And flying and shipping will cost more? Have you researched this.
We did. For the college move in cross country, it was far less costly (and took far less time) to fly…and buy there. And take four suitcases (there were two of us), two carry on bags and two personal items total.
But when we were taking furniture for an apartment, we had to factor in the cost of buying or taking…thus the van usage and drive.
If you could put in a Pacifica, you could def fit in 4 suitcases - large ones. That tells me you don’t have that much. Not a huge vehicle.
That’s a lot of driving for only one person! I incorrectly assumed you and your child would be trading off.
Cost of rental, gas, hotels, meals, TIME, tolls in some places.
In terms of research, a U-Box was way too large, and $1,800 for rental and one month’s storage (approximately). We didn’t book flights because we weren’t sure what day we were leaving (moving out, plus potentially seeing family within driving distance, etc.).
U-Haul doesn’t have any 9’ cargo vans for rent in the two nearest locations to the soon-to-be-vacated apartment.
Because it’s not just a college move but a “temporary family apartment” relocation back home, it’s a bit more clothes, linens and kitchen items than what a standard “move-to-dorm” would be.
Of it fits in a Pacifica, it can’t be that much.
How many people ?
Budget also rents trucks. Likely not cheap.
Well if money isn’t a concern, good luck, enjoy the trip, stop often for little walks or breaks to keep you fresh, and park under light poles at night at the hotels.
Have fun.
Two people (the kid and I), one driver. (The kid was away a lot when they turned 16 and didn’t get around to getting a home state driver’s permit. I’m strongly encouraging them to do so before hitting campus mid-August! Doesn’t help that the school is small, first years can’t have cars on campus, and housing is guaranteed all four years.)
(In a way, I can relate. I didn’t rush to get my license at 16 because I had older siblings with dibs on the family car situation.)
Helps you - they won’t ask for a car, you don’t have an insurance nightmare, and housing is easily controlled with only one landlord all four years.
No more kids here but for my grandkids in 30 years, that seems an ideal college!!
It wouldn’t be college confidential if posters weren’t trying to think down the road to the future!
I’ve done a number of one-way rentals with Enterprise, and we’ve almost always needed to pick up and drop off at airport rental sites. That could just be because of the areas where we were driving, or peculiarities with Enterprise, but if you’re not seeing one-way trips as options in the portal, see if plugging in the nearest airports gives you more options.
I’m siding with the others here urging you to reconsider, and to fly, handling your move-out of the pied-à-terre (stressful!) as a separate process and situation from the get-your-kid-to-college process and situation (also stressful!) without also adding on a cross-country solo driving trip with a van full of stuff (also also stressful!). But as a big fan of ridiculous adventures, if you do it, I hope you have a great time.
Ugh. Yes! You articulated exactly why I feel like I’m heading into a Monty-Python/National Lampoon “adventure” type of scenario.
We have been using Enterprise locally so I will have to look into this. Thanks for the heads-up. The airport is not close to where we are.
I really do hear what everyone is saying about the feasibility of this endeavor. Oof.
Sometimes airport locations are cheaper, sometimes local offices are. We always check both.
I used to do work trips in my town (local Enterprise) and drop at an airport near the destination.
Costco made you do one part at an airport - so I went on the Enterprise site - and non airport to non airport was $2500 for a week. I used random cities - Escondido CA to Concord NH for a week.
You know your cities - if you want Costco. one location seems to need to be an airport.
I’d say - if Christy Brinkley or her twin flirts with you from the next lane (or the equivalent gender for you), the investment, no matter how much, would be well worth it.
Good luck.
On the other hand, your kid really wants to do a road trip – so why not! It will be a nice time together before the start of college.
I love road trips – I think if you can make it happen and you want to, then go for it!
Then you likely need something larger than a van.
We rented the van we rented from Enterprise. It was NOT cheap…with the required insurance (because we rented a cargo van which is not considered a passenger vehicle so we couldn’t use our own insurance) it was over $1000 and that was in 2015.
