---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We packed our trunks and suitcases…"
description: "\"“We packed our trunks and suitcases, prepared for our natural and necessary moves away from home. Outwardly, we breathed sighs of relief at the somber ..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/hannah-pittard-48704_adulthood_we-packed-our-trunks-and-suitcases-prepa_746755.jpg"
---

#  We packed our trunks and suitcases, prepared for our…

![“We packed our trunks and suitcases, prepared for our natural and necessary moves away from home. Outwardly, we breathed sighs of relief at the somber comfort of growing up. Inwardly, we held our breath and tried to stand as still as possible, afraid we might be the only ones who didn’t yet feel…” quote by Hannah Pittard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/hannah-pittard-48704_adulthood_we-packed-our-trunks-and-suitcases-prepa_746755.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/hannah-pittard-48704_adulthood_we-packed-our-trunks-and-suitcases-prepa_746755.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/hannah-pittard-48704_adulthood_we-packed-our-trunks-and-suitcases-prepa_746755.jpg)

> ““We packed our trunks and suitcases, prepared for our natural and necessary moves away from home. Outwardly, we breathed sighs of relief at the somber comfort of growing up. Inwardly, we held our breath and tried to stand as still as possible, afraid we might be the only ones who didn’t yet feel the promised call of adulthood.””

[Hannah Pittard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-pittard/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Leaving home feels both liberating and terrifying, as we confront the unknown while fearing we miss the rite of passage into adulthood.

**In simple terms:** Moving away is exciting but scary, fearing missing adulthood.

Key Takeaway

Embrace change while staying true to yourself.

Themes

growth transition identity adulthood

Mood

reflective hopeful anxious

Type

narrative reflective

When to use this quote

- college move
- first job
- living alone
- family separation

Key Concepts

Rite of passage fear of missing out self-discovery

Questions to Reflect On

- What does adulthood mean to you?
- How do you balance excitement and fear when changing?

A Different Perspective

Some may find adulthood less defined than the quote suggests.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Adulthood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adulthood/) [Held Breath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/held-breath/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) [Outwardly Breathed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/outwardly-breathed-5817876/) [Promised Adulthood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/promised-adulthood-5817875/) [Suitcases Prepared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suitcases-prepared-5817877/)

## Related quotes

> [“He all but held his breath as he waited for her to force that façade back into place. Or to leave his side just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jess-michaels/he-all-but-held-his-breath-as-he-waited-for-her-to-force-that-fa-ade/)

[Jess Michaels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jess-michaels/)

> [The day we met Frozen I held my breath Right from the start I knew it I found a home for my Heart beats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-day-we-met-frozen-i-held-my-breath-right-from-the-start-i-knew-it/)

[Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/)

> [“It lasted just a moment, whatever that is. One held breath? An ant's afternoon? It was brief, I can promise that much, for although…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/it-lasted-just-a-moment-whatever-that-is-one-held-breath-an-ant-s/)

[Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/)

> [“But Elisabeth..." I held my breath. "She was never a hothouse flower. She is a sturdy oak tree. If her leaves have fallen, then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-jae-jones/but-elisabeth-i-held-my-breath-she-was-never-a-hothouse-flower-she-is/)

[S. Jae-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-jae-jones/)

> [...the air seeming to gather around her like held breath. As if this whole place were a story about her.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laini-taylor/the-air-seeming-to-gather-around-her-like-held-breath-as-if-this/)

[Laini Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laini-taylor/)

> [“The day we met, frozen I held my breath. Right from the start, I knew that I found the home for my heart beats…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/glee-thousand-years-original-christina-perri/the-day-we-met-frozen-i-held-my-breath-right-from-the-start-i-knew/)

[Glee Thousand Years Original Christina Perri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/glee-thousand-years-original-christina-perri/)

> [“She wanted to buckle, lie on her side and gasp like an eviscerated fish. She held her breath against it, but her mouth parted.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-anne-long/she-wanted-to-buckle-lie-on-her-side-and-gasp-like-an-eviscerated/)

[Julie Anne Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-anne-long/)

> [“I held my breath and wished for that moment to last as long as it possibly could, because a waking dream is always more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikas-swarup/i-held-my-breath-and-wished-for-that-moment-to-last-as-long-as-it/)

[Vikas Swarup](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikas-swarup/)

