The BEST BEST thing about having a kid 3000 miles away in college was summer storage. She rented a storage unit with several friends…and it all got stored THERE. No piles of “dorm and college stuff” in my living room all summer.
My kid only came home the summer between freshman and sophomore year…she left ALL of the college stuff in the storage unit. She only brought home what she needed here…which wasn’t very much.
Oh…and if you are thinking about when the kid graduates…four of us flew Southwest to graduation…each with two empty large suitcases, and one carryon bag each…and a backpack each. The kid was told she could bring back anything that fit in the six suitcases and carryon bags. Anything else had to be either given away or sold. For that, she did ship one box of books using fedex ground. But that was it!
I don’t know how this happened, but when D graduated, we wound up shipping 3 boxes back home, AND she had a total of 10 suitcases which were all free (we were flying 5 family members, including her, back on free tickets that had 2 suitcases apiece, and everyone was instructed to only bring carry-on for themselves). How 6 morphed to 10 over 4 years … in hindsight, she should have shipped some stuff back earlier in the year, but it all worked out fine because of the free suitcase check-ins we all had.
Have been paying close attention to this thread as we’ll be moving younger D 3,000 miles away next fall. Her sister also went very far away, but in her dad’s state so they bought all the bulky stuff there, and she had a bike at each home, so took her “dad’s house” bike to college. She actually purged all of her clothes before starting school and filled only a large Amry-Navy store duffle bag with her clothes for fall. I did send out her winter parka when it got colder. She never wore long underwear unless she was skiing or snowboarding.
I really like the idea of getting duffle bags at a thrift store and re-donating them on location. I can’t imagine lugging 6, or even 4 hard-sided suitcases! My kids do not own TV’s. They all watch on their laptops, so problem solved. I’ve found some really good websites with ideas for maximizing storage in a dorm room and sent them on to D. She’ll be in or near a large city no matter where she goes, so we’ll buy any storage containers or large items on location. I don’t think she plans on bringing a bike.
I’m not suggesting donating thrift-store or army surplus store duffel bags. I’m only suggesting them because they fold down easily - because your kid won’t have a lot of room to store suitcases.
Another option for bikes is buying them locally through Craigslist (assuming the goal is to just have a bike to run around town in, not a performance or specialty bike for serious racing).
PG-someone upthread suggested donating the duffels. That could work out well for people who don’t want that many and won’t use them again. We haven’t gotten to the point of actually deciding on luggage yet. We have some of both-typically we try to travel as light as possible.
I thought this was in response to someone who is moving a freshman kid in … and presumably has 4 more years in which to schlep the kid back and forth … So that’s why I don’t get why someone would be talking about donating duffels at this point. But perhaps I missed something?
Re lugging all the suitcases - when I traveled for work, I might have had to have brought up to 10 hard-sided, large suitcases to god-knows-where around the world - just me and one other person. So honestly to have able-bodied people each take 2 suitcases or duffel bags is kind of a no big deal!!
I think that might have been me…we moved DD to with three suitcases bought at GW for $5 each…and one of our own larger ones which we had. We donated the $5 suitcases. Really, I viewed them like packing boxes. They were used for the move…but weren’t going to be needed again. I brought the fourth suitcase home with me.
When DD moved home four years later, we go even smarter. Put the word out to all our neighbors and borrowed the six suitcases we used to move DD home. We got the biggest ones we could use with the airlines. Our neighbor’s were more than happy to let us borrow them.
If the OP is still reading or for other parents in a similar situation, definitely take all the posted recommendations to heart. I would specifically reiterate:
take so much less than you think she’ll need. MUCH LESS.
tvs in most dorm rooms are almost non-existent unless serious gaming
be sure someone in the family or student herself has an Amazon Prime account - useful for all types of ordering and books.
4)agree with waiting on some cold weather purchases until she gets a feel for her specific campus but make plans for winter boots by mid-October. If you still want to get something - you really can’t go wrong with a basic NorthFace.
only leave a carry-on suitcase for student to get back and forth to home for breaks and possibly a small duffel. Rooms are already too small and cluttered.
agree that I would not ask anyone else to store or deliver my child’s belongings (unless close friend or family member who insisted)
most all colleges are set up for great summer storage options - it can be expensive but it can be done
re-read old threads here about making mattress more comfortable. Some combination of a good foam pad (if school allows), covered with a thick mattress pad and then the fitted sheet.
some schools don’ t provide reliable printing so small printer for room is a must
Be assured that by winter break she’ll own the process - will get herself home for breaks, all belongings stored for summer and everything she needs with almost no input from you.
Totally agree about amount. My DS gave this sage advice.
Put everything you think you need to take in one room…like your living room. Then take half of the stuff with you. It will still be too much and you won’t use much of what you take.
Your daughter will need far less stuff than you think! I say this as a parent who lives in Massachusetts, with a daughter at Wellesley College, who stores boxes for her daughter’s classmates who live in warmer climates.
Bring only her clothes. Buy the other stuff (laundry stuff, mattress pad, lamp, cleaning supplies, bedding, towels) when you get there. If she needs more, she can buy it locally or have it shipped with an Amazon Prime account. During the breaks, she can bring home the stuff she doesn’t use, and replace it with the things she does need.
Neither of my kids needs a printer at college, so don’t buy one unless you are sure she will need one.