<p>There's a good chance my s will be attending a school that's 9 hours drive time from home. For those of you that have dealt with this, how best to get him moved in? I see three alternatives: Fly, ship "stuff" UPS to college; Fly, buy major stuff in new college town; Drive (need to rent laaaarge SUV).
Anyone find "the best way"?</p>
<p>Son flew, shipped by UPS, and took boxes 20x20x20 as checked luggage on his flight BUT he was a 2.5 days of driving away from home. When oldest DD went off to college, she was about 7-8 hours driving away I put everything in an old SUV. Son has flown back and forth at Christmas and now spring break. He brings stuff back and forth on the plane.</p>
<p>But he did not need to bring a computer, or fridge, or stereo or tv. His roommate whom he talked to ahead of time lives locally so he brought his stuff from home and they went and bought stuff together once they both arrived. Son brought his PS2 back up with him after Christmas on the plane. I put son's comforter, linens, clothes, shoes, boots, coats in boxes he took on the plane. Had a few things shipped to him from web sites, and most had a special or free ship codes. If he would have needed all those things (big) I would have priced the cost of gas, my time in getting him up there versus the cost of buying those items online and shipping to him or sending the stuff I already had UPS or greyhound (bus).</p>
<p>Son also flew up by himself, so I only needed to buy one roundtrip ticket instead of 2 with me going up there. As far as my middle D (she is a high school senior) it depends on how far she ends up going away. And her contact with a rommate ahead of time or if she ends up in a single.</p>
<p>For your son it would depend on what he is taking and what he thinks he needs.</p>
<p>Have fun!!!!
Kat</p>
<p>My son went 8 hours away to school and we have a SUV. We were able to get everything in that he needed and then some. He didn't take his winter clothing as he would be home before it got cold. I did sent a few things after he was there a month or so.</p>
<p>For my daughter, she will be 18 hours away, but we have decided to drive her. If my husband can get the time off of work we will drive round trip. If not, we will rent a SUV, drive to school and fly home. I am hoping to drive both ways and take a little adult trip on the way home. My husband is very handy and takes his tools whenever we visit my son by car. There is always something to be hung or fixed in a student's apartment or dorm! It makes my husband feel needed when the kids ask him to fix something. The last visit to my son had us putting up shelving in his room, repairing cabinet doors that were hanging by one hindge, same for the toilet pare holder. I on the other hand got to clean the bathroom and kitchen, dust the blinds that had never been dusted, and general pickup.</p>
<p>I have already looked into what stores were available in the area of my daughter's school. Any big items that can be purchased locally I will get there. When we took my son to school, we found that Target was out of everything by the time we got there on move in day. Remember it is back to school for everyone, expecially in a college town. I am going to try to have things preordered and held at the store if need be.</p>
<p>Son went from Virginia to California. We shipped (computer, TV), packed in suitcases (three of us went [his mom and I then went on vacation] so there were six suitcases plus carry-ons), bought his sheets, pillows, and blankets from the University and picked them up on move-in day, and then visited a nearby Target for dorm stuff. When he moved into an apartment his second year we bought a bed from our local Sears and had it delivered from a Sears in Los Angeles.</p>
<p>We live nine or ten hours from school; at the end of last summer we put everything into two cars, my SUV and my child's own car, which was staying there (first-years are allowed to have cars). I drove by myself, husband and child drove together. Even if my child were not keeping a car at school I think I would choose to drive there at least the first time, either in two cars or putting as much as possible into one car and sending the rest or buying it there. It is just so much easier to pack everything more or less at leisure; although it is certainly possible to send via UPS, to buy bulky items like comforters and lamps at the school's local Target or BBB, or to have some things that you buy sent directly to school, it iss nice not to have to deal with all that in the midst of a pretty busy time. Also, if you are planning to stay for parents' orientation, it is an added convenience to have a car if you want to explore the area a little bit. </p>
<p>For a distance greater than twelve hours or so the choice might be more difficult since it would probably involve an overnight stay on the road. But for a nine-hour trip I think renting an SUV or miniivan is a sensible and convenient choice. Also keep in mind, as you probably already know, that orientation can be a very busy time and although there is likely to be some time built in to do everyday errands, having to go out and buy a lot of stuff can make you or the students feel very harried. (And of course even in this age of suburban sprawl, not all schools have good shopping nearby.)</p>