> [“Then, in a whisper, Sam said, “I met someone else.” Just like that, Darcy's world melted and distorted into something she no longer recognized.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-a-rhine/then-in-a-whisper-sam-said-i-met-someone-else-just-like-that-darcy-s/)

[D.A. Rhine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-a-rhine/)

> [“She could feel these hands tremble, and she could feel Mr. Kidder’s excitement. How eager she was to be gone from this room. Her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-carol-oates/she-could-feel-these-hands-tremble-and-she-could-feel-mr-kidder-s/)

[Joyce Carol Oates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-carol-oates/)

> [“He didn’t pay attention to her. I held my breath waiting for him to tell me what he saw. Valerie”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikki-jefford/he-didn-t-pay-attention-to-her-i-held-my-breath-waiting-for-him-to/)

[Nikki Jefford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikki-jefford/)

> [ There was her face, like a summer peach, beautiful and warm, and the light of the candles reflected in her dark eyes. \[He\] held… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/there-was-her-face-like-a-summer-peach-beautiful-and-warm-and-the/)

[Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/)

> [“I closed my eyes, held my breath. I have held it ever since.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-murano/i-closed-my-eyes-held-my-breath-i-have-held-it-ever-since/)

[Doug Murano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-murano/)

> [“The sky bruised my eyes with rain's weight and my body was a held breath.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-heiti/the-sky-bruised-my-eyes-with-rain-s-weight-and-my-body-was-a-held/)

[Warren Heiti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-heiti/)

> [she held her breath, and in her head, counted seconds. She pretended that for each second she didn’t breathe, God would grant her another…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/she-held-her-breath-and-in-her-head-counted-seconds-she-pretended/)

[Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/)

## More by Hannah Pittard

> [“Certain outcomes are unavoidable, invariable, absolutely unaffectable, and yet completely unpredictable. Certain outcomes are that way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-pittard/certain-outcomes-are-unavoidable-invariable-absolutely-unaffectable/)

[Hannah Pittard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-pittard/)

> [“And, suddenly, something new is now certain, something that we hadn't ever thought of before. There will come a day when we will think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-pittard/and-suddenly-something-new-is-now-certain-something-that-we-hadn-t/)

[Hannah Pittard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-pittard/)

> [“We were growing up. It was one of those moments when you could practically feel the adult pushing out, pushing forward into the world.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-pittard/we-were-growing-up-it-was-one-of-those-moments-when-you-could/)

[Hannah Pittard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-pittard/)

> [“This is where I want to be. For the first time, this is exactly where I want to be.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-pittard/this-is-where-i-want-to-be-for-the-first-time-this-is-exactly-where-i/)

[Hannah Pittard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-pittard/)

> [“Nora Lindell was gone. And, with Trey Stephens in jail, he was gone, too, in a way. By this time, we'd already lost Minka…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-pittard/nora-lindell-was-gone-and-with-trey-stephens-in-jail-he-was-gone-too/)

[Hannah Pittard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-pittard/)

> [“Words like lucky and advantages we knew, even at our young age, were upscale euphemisms for not poor, not the son of a drunk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-pittard/words-like-lucky-and-advantages-we-knew-even-at-our-young-age-were/)

[Hannah Pittard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-pittard/)

> [“A great deal of tenderness, but it was the tenderness of a hospice nurse - of one committed to caring but too familiar with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-pittard/a-great-deal-of-tenderness-but-it-was-the-tenderness-of-a-hospice/)

[Hannah Pittard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-pittard/)

[Explore all 8 Hannah Pittard quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-pittard/)

## More Adulthood quotes

> [Age is an accumulation of life and loss. Adulthood is a series of lines crossed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ellen-goodman/age-is-an-accumulation-of-life-and-loss-adulthood-is-a-series-of/)

[Ellen Goodman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ellen-goodman/)

> [People often say that you should never work with child actors. I think that's all wrong. Children have not had the imagination kicked out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-cage/people-often-say-that-you-should-never-work-with-child-actors-i-think/)

[Nicolas Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-cage/)

> [Two things suck about becoming an adult male - paying taxes and getting a finger in your butt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-code/two-things-suck-about-becoming-an-adult-male-paying-taxes-and-getting/)

[Guy Code](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-code/)

> [You can only pretend for so long before reality hits and you realize he/she is not who you thought or what you truly want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhishek-tiwari/you-can-only-pretend-for-so-long-before-reality-hits-and-you-realize/)

