For frequent travelers, it’s a constant consideration: Is it worth unpacking your suitcase while on the road, only to pack it up again? Or maybe it’s not a question that’s considered, but a deeply ingrained habit akin to always checking a bag, or preferring the window over the aisle seat or setting aside certain outfits for certain travel days.

I started thinking about unpacking this fall, in the middle of a two-month trip through Turkey and Georgia. A dedicated live-out-of-my-suitcase traveler, I found myself anticipating, no, craving, the moment when I’d arrive in Tbilisi, where my husband and I would be staying for a couple of weeks. I couldn’t wait to unpack. (My husband, meanwhile, stuck to his tradition and happily kept his clothes in the suitcase and neighboring piles on the floor.)

“Unpacking, literally, is a way for people to get control of their surroundings,” said Dr. Jean Kim, a psychiatrist and a professor at George Washington University who has written on travel and mental health. “When you’re traveling, the suitcase is a piece of you — it’s your life going along with you.”

A highly informal poll conducted in my social networks revealed that not only do people take very different approaches to unpacking, but they feel very strongly about their choices.