<p>There was a thread about this a few months back. You might want to do a search. </p>
<p>My s. has to fly to college. We packed all his stuff in several large (LARGE) duffels, and as the family all flew out together to get him settled in freshman year (discount airlines from ourt city to his college city helps!), we were able to take all this stuff (warning-- they now check weights of bags, so weigh them in advance-- 50# max per bag or you pay an overage fee for heavy bags). </p>
<p>He took a laptop, so we didn't have to deal with a big computer tower or monitor. He bought a printer and the dorm room fridge when we were out there. I believe he'll be buying some of those big plastic storage containers to store stuff there over the summer. </p>
<p>We shipped his bike UPS,which was promptly stolen the second day he was on campus :( We have a friend whose son goes to college where my in-laws live. They were going to ship several boxes of stuff to my inlaws and then pick it up when they arrived, but they ended up not needing to.</p>
<p>You can order some things at stores like Bed, Bath and Beyond and have it waiting for you at the store in your child's collegetown when you arrive. I don't see the need for this, but its there if you need it.</p>
<p>Lastly, a lot of the schools will send you info on ordering college dorm stuff (storage gizmos, desk items, xlong sheets, etc) from several companies that specialize in that. I found the prices, however, not too competetive. It was cheaper to hit Target otr Big Lots for a lot of that stuff when we got there. </p>
<p>We purposely arrived a day early to do any/all last minute shopping (and hit Sams, Costco, Microcenter- a computer store, Target, etc. We were remarkably efficient, and had the shopping (which was mostly for the obligatory dorm junkfood!) by late afternoon- so the boys chilled that night at the local amusement park! </p>
<p>Lastly, my s. has gotten good at ordering a few things from overstock.com. Their s&h prices are very reasonable.</p>
<p>Excellent ideas from all of you! I was concerned about the local stores there being out of stock by the time we arrive, but that's a great idea to order stuff and have it waiting for you! Plus, I don't think my son will want to shop when he gets there (too much else going on!), so I could just swing by the store myself and bring it back for him. But first I'll try to guess the volume of stuff he'll need - might be "packable". Actually, I don't mind getting the stuff there - I just dread getting it all back at the end of spring term every year! Perhaps the college will have rental storage or something...</p>
<p>How much is he taking? We drove D about 8 hours, rented a minivan (which has more space than an SUV, btw). Unless you have a lot of passengers (we were only three), the stuff should fit.</p>
<p>My freshman daughter is about 16 hours from home. We drove the SUV, totally packed.</p>
<p>One great find was to rent a soft car-top carrier from U-Haul. It was only about $30 for the week and was great to stuff all her clothes and other soft items like comforter, towels, etc. It folds up when you're done. I'd heard that these soft top carriers get snapped up quickly, so I made sure to rent it early since so many people are dealing with kids-to-college at the same time.</p>
<p>I've also looked into renting an SUV then flying home. With cheap one way airfares, I thought this would be a terrific alternative. However, at least where we live, the one-way charges for an SUV rental were outrageous--basically cost-prohibitive for us. That return drive back, alone, was a killer though!</p>
<p>Not sure yet. We'll probably be getting him a laptop for graduation, so no large computer gear. The only "if-y" large pieces might be his desk chair (the ones supplied in dorms can be notoriously bad!) and maybe a footlocker. Very good point about a minivan. Especially the new Grand Caravans (back seats fold right down into the floor, so it's like a cargo van in back!) And, it's lower to the ground - easier lifting for poor ol' backs!</p>
<p>I would definitely dread the drive home... It'll be hard enough to say goodbye, then... the looooong drive in silence.</p>
<p>I just read the thread by SoozieVT and I'm feeling very shallow right now. I'm relatively new to CC, so I hadn't heard about what that poor family is going through. Count your blessings everyone.</p>
<p>Thanks for the heads-up, pokey, re Target being sold out. I wouldn't have thought of that and was planning on Target, BB&B etc. as my move-in technique.</p>
<p>We bought a soft sided rooftop carrier a few years back. Solid coated nylon, very sturdy, with strong straps. We've used it for two major trips - when we moved to this area 9 years ago (1200 mile 10 day road trip) and when we took D to school last fall (1000 mile one week road trip). It holds a lot, and chinches down as tight as one wants if it is not filled all the way.</p>
<p>The big advantage of the carrier is that we were able to remove it and fold it up for the trip home.</p>
