Correct me if I’m wrong - but with Amazon lockers, can’t you get stuff delivered, even before you arrive? Or don’t most colleges offer holding areas for earlier deliveries?
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Fair enough. I’m thinking that eventually, my daughter will not need us for that kind of thing (I had a car in college from my sophomore year on, and I moved around the country many times after that, and the only move my parents were ever involved with was move-in for freshman year in college – after that, I did it all by myself).
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Yes, but also, many college post offices will hold packages for your arrival. My daughter’s does, but she’s at a very small school, so this might be harder to arrange at bigger schools.
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For sure my D could have handled all the driving/moving herself but I wasn’t turning down the opportunity for an adventure when she invited me ; )
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I totally get that! We should take advantage of the time our kids actually want to spend with us!
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Appreciate all the replies! Will negotiate pans with the kid.
The road trip is something the kid has wanted to do for awhile. Haven’t had the chance. Between 2016-2019, the family did travel quite a bit by car for sporting competitions. So we have a bit of driving practice. This is the last time we will be able to do something like this, crossing so many states, until who knows when.
The moving back to the family home from the out-of-state apartment is the catalyst for the “why not road trip back home since moving stuff and flights will be at least X amount of dollars anyway?”
We will have the advantage of dropping the load off at home (before dropping off the rental at an airport, as @tsbna44 alluded to in post 32). And then driving the kid to college a few days later mid-August. The kid has a week of pre-school year events to get acclimated.
The college is close enough to drive home for a weekend if need be. I anticipate there being some back-and-forth initially (mostly to make my spouse more at ease with the transition! the kid and I are a bit more excited for the next step).
The good news from all this is that I will be sleeping off the first couple of weeks of school due to all of this physical/mental workload now. Won’t have much time to be sad when I’m zonked out.
If you want to know how we packed when two of us flew cross country on Southwest, let me know…and I’ll tell you. Honestly…we had NO trouble packing the things from home…and did buy stuff at the college location as well. Really, this IS possible to do.
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Sounds like this more about the adventure than the practicality. Nothing wrong with that! I hope you have a great time together and that the logistics all work out!
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It’s practically an adventure!
I remember moving from my NYC internship in a Ford Taurus with all my summer crap, myself and my dad, and a 6’4" at-the-time ex-paramour. So, by comparison, this will be more tame.
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Actually, packing strategies would be super helpful!
Today is “cost-benefit” analysis day of what to keep and what to donate in tomorrow’s pickup/drop-offs.
hang on while I look up “paramour”.
Always learning!!!
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Okay, I’ve enlisted the kid on a potential route of cities, taking more the north than south. Here is an initial driving route (driving about 5 hours a day):
Departure city to Chicago area (94 or 80 highway area)
Chicago area to Des Moines
Des Moines to Kearney, Nebraska
Kearney to Denver
Denver to Green River, Utah
Green River to Las Vegas
Las Vegas to Home
A flight from Southwest would be around $818 for the two of us and includes 2 carry-ons and four checked bags. That’s not the issue. It’s how to ship the rest of our stuff, when a U-Box is too big. I confess that checking out movers last week had me a bit spooked due to some truly awful experiences (items “held hostage” for greater payment, stolen and lost items, etc.). My previous moves were family or corporate movers and had minimal lost/broken/damaged items. And no timeline problems with things arriving.
Here is how we packed four large checked bags:
- Bag 1 had linens including comforter, sheets, towels, and a few stuffed things for on the bed.
- Bag 2 had dd’s clothing and shoes…almost all of what she took
- Bag 3 had the rest of her clothes. And a few odds and ends like pictures.
- Bag 4 had some school supplies, desk stuff, a small wall art, some Corelle small bowls, a couple of commuter mugs, some tea she likes.
- My carry on bag had my clothing and toiletries for my stay
- Her carry on had toiletries and a couple of changes of clothes, headphones, computer mouse.
- My personal item was an instrument case holding two very costly instruments.
- Her personal item was her computer
That’s it!
