The best move out each year for us was the cross country kiddo who just stored everything…and flew home with her suitcase and computer bag.
To be honest, I wish we had done the same with the kid who went to college 2 hours from home.
The main difference between move in and move out…at our kids’ schools during move in, there were a ton of upperclassmen to help schlep the stuff, and those big rolling laundry bins to move things in. At move out…you are on your own…period.
We took black trash bags for anything soft…clothes, linens, etc. and some boxes for the other stuff…like books and decor. We schlepped a fridge back and forth too…ridiculous.
We told out kid that anything that didn’t fit into our van needed to be tossed.
I will tell you, by the time he was a senior, he moved in and out in a sedan.