We flew out on a Friday, move in was Saturday morning and Sunday morning we flew out (which meant missing all of the family activities on Sunday).

I would fly in saturday, rent car, buy a ton of stuff at target or whatever you didn’t pack, leave it in the car. Dinner as family. Move in Sunday. Fly out Sunday night.

My mom did it perfectly. Btw she was NOT a perfect mom. But she did this right.

Flew in. Airport->store->lunch->dorm

Then basically left me. She hung out enough for porters/myself/her to get my stuff inside. (Yes I think they had some paid guys or volunteers or just other dads and brothers around that were doing heavy lifting tasks. Also, elevators).

She had a sister living in this town. Stayed with her, focused on her. If you don’t have this (I mean, rare, right) plan an entire day for yourself. So you’re in the same place but not with your kid.

She came back next day to visit and unpack a little. Basically said goodbye by the end of that day.

So you as a parent can get this done in 2 days. Airport and first day.
One day for “yourself” but at least you’re in town available.
Third day fly out.

Add one more day if you’re moving into a real kitchen situation. I was in dorm living, so my food was good to go.

Ours is 11 hour flight away. We came 2 days before move in which was nice time spent. The move in is a full day with 1-2 trips to Target/Ikea (I am sure can be done faster but we didn’t prepare anything beforehand and didn’t bring anything except clothes). Once you check them in you can go. They get homesick ~6 weeks in (according to our freshman that was standard across the board).

Anonymous wrote:My kid's college is a 3-hour direct flight away. Move-in happens on a Sunday morning, and then the parents have to exit by 12:45 p.m. or so. Are we giving things short shift if we fly in Saturday, stay over one night and then fly out at 7 p.m. Sunday? (My kid will be busy with orientation activities, so we won't be hanging with them.)

I'd fly in on Friday, so you have all day Saturday to finalize shopping for items they need (that you cannot take on the plane---trust me, it's easier to buy the large stuff at the location and just take 2-3 large suitcases on the plane). Also, you want to help them get to know the area/town where the school is. So I'd personally fly Thursday to be able to do that, then fly out on Monday, just incase they need something on Sunday.

If you're flying to take your kid into school, you're not taking much to set up the room beyond their clothes and some personal items. So if your DC is going somewhere urban, or with multiple colleges, finding random things can take half a day. I remember standing in a Target, while shopping another Target on my phone. The one closest to the school was totally picked over and the second one was 45 mins away because of traffic.

We flew in. Did move in one of two days early. Then left for a vacation in same state—CA. DD wanted to go to Target there. Had dinner w roomies and their parents etc.

Flying in Friday has no purpose since he can't move in until Sunday. It's once you've moved your stuff in that you need your parents to take you to get some random things, and groceries, etc. So leaving Sunday night is plenty of time. See if you can take your kid to a goodbye dinner and then go.

Anonymous wrote:We flew cross country to move DC in and I stayed for 4 days. We shopped for dorm supplies, moved them in, and stayed one extra day to run extra shopping/return errands and had one last meal together before leaving.

Too long. Waaay too long.

We flew cross country to move DC in and I stayed for 4 days. We shopped for dorm supplies, moved them in, and stayed one extra day to run extra shopping/return errands and had one last meal together before leaving.

Anonymous wrote:We said goodbye at the designated time and took the first reasonable flight out.

How many nights did you stay beforehand? Trying to figure out if we should fly in Friday so that we have all-day Saturday for last minute errands.

Definitely no need to stay longer. If it’s a place that has something interesting for you to do or see, you could make it a bit of a longer trip just for fun, but not to see your kid once drop off is done.

We said goodbye at the designated time and took the first reasonable flight out.

No, the key is not to hang around. They should be setting up their room and meeting other freshmen.

You will have other opportunities to explore the area in the coming years.

My kid's college is a 3-hour direct flight away. Move-in happens on a Sunday morning, and then the parents have to exit by 12:45 p.m. or so. Are we giving things short shift if we fly in Saturday, stay over one night and then fly out at 7 p.m. Sunday? (My kid will be busy with orientation activities, so we won't be hanging with them.)