Moving away to college is never easy, especially if you’re going to school far away from home. These are some tips and tricks I’ve learned in my past two years of being 1,200 miles away from home!
Tips for Move-in and Move-out
● When I moved into college freshman year my family rented a car and made the 22 hour drive to my university with a packed car. While some may be willing to make a far drive every summer for move in and move out, my family found alternative ways to do so!
● When I moved out of my dorm freshman year I decided to fly home instead of drive across the country again. My family invested in a storage unit for summer, that was split with 4 other girls to make it much cheaper. I kept things like bedding, drawers, my dehumidifier, and decorations in my storage unit. I ended up flying home with two suitcases for my clothes, and things that didn’t fit, like jackets and shoes, got shipped home in boxes.
● The boxes were from Lowes and we chose to use the heavy duty medium boxes, as opposed to the regular medium sized boxes.
● For the storage unit, we bought 3 large rubbermaid containers, to keep things like my bedding protected. Inside the rubbermaid containers, we kept a few dryer sheets to keep everything fresh and smelling good. We also bought DampRid moisture absorbers, which you can find at places like Home Depot, to absorb any unwanted moisture in the storage unit.
Tips for when you don’t have a car
● Invest in a meal plan so you can always eat on campus if you are unable to get groceries as needed.
● Download the Go Puff app, which is a delivery service for food and other household essentials like laundry detergent and toilet paper!
● Make the most of what you have within walking distance! If you have a town around your campus try walking or biking there when you need food or want to go shopping.
● Look to see if your school has a shuttle service to take you to places like Target or a grocery store.
● Use a bike or scooter service to get to distant places, or invest in getting your own bike!
Tips for traveling
● Many college towns have a ton of storage places! It is worth the investment and makes move-in and move-out so much easier!
● Pre-order an uber for any flights home so you don’t have to rely on friends, or find an airport shuttle service near you!
● I prefer to fly home early (5am) and take a late flight back to school (9pm) that way I can make the most of my trips home and not waste a day traveling!
Additional Tips
● Shelf-stable foods are great to receive in care packages or to stock up in when you go grocery shopping because they will last you awhile if you don’t know when you will be able to go grocery shopping next.
● I like to bring bagels back to school with me when I am done visiting home, and freezing them makes them last for much longer!
● Do grocery shopping on campus if you have a market or convenience store to get basic snacks and essentials, and check to see if you can even use your meal plan to pay!