I will be earning my Associate’s Degree in December and transferring to Bemidji State in January. I am trying to decide whether I should take a Greyhound or make the drive. I’ve looked at the pros and the cons of both, but I am still torn. Admittedly, I am leaning more and more towards not taking my car, but I just can’t decide.
Pros of Taking My Car:
I can go out to town when I need to without having to rely on others once at school.
I could stop whenever I needed to without having to plan around when the bus stops.
If there was a family emergency, I’d be able to drive home even if there wasn’t a bus running that day.
I would still be use to driving when I come home. I wouldn’t be out of the routine.
I can pack more.
Cons of Taking My Car:
It would cost more due to gas and at least one motel stay. (Side note: I drive a car that gets over 40/gallon)
That’s a lot of mileage on my car.
The possibility of breaking down.
I may pack too much. I do tend to over pack.
I wouldn’t be able to enjoy myself as much because I couldn’t read, text, watch Netflix, or do crosswords/sudokus.
I couldn’t sleep on the drive.
What would you do in my situation? I won’t be visiting home throughout the semester except for taking a bus home to visit during the spring/fall breaks either way.
Most cities in the US have milder weather than Bemidji. At 20 and 30 below zero, batteries die, seals blow out, and without a block heater it might nor start at all.
If you’re north of 45 deg latitude, you already know this, if not you’ll want to budget extra for some cold weather maintenance items.
Bus. How much is an airplane ticket from home to Bemidji Regional Airport?
What about amtrak instead of greyhound? Much more comfortable (and doesn’t smell terrible).
Amtrak doesn’t have a stop in Bemidji, unfortunately.
Oh, and a flight out of Bemidji to the airport I would use is at minimum over $300. I’d rather pay the $100 for the bus ticket unless I need to get home quickly. But I do think that I will be going with the bus instead of taking my car.
RE: Bringing more – check the size of your room before deciding what all to bring. Space is usually limited and shared. Also, you can bring luggage with you or ship by bus ahead of time/later.
Greyhound is a bit of a sociological adventure, FYI.
Won’t be the cheapest option, but check into a one way rental car at a cheaper rental car company like Enterprise. if you don’t want the hassle of having your own car at college.
See if the school has shuttles to the Minneapolis airport (MSP). It might be cheaper to fly in there and get a shuttle or to drop off the one way rental there. Maybe the school has some sort of ride share for students flying in to MSP.
Drive, but do it in two days. Bemidji isn’t really a place you can get by without a car.
I would take the bus. If you need a car, you can always sell the one you have and buy one in your new city. Only buy one if you discover that you REALLY need one.
Take the car only if you want to have it at college and if you winterize it. Also, some small cars are just not right for the north woods. Most students who have cars will have trucks or SUVs or something ‘substantial.’ Sometimes it is you against a snowbank or you against a deer. The bigger object tends to win. You can’t really see around the snowbanks late in the winter unless you are up a little higher in a vehicle.
Fargo might be closer to fly into than MSP but there aren’t a lot of good options.
Can you tell us the car? Some cars are more useful than others in bad weather. Me personally, I love my car and I love driving - so I would drive the 1500 miles lol.