Quote 16
Holly was not a girl who could keep anything, and surely by now she had lost that medal, left it in a suitcase or some hotel drawer (8.10).
The narrator doesn't count on Holly hanging on to the St. Christopher medal he gives her for Christmas, and this shows us that nothing in Holly's life is permanent. It's not just her geographical location that changes, and it's not just the people who float in and out of her life – she doesn't even hold tight to the sentimental gifts she receives.
Quote 17
One went: Don't wanna sleep, Don't wanna die, Just wanna go a-travelin' through the pastures of the sky; and this one seemed to gratify her the most […] (3.5).
This is one of the songs Holly often sings when she's waiting for her hair to dry. It's pretty significant that it's one of her favorites since it's all about the desire to keep moving, to keep traveling. The singer wants nothing as permanent as sleep or death.
Quote 18
Everything was piled on the floor of my room, a poignant pyramid of brassieres and dancing slippers and pretty things I packed in Holly's only suitcase. There was a mass left over that I had to put in paper grocery bags (18.3).
It just seems kind of fitting that Holly's belongings have to be stuffed in disposable luggage. Even her bags are transient, impermanent.