When we got to the college town, we rented a car. Make sure you get something large enough to hold all this stuff.
We then bought a pillow thing used to sit on the bed, a sleeping pillow, a cushion for the desk chair, mattress pad, computer printer, small TV, shampoo, body wash, laundry soap, etc at Target.
Fridge was rented. Roommate brought microwave and rug (when the roommate moved out a month later, Dd went to Target and replaced.
The four large suitcases were cast offs from a neighbor or from Goodwill. They were thrown in the trash once unpacked.
Dd kept her carry on bag and backpack. That’s what she used for travel.
It’s even easier now! Just order things online and find out where the college will take delivery and hold.
We thought this was easier than driving…and definitely made DD think twice about what she had to have!
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FWIW, I drove from NJ to Salt Lake at the beginning of June. Toyota Highlander Hybrid with roof top box - trip cost about $800, primarily gas and tolls as I only stayed one night in a hotel (I had intended to stay another night but there were no vacancies.) There was a ton of road construction and roads in some areas were actually closed due to high winds.
Regardless of the car/SUV you choose, be sure to prepare for emergencies and car problems - i.e. make sure that you have extra water, blankets (it can be cold at night if you need to stop for a few hours), antifreeze, oil, etc. Know how to get at the spare tire and tools (AAA isn’t always near by and cell service can be sporadic.) Also, be sure to keep at least 3/4 tank of gas at all times because you never know when the next working gas station will be - there was a power failure in one town so all of the gas stations were closed.
Good luck!
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If you’re just doing boxes (or even small pieces of furniture), UPS or USPS will be a much better deal than movers. Case in point: my brother was getting rid of an end table (heavy, wooden) that had been my grandmother’s, so I wanted it to stay in the family and offered to take it. We live about 1000 miles apart. A mover would have been completely unaffordable (like $1000.00). UPS boxed and shipped it for about $175.00. For misc. boxes, USPS has a weight limit of 75 lbs. and pretty reasonable prices, relatively speaking.
Of course, it depends on how much stuff you’d want moved or shipped.
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This sounds painful. You know, in a non-fun sort of way.
I wouldn’t say that western Nebraska is the edge of the earth, but there are signs there for it.
Again, if saving money is the goal, then roll up your sleeves and enjoy the trip. Otherwise, there MUST be a better way to bond than jointly watching interstate for six days.
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Jeesh. They didn’t ask whether to fly or drive. They want to take a road trip. It’s not that big of a deal.
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I’m the one who asked why they hadn’t considered flying. It sounds like the OP really hadn’t considered that option and didn’t think it possible with the items they are moving. So…I suggested they weigh (no pun intended) both options.
If they want to do a road trip, that’s certainly fine. But knowing all the options is also fine , in my opinion. That includes driving, flying, shipping items, etc.
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We are picking up the pace as keys have to be in tomorrow by 6 p.m.
I am leaning towards a U-Haul Ubox because it’s more than we need and more expensive than we want, but our stuff will be in storage and can’t be “held hostage” by movers changing the price.
Seriously, if you want to do a deep dive, the moving industry appears to have de-regulated back in the '90s and stuff has been the wild west ever since (if my quick cursory overview understands it correctly). The big movers seem generally okay, but there are a lot of fly-by-night operations that use subcontractors and that’s when things get interesting.
Today is a charity pickup for the last of the large furniture. I am still offended that I couldn’t sell a Fluidity Stability Home Barre for $60 in good used condition on craigslist.
Maybe it’ll come back with us. Because my kid wants to keep their mattress from the Futon Shop, it makes things awkward.
We are now considering a quick trip into Canada and booking a flight in a few days back from the current US city we are in.
My D is in a rotational program at work and she and her cohort move location every year. They all use Ubox or Pods for the big stuff. Those companies have it down to a science and it will make the road trip in the car so much easier. Just be sure to take all the valuables/irreplaceable items with you in the car. We know someone who had their unit stolen many years ago.
Enjoy the trip(s)!
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