<p>You are right, viceh. Just checked – could be in Austin by 10:15 a.m. tomorrow, for less than $200 round trip (and airport is 25 mins frm my house, 15 mins from college in Austin).</p>
<p>Lots easier than driving. And, for one person at least, it’s probably the same or cheaper.</p>
<p>Thanks for the encouragement.</p>
<p>I would definitely recommend the family drive out the first time to drop him off. It will be a nice way to say goodbye over an extended period of time.</p>
<p>Um…but…23 hours of straight drive-time? I’m thinking that might turn a little churlish after a bit…</p>
<p>Or if time constraints, mom, dad, child fly out, spend 2 days prior to ‘drop off’ collecting BedBath &Beyond and Target needs, and exploring the area. After drop-off mom and dad spend a day or two ‘on vacation’ before returning home.</p>
<p>S is a senior at a school 21 hrs drive away. He and I flew down with two suitcases each and some Bed, Bath & Beyond coupons. I flew back with a half empty carry-on. </p>
<p>The goodbyes were easier because he dealt with them in stages, friends the night before, little bro and mom at the airport and me when I flew back. As soon as he and I were at the airport, it stopped being a trauma and it became a project and an adventure. </p>
<p>He and I witnessed an entire family blubbering in the parking lot after they had dropped off D @ school. His comment, “That’s why I didn’t want mom here.” Though he did seem to have something in his eye while saying it.</p>
<p>I was thinking of taking several days, stopping at interesting points along the way. Our family does that kind of stuff for fun. I guess not everyone is into road trips.</p>
<p>I think there are some differences. One is moving, not just the first time but every time. Airlines only let you take one suitcase for free now. That means you will probably be paying for storage at the further away school. If you had to, you could drive up and pack the car up each spring if you wanted to. But the big moves are at the beginning and at graduation and they can be costly. There is also the hassle factor. When we drove my third kid to college (after the second kid had a flight-school), I felt like I’d died and gone to heaven just throwing everything into my van. It was so much simpler. However, I would not personally make a decision based on that – but it is a difference. Also, there is the emergency factor. You might be a safer passenger than a driver but a) someone else can drive if there was a real emergency b) there is the anxiety of being in the air and not accessible by cell phone (I know airlines have phones but can people call you?), c) depending on where the school is, it might not be possible to get a flight for many hours after you are aware of a problem and d) unless you can persuade the airline to give you a break, it’s an expensive flight. In both scenarios, you pay for lodging when you visit. Also, a lot of times when a kid goes to school a long drive away, he can find people to come home with for breaks, etc. Flights have to be arranged well in advance and it can be a problem if something changes in their schedule. But, really, if the school is 7 to 12 hours away, might there not be occasional flights involved? That’s a pretty long drive.</p>
<p>For most of us in HI, this issue is pretty moot. The question is how much it matters to have a school with convenient airports. For us, we lucked out that both kids wanted to attend the same school that happened to have convenient airports. For me & my sibs growing up, we never considered that & apparently neither did my nieces. It worked out for all of us anyway, so I wouldn’t obsess about it one way or another.</p>
<p>Actually, for HI, you have to pay for the 1st bag on most airlines, unless you’re a premier member or something. You definitely need to pay more for the 2nd bag. We haven’t moved any of our kids back home, so don’t know how that will go but expect we will just deal when the time comes. Maybe we’ll all fly up & help or who knows? We think S may work for a while in CA anyway, so not sure when he’ll be coming back to HI to resettle – same with D.</p>
<p>Same here, HImom - moot point. We fly three-and-a-half hours just to get to Seattle. Kids are near small airport, not hub. Thirteen hours is about as quickly as we can make it to the East Coast - and that’s if everything goes on schedule! At least one connection; usually two.</p>
<p>Alaska Airlines just announced that they’re joining the “$15 for first bag” club - only JetBlue and Southwest are still free.</p>
<p>It is what it is. Positives outweigh negatives, in our case.</p>
<p>Disclaimer: We have family close enough to our kids to be able to get there in a few hours if they have an emergency.</p>
<p>I have to admit that since my parents were stationed in Africa for most of my college and graduate school years, this distance thing doesn’t seem like that big a deal to me. It often took me 12 hours just to get to them. </p>
<p>Our son is a day’s drive away, an hour and a half flight. We drive him for move-in and pick up. (Orientation was week before classes started so no extra trip needed.) We haven’t bothered with parent’s weekend, and son is not a performer or athlete. He flies home for Thanksgiving, and Winter and Spring Breaks. It’s a nice direct flight. We have yet to stay a day or two extra to enjoy Pittsburgh, but I’d really like to - just hasn’t been a convenient weekend yet.</p>
<p>JS
Is this your concern, or did S raise the issue? If his, then perhaps he is apprehensive about going to a different part of US. In case of an emergency, you can clearly find a flight, and no way would u want to undergo a long drive. More important is let him know you’d be there within the day, but what his real issues are. S has several good choices, so he needs to discuss all the pros and cons.</p>
<p>As I stated before I think this decision is very individual to the family and to the student in question. My first two could have been cross country and the number of visits would not have changed—home fall break, Christmas, spring break and summer (at least until they started taking trips or working in their college town during summer). And they were each just 3 hours away. Though moving in and out was very easy.</p>
<p>I just returned from my 3rd visit in 3 weeks to 3rd child–medical emergency then follow-up tests and appts. Same child has had emergency surgeries twice before. There was no way to foresee this as he had never had medical issues before college–we just lucked out and he is also about 2.5 hours away.</p>
<p>Wow, MKM, loving thoughts to you & your 3rd child! Sounds like your family is having significant medical challenges. I guess our extended family lucked out that all 6 of us were so far from home & didn’t need our folks to come to visit or help while we were thousand of miles from home. We only got home for summers. With my kids, they only come home for Christmas and perhaps a visit over the summer. They DO have medical issues, but we wanted to be sure they attended a school with good medical options & they have. So far, they’ve been healthier in the LA smog than the fresh air of HI–go figure! They have not used the medical services except for mild occassional infections, allergies & asthma, treated by the campus health center.</p>