I agree. I think you should separate your two moves…college trip and moving out of apartment. Do the college trip with the kid flying (honestly it’s possible…we did it). Then do the cross country move with the rest of the “stuff” with your husband who will be the second driver…for your car.
And P.S. do not send nine cast iron pans to college with your kid…my opinion.
First, you must have a special relationship with your kid if they are not only willing, but suggesting, to spend 6 days with you in car (not you personally, but most any kid and their parent).
In theory this trip sounds fantastic, bonding and whatnot over a shared experience. In practice, well, my only comment would be that the novelty will likely wear off before mile 200.
If the goal is to save money - driving vs flying - please make sure that it actually does and account for gas and hotels and meals and tolls and . . .
If the goal is not necessarily to save money, but to spend some time together, perhaps flying would be best and then take a short trip together at the destination with the time you saved by flying.
All that said, if driving is the decision, and Kansas is between Point A and Point B, note that our state motto is “Best Seen at Night”. Its on our license plates!
We live in Colorado, and last summer, my daughter started college in Maine. Originally, we were thinking she might drive out there (with one parent) in her car, but when it became clear that her car wasn’t really in good enough shape for that, we scrapped that plan and rented an SUV for a one-way rental. My husband drove out with her, and I flew out to meet them for move-in day. We picked up the car at our airport and dropped it off at the Portland airport the day my husband and I flew back home. We packed most of her stuff in the SUV and had some of it shipped or bought there at the local Target.
Some factors to consider:
• Cost – yes, a one-way rental is expensive, especially factoring in hotels and meals along the way. However, when compared to two plane tickets, plus a car rental and hotel in Maine (which they would have needed regardless of how they got there), the difference wasn’t as much as you’d think (for at least one night on the road trip, they stayed with a family friend, which saved some money).
• Time: this was both a disadvantage and an advantage. It was a long trip, but they had some nice bonding time. The road trip also helped make the transition from home to college easier for my daughter, who was anxious about it (but ended up having an amazing first year).
• Yes, my husband had to drive the whole way, because my daughter was not old enough to drive a rental car. That was a lot of driving for one person.
• Volume: you could definitely fit more in the SUV than in the four free bags they would have had on Southwest! That’s not necessarily an advantage. My daughter had way more than she needed in her dorm room. But it wasn’t all that excessive (mostly, she brought too many clothes and books with her, a problem she solved by bringing some stuff home on visits throughout the year). Please don’t send your kid to school with all the kitchen equipment you’re planning, though! She’ll mostly eat in the dining hall, and if she really likes to cook, maybe a pot and pan with cooking/measuring utensils will be enough. My daughter sometimes cooks dinners with her friends when they want a break from the dining hall, and no one has a lot of cooking gear, but between them, they have enough to handle the job – no one needs that many pans. You can always tell your kid that you can store cooking implements at your house and if she needs them, you can figure out a way to get them to her. But nine pans is way too many. In general, it’s much better to start with minimal dorm supplies and add as needed, which is easy to do with Amazon/Target/shipping from home.
• The road trip, if you do it, is something you only need to do once. Most of her stuff will be stored at or near school during the summer, and the rest can be in checked luggage. I flew out to help my daughter move out of her dorm room (she needed an adult with a car, because storage is off-site), and my husband will fly out with her to get stuff out of storage and move in. My daughter brought/shipped a lot of stuff home at the end of the first year that will not go back, as she now has a better sense of what she really needs.
For college move in yes - for co-ops across the country, relocations for work, etc… maybe more ; ). I’ve now done three cross country trips with my D (two for co-op and one for her most recent relocation).
Both of my kids went to east coast colleges from CA. Fedex/UPS Ground was the preferred way to get 90% of stuff each way. Sold books back to the bookstore.
Didn’t fly SW, but did check the bedding (larger boxes, but light) o the plane, thinking that if the other stuff got delayed, kids could sleep that night. One lived in an off campus apt, so just donated the furniture upon graduation.
edited to add: shipped stuff addressed to the hotel where we stayed for move-in as opposed to the dorm/UPS store. Much easier to load into the rental car and no need to get in a line for pickup.