[Abhishek Tiwari](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhishek-tiwari/)

> [If I were entering adulthood now instead of in the environment of fifty years ago, I would choose a career that kept me in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-lindbergh/if-i-were-entering-adulthood-now-instead-of-in-the-environment-of/)

[Charles Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-lindbergh/)

> [“English: "Being an adult doesn't mean killing the child we once were; it means being able to protect him." Česky: „Být dospělým neznamená zabít…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sebasti-n-wortys/english-being-an-adult-doesn-t-mean-killing-the-child-we-once-were-it/)

[Sebastián Wortys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sebasti-n-wortys/)

> [“I wondered what a man I had encountered the day before on the plane en route to Chicago's O'Hare airport would have made of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-moss/i-wondered-what-a-man-i-had-encountered-the-day-before-on-the-plane/)

[Robert Moss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-moss/)

> [“Sometimes your kids will say the nastiest things, won't they, Rose? You want to ask,'Whose child is this?'" Rose chuckled. "But usually, they're just…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/sometimes-your-kids-will-say-the-nastiest-things-won-t-they-rose-you/)

[Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/)

> [No one, it has been said, will ever look at the Moon in the same way again. More significantly can one say that no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-morrow-lindbergh/no-one-it-has-been-said-will-ever-look-at-the-moon-in-the-same-way/)

[Anne Morrow Lindbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-morrow-lindbergh/)

> [Being an adult is the ability to postpone a want for the sake of a family need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hogan/being-an-adult-is-the-ability-to-postpone-a-want-for-the-sake-of-a/)

[Chris Hogan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hogan/)

> [“one Secret of Adulthood is “Never start a sentence with the words ‘No offense’”? “And”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretchen-rubin/one-secret-of-adulthood-is-never-start-a-sentence-with-the-words-no/)

[Gretchen Rubin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretchen-rubin/)

> [In their youth, mortals behave more like nymphs. Adulthood seems impossibly distant, let alone the enfeeblement of old age. But ponderously, inevitably, it overtakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brandon-mull/in-their-youth-mortals-behave-more-like-nymphs-adulthood-seems/)

[Brandon Mull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brandon-mull/)

> [Public schools were designed as the great equalizers of our society - the place where all children could have access to educational opportunities to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-napolitano/public-schools-were-designed-as-the-great-equalizers-of-our-society/)

[Janet Napolitano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-napolitano/)

> [“Yet GenX'er teens didn't slow down--they were just as likely to drive, drink alcohol, and date as their Boomer peers and more likely to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-m-twenge/yet-genx-er-teens-didn-t-slow-down-they-were-just-as-likely-to-drive/)

[Jean M. Twenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-m-twenge/)

> [“The entrepreneurs are only about my age, probably younger, but they don't seem so. Their tailored clothes and unbending hairdos, their clipboards and laser…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sara-baume/the-entrepreneurs-are-only-about-my-age-probably-younger-but-they-don/)

[Sara Baume](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sara-baume/)

[Browse all 651 Adulthood quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adulthood/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "“We packed our trunks and suitcases, prepared for our natural and necessary moves away from home. Outwardly, we breathed sighs of relief at the somber comfort of growing up. Inwardly, we held our breath and tried to stand as still as possible, afraid we might be the only ones who didn’t yet feel the promised call of adulthood.”",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Hannah Pittard"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-pittard/we-packed-our-trunks-and-suitcases-prepared-for-our-natural-and/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Adulthood"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-pittard/we-packed-our-trunks-and-suitcases-prepared-for-our-natural-and/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/hannah-pittard-48704_adulthood_we-packed-our-trunks-and-suitcases-prepa_746755.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/hannah-pittard-48704_adulthood_we-packed-our-trunks-and-suitcases-prepa_746755.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41b/hannah-pittard-48704_adulthood_we-packed-our-trunks-and-suitcases-prepa_746755.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“We packed our trunks and suitcases, prepared for our natural and necessary moves away from home. Outwardly…” — Hannah Pittard",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Hannah Pittard",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-pittard/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "“We packed our trunks and suitcases,...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-pittard/we-packed-our-trunks-and-suitcases-prepared-for-our-natural-and/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-pittard/we-packed-our-trunks-and-suitcases-prepared-for-our-natural-and/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
