Logistics of freshman drop-off with long drive

[Anonymous]

We drove my first year girl student on a 5 hour car drive in a similar SUV to a Pilot.
We were able to cram everything in. 3 of us total in the car.
Seems like your kid is bringing an excessive amount of stuff.
At the end of the year, when my daughter had to pack everything up, she was frustrated that she brought so much stuff.
Said she ended up never using or needing half of it

[Anonymous]

Your kid really doesn't need as much as you think. If they rent the fridge/microwave, they mostly just need clothing, toiletries and bedding.

[Anonymous]

Is there a lot of sports gear or something? I can’t imagine what is taking up so much space. I have a Pilot and move a lot. If you vacuum bag clothing and bedding you should be fine. Unless you are taking bikes, kayaks, paddle boards…or some situation like that.

[Anonymous]

How much stuff does he need? Take the basics and tell him to order online if he finds he is missing anything.
It is so much easier now since you can order anything you need online. A lot different from when we went to college

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For what its worth, a minivan will have a lot more room for stuff than an SUV.

Yes, minivan has a lot of more space than SUV.

[Anonymous]

My DD had to be able to carry all of her items in herself in one trip due to covid protocols. We shipped her a fridge later. You can figure out a way to scale back,

[Anonymous]

Take some if the stuff out. Ship some if they really need it. Send some the next time they come home.

Realize that the end of the semester will come and you will be stuck with dealing it all again and again. The dumpsters outside the first time I picked up DC after first year were a shocking view of horrible waste. Pack want you really will use and can store easily over the summer and don't bother with the rest.

[Anonymous]

Seriously, how do some of you people make it through life? If you can't figure this out on your own than you have issues.

[Anonymous]

Does your Pilot have a hitch? Renting a mini-uhaul or getting one of those hitch-mount cargo baskets might be cheaper than a rooftop carrier.

On the other hand, if you rent a minivan you haven't then put all those miles on your own car, which is also worth something.

[Anonymous]

I would Beverly Hillbilly it all the way.

[Anonymous]

Leave your xtra kid at home with a friend. We fit everything in a Nissan sedan (tall DH and tall student with me in the backseat).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please help me figure out the best way to get my incoming freshman to his school. It's a 10hr drive (at least), so we plan to break up the drive with a stopover en route. That would also give us some time in the afternoon before move-in day to pick up supplies. I'd been assuming that our Honda Pilot would give us plenty of space, but suddenly realizing that's probably not the case. My kid is pretty minimalist, and we can ship stuff to the school or to a local store. Still, with 4 tall people in the car and a bit of luggage for the rest of us, it's looking pretty tight. So would you:

1) Take 2 cars?
2) Rent a monster SUV or minivan (does a minivan really offer much more space than a large SUV?)
3) Get a rooftop carrier installed (dealership is quoting $1100 for roof rails & cross bars, plus $500+ for a carrier)?
4) Other ideas?

You are overthinking. Your family has all fit their luggage into your car for fam vacations, right. Here 3 of the fam members need no more than a backpack and all the extra room is for your son moving into college, plus you should order for pickup all the bed bath betond type items and you can do a toiletry run at target once there. You also can ship colder weather clothes later, and/or when yoyr kid flies home for their fall or tgiving break they can bring back warm weather clothes and bring back cold ones.

[Anonymous]

Thanks to all PPs (except for the snarky 8:49 one.) Kid is a boy and not at all into stuff. He won't overpack and won't care too much about almost anything. Still even basics add up especially with everyone but me 6ft or taller. And for safety reasons my husband doesn't want to fill up the back so much that it blocks the view for such a long drive.

Many good suggestions here that we'll investigate, such as a soft-top carrier or the possibility of having some contingent fly to free up a bit of space on the way up. That might be the winner!

But for purposes of debate, does a minivan really offer more cargo space?? We've never had one, so I can't compare. And I believe the general outside size of an Odyssey isn't much different from a Pilot... so just look for any other thoughts on that. Thanks all!

And no chance of leaving one parent at home with sibling. This is our first kid to launch and it's already very emotional for us (not for the kid of course!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For what its worth, a minivan will have a lot more room for stuff than an SUV.

Yes, minivan has a lot of more space than SUV.

+2
The minivan's deep trunk space has been a life saver for us.

[Anonymous]

Rent a minivan.