye forever, make sure you handle it like an adult. Maybe you still want to be friends somewhere down the road, but as far as being roommates, this is goodbye.

Roommates in college are really tough. Consider yourself lucky if you've been able to find someone who didn't grate on your nerves every day and was actually pleasant to live with. I'd venture to say that the majority of college students have an adverse roommate experience, and we all know how stressful that can make things. So if you're getting ready to say goodbye to your roommate temporarily, make sure you cherish the last memory together before you're reunited in the fall. It's important to make the important people in your life feel important.