<p>My daughter is coming to Bard from the west coast and I think she’s got everything under control as far as packing and moving things she’ll need when she arrives on campus and moves into her dorm room. (My husband & I are flying with her with a couple of large suitcases & some carry-ons, and a UPS box that will be shipped ahead of time with her bedding & linens.)</p>
<p>But I’m thinking ahead when she moves out at the end of the year in which she may be packing by herself and flying home, or wherever she ends up this summer. (And this may include a bike.)</p>
<p>How do the out-of-state and int’l students handle their stuff when it’s time to move out, esp. when they will be returning in the fall? Do most rent a storage unit offsite and store most things over the summer? (And how do they even move their stuff to the storage unit? Borrow a car from a friend? Bard shuttle?) Do they end up shipping most things back home via UPS?</p>
<p>I don’t expect to leave the suitcases with my daughter since I’m assuming she won’t have the room to store them, and other family members will need to use them anyways.</p>
<p>Not that my daughter will be bringing a huge amount of things to Bard. But any insights on how best to manage cross-country moves is appreciated, esp. since we’re still new to this!</p>
<p>My son shared a storage space with friends this summer - and a friend with a car helped him move everything. He did have to scramble to find boxes for storing it all. There is also a storage service - which you’ll get a notice about in early May - which will pick up and deliver to your daughter’s dorm and provide boxes et al. It’s more expensive but could be the simplest. If you can leave some soft duffle bags or something like that which she can later stuff everything in for summer storage that might be helpful.</p>
<p>It’s easier to leave Bard with suitcases etc than to arrive - as there is a Bard shuttle to the airport (or the airport light rail) but no way to get picked up at the airport after winter or summer break - only from the train stations. Best to carry as little as possible back and forth.</p>
<p>Thank you all for the info! From the sounds of it, it won’t be too bad for my daughter when she has to move out at the end of the year. Duffel bags are a good tip and I’ll pack a couple of cheap ones and leave them with her.</p>
<p>As for the bike, we’re still debating. A quick look at the Walmart and Target stores online show that we could get her one for as little as $80-$100, and I’m thinking she could store it over the summer, along with her other things. But I’ll have her check out bike co-op when we move her in and decide then.</p>
<p>Don’t buy linens and ship. Buy linens, mini fridge, printer, etc. In Kingston. </p>
<p>Linens, shampoo, hamper, toothpaste, desk lamp, etc.: buy at Bed, Bath here (and use as many of those 20% off
coupons as you have, up to five), and designate the Kingston Bed, Bath store for pick-up, and all your purchases will be waiting, boxed up, when you arrive.</p>
<p>^^ In general, I would agree with this, however you should think about what freshman move-in day will be like. Lots of *“new stuff happening”<a href=“moving%20in,%20meeting%20new%20people,%20registering,%20etc.”>/I</a>. If you don’t have slaves (read: parents) willing to split to Kingston for awhile to get your stuff, how will you pick up all of it?</p>
<p>I can’t imagine moving in first day freshman year, and then taking off for a couple of hours to Kingston. But that’s just me.</p>
<p>JoeBobHalley, did you do this when you were a freshman? How did you arrange transportation, and did you feel that you “missed” anything when you left campus for a couple of hours to get all your stuff?</p>
<p>Easily. We got in two days early, made the rounds to the stores the next day and got everything, then got to the dorm early on move-in day and got it all in and organized by 10AM.</p>
<p>We did ship everything - mostly through online sites like amazon and Staples with free shipping (way cheaper than doing it ourselves, or paying baggage fees.) We, the parents, did go to move in day and helped him get everything from B&G to his dorm - but they also provide a shuttle service so he could have managed. We shipped not only linens and school supplies, but a keyboard, guitar, speakers, and sub-woofer! (Except for the guitar - that all stayed in the storage unit over the summer.) The only thing we went shopping for was on the way in we stopped at a market and bought some supplies (tissues, shampoo etc.)</p>
<p>Found out because of my husband’s customer status with an airline – think George Clooney in Up in the Air but not as extreme – we can check in up to 6 bags for free for the 3 of us. So…it looks like we’ll be able to pack the bulky items like linens & towels, along with her clothes & other items and take it with us. We just need to weigh everything carefully to make sure they’re all under 50 lbs.</p>
<p>And yes, we parents plans to be the slaves-for-a-day on Saturday. But thanks for the tips!</p>
<p>Lots of packing to begin this next week… But my daughter is so excited & happy (and anxious) to go to Bard!</p>
<p>I’ll second (or third) that emotion. My daughter went through it a year ago, and even though it’s the educational equivalent of boot camp, she remembers it fondly. I think this is because the freshmen really bond during L&T, with no upperclassmen on campus.</p>
<p>FWIW, my D can’t wait to return.</p>
<p>And as a parent, I have to say that my memories of moving D in the first day are happy, warm, and fuzzy, and I have the pix to prove it. :)</p>
<p>Nope. LA is actually about 45 min to an hour north of where we live. But most people outside of California think most of SoCal is part of LA. :-)</p>
<p>And I have to boast that as of tonight my daughter got all of her things packed, including linens & towels, in just 4 suitcases!</p>
<p>Note to other parents who might be going thru this process with their freshmen student next year:</p>
<p>Don’t do what we did, which was to squeeze everything on the Saturday move-in day. We did manage to shop at the local Target for incidentals, pick out a bike (looked at both Target & Walmart when Craigslist didn’t pan out), help our daughter move in, and set up the wireless router in her dorm room (no Internet wireless was available in her dorm).</p>
<p>But, we did not get to relax and enjoy some of the parent activities later in the day – well I did, but my husband had to skip out in order to finish up the wireless setup.</p>
<p>Big mistake and we should’ve arrived a day early to get some of the errands out of the way. But lessons learned for the next child in our family…</p>
– we can check in up to 6 bags for free for the 3 of us. So…it looks like we’ll be able to pack the bulky items like linens & towels, along with her clothes & other items and take it with us. We just need to weigh everything carefully to make sure they’re all under 50 lbs.</p>