<p>As my son is my first child, I wasn't really sure what he would want or need in the way of storage items. Some kids like the underbed storage, otheres like the stacking cubes. This was the main item I waited until school to purchase. After getting unpacked, we realized there were a few things he would "need". We went to Target after several meetings and unpacking. The first sign of a problem was there were no shopping carts available! Headed to the shelving aisle, where there were about 20 other college students and parents. You could tell the freshman; they were the ones rolling their eyes and were very frustrated looking. Several parents were trying to convience the Target staff to sell them the display items, which they wouldn't do. I then headed to the laundry aisle to get detergent and fabric softener. Target was out of most brands! The store looked like they were haven't a clearance sale. </p>
<p>I have now learned my lesson and will take what I can and pre-order the rest. I will hit the Target the night before orientation for the items we need. We really packed well for my son; even had things to return when I got home as he didn't need some of the things.</p>
<p>My daughter's school is an 18-hour drive. We rented a minivan with rear seats that folded flat. It worked for us -- we didn't have to ship anything. However, we did have some concerns about robbery during hotel overnights. We took the most expensive items into the room -- laptop, TV, etc.</p>
<p>One other tip on shipping. When we would move around (in grad school), we'd ship books to ourselves c/o General Delivery in the town to which we were going. They'll hold onto items for a while until you pick them up (might want to check <a href="http://www.usps.gov)%5B/url%5D">www.usps.gov)</a>.</p>
<p>When S went to LA from Boston, we mailed stuff to SIL in LA and bought the computer out there. On trips home, he would pick up additional items.</p>
<p>Good luck!</p>
<p>I think someone mentioned that Bed Bath & Beyond offers a buy-and-hold option.<br>
This was a life-saver for us because we didn't have to ship the stackable drawers, etc.And since we weren't sure what she'd need until we actually saw the room she was assigned, we bought more than we needed. When wewent to the BB&B to pick up her items, I simply "returned" the items she didn't have room for.</p>
<p>We saw MANY families trying to buy last minute and they had problems due to the local Target, Container Store, etc all being out of what they
needed. That's probably the one thing we did right (besides renting the soft-top car carrier!).</p>
<p>It really varies by where you will be. Metro areas that have many stores tend to not run out quite so much. But others where there is only one game in town do. At Grinnell, the one Walmart resembled the Target Pokey described. And that was before orientation officially began! (There were kids there early for various pre-orientation programs, sports, etc.) I was really glad we had brought the plastic cubes, packed with other stuff in the cartons we'd shipped ahead.</p>
<p>But if my S ends up in Miami, I think there will be plenty of options because we saw many stores nearby where we could get what he might need. My cousin's D moved from CA to Albany NY and they had no problem buying stuff - again - lots of shopping in the area. Still, pre-ordering ahead or having it shipped from a catalog/website makes a lot of sense. However, I hate the idea of buying stuff we already own. </p>
<p>For D, we shipped a few cartons ahead, and then took the rest as airline baggage for two people (me and D). I called the airline, got the maximum measurements they'd accept in a carton, and then got boxes at a moving company. We used two as baggage - if I remember correctly they were dishpacks - big and very strong. The other two bags we took were large suitcases or duffels. Inside we packed a smaller travelling duffel that D could use for trips home. I then took home the big suitcase/duffels. </p>
<p>At Grin, D could store stuff over the summer for reasonable rates. So we didn't need to get it all home until graduation. D shipped some stuff to the new city she was moving to, and we shipped a few cartons home. We sent books home using book rate at the PO, and then took the rest of the stuff that was going home as airline baggage for three people (me, H and S). </p>
<p>Check out the computer services on your kid's campus. We were told that at Miami there is no need to bring a printer - printing is free and the network on campus makes it easy to print what the kids need at locations all over campus. Grin had lots of computers available all over campus and I think all D brought was an old laptop. And if I remember correctly, she may not have even had that when she started.</p>
<p>Given the size of the dorm rooms, less is more sometimes.</p>
<p>My son is about 1600 miles from home. We mailed three boxes. He took two suitcases. He also purchased a few things there (computer printer and a guitar). There is very little summer storage (also isn't temperature controlled) so he hasn't amassed much stuff. </p>
<p>One of the BEST pieces of advice I saw--and I don't remember who said it--was that if it doesn't fit in your car, it won't fit in the dorm room.</p>