Hi all, not sure if this is the best spot for this but most of the road trip discussions seem to be in this forum! In any case, this summer my family will be making the 18 hr drive from Philadelphia, PA to New Orleans, LA for move-in at Tulane. We made a drive of similar length to Florida last summer, and therefore know from experience that our car (compact SUV) is a bit small to go such a long distance in, and probably too small to hold all the things that will need to be brought along, though we are planning to buy a good deal of it there. Can anyone who has driven down for move-in recommend a type of car that would be of appropriate size to hold everything?? I realize this is possibly a vague question, but it’s difficult to find any information about what kind of car would be appropriate online, and it’s hard to judge, so someone who can speak from experience would be great! Thank you so much for any help that can be provided.
We moved a kid to NC in a Mazda MPV which is a small mini van. The front seats were there…and one rear seat. Only three of us made the trip.
I’ll be frank…if it didn’t fit, we just didn’t take it. Dorm rooms aren’t all that huge.
As a comparison, we moved DD 3000 miles away via plane. Four suitcases, two carryon bags, an instrument case and a computer case. We bought everything else near the college town. It all fit into a mid size sedan. Only two people.
Mini vans are great. Leave up only the number of seats you need and fold the rest of the seats down to maximize the room you have for all the stuff you are bringing to college.
Might be easier to order most the stuff and do store pick up in new orleans
We rented a Honda Pilot to move our daughter 800 miles away. We bought the big stuff in her college town (refrigerator, fan, light etc) and took her bedding, clothing, etc. Since she was attending school up north, she needed to bring all seasons of clothing/boots etc. Since you are headed south, leave the winter stuff at home and ship what you need to when the weather starts to cool down. You may find that you can bring back anything you need after Christmas. The average temperature in New Orleans in November is 72/54 (December 65/48).
Rent a mini-van for the trip, or get a roof rack for your compact SUV which you can then keep and use for other things.
We just rented a car for 9 days from Hertz for a driving vacation. My H found a good rate ($19/day, unlimited mileage) by (1) picking the car up at a hotel, not the airport, in order to avoid the airport tax, and (2) for some reason he got a better rate online by NOT putting in his Hertz loyalty info but booking as a new customer. So it pays to check around.
For such a long trip, I’d consider a minivan as it will get better gas mileage than an SUV. You can fold the rear seat down for more trunk space.
Like a few others have suggested, I would use the services that places like BBB and Target provide where you choose everything you want, they save it for you at the store closest to campus and you pay and pick up when you get there. My D goes to college across the country (also in warm climate like Tulane) so we flew there. She only checked three bags, mostly clothes/shoes as well as some personal items like photos, etc. We then rented a Ford Explorer when we got there-picked up her Pack and Hold items at BBB, bought a fridge and microwave at Target as well as some more items we didn’t get at BBB and stopped at IKEA for pillows and a lightweight down comforter. It all fit in the SUV, tho it was all packed in solidly and we weren’t road tripping with it. That said, a friend’s daughter who goes to Ole Miss drove a large SUV with a rooftop carrier but she had way too much stuff.
Consider seeing if there is a BBB or Target near Tulane and doing their pack and hold/advance ordering service so you don’t need to bring as much. I was surprised how smoothly it went for us, esp when the store workers told us they had hundreds (maybe more) utilizing the service from three different universities with move in days over the same three day period. We also realized once we went to pick up the BBB stuff that there were several things we no longer needed and since you don’t pay until pick up, we just handed back what we no longer wanted.
+1 to Minivan.
For a dorm room, minivan is the tool for the job. Best by far is one where all the seats can be folded flat into the floor. If the seats don’t fold all the way flat then you get a lot less cargo room.
Have you priced out the cost of a big vehicle rental? They can get pricey, especially if you are driving one way and flying back home.
If you are driving both ways, the cheapest thing (if you have a hitch already on your SUV) is a one way rental of a small UHaul trailer which you can drop down in Nola.
And two years from now, your kid will likely be moving into an off-campus apartment (which is what my Tulane grad did). For that move, a trailer is a good option (especially if the kid is taking that car to Nola for junior year). Or a one way rental of a small UHaul Ryder type truck (which is how I did it). FYI, unloading that truck in Nola is the single sweatiest moment of my entire life.
Roll Wave!
Thanks all, sounds like a minivan is the way to go!! Thanks for all the input!