Packing the Car

Expect the Unexpected

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At Some Point Before They Go Packing the Car Up Side to the Empty Nest When They Come Home Keeping in Touch Yeah, we know this page says "For Parents & Families Only," but just in case you're a college student who ventured in here anyway, here's tips for Managing Your Parents.

You're planning to drive your college student to school.  Good luck!

Looking at the piles of stuff that need to be packed, you can't figure out how you're going to fit all of those essential, sentimental, indispensable belongings and your family into the car for this momentous trip. Here are a few helpful suggestions:

• Two weeks before you go, start assembling piles in one place.  (If it is indisputably too much to transport, you still have time to ship boxes to school.)
• Remember that Parents Weekend and vacation breaks are good opportunities to rotate clothing, (e.g. summer clothes come home, winter clothes go back,) so the entire wardrobe doesn't need to be packed now.
• Eliminate most luggage. It takes up a lot of room in the car, and there's no place to store it at school.
• Use large garbage bags, laundry bags and pillowcases to pack anything that would go into a suitcase.
• Take one soft suitcase for your student to use for traveling or coming home. Pack it with a few days of clothes and essentials because students may take time to unpack, find everything, and put it all away.
• Leave nothing empty - not a carton, crate or box.  You can fit something into almost anything.
• Consider filling a storage trunk, which can then function in the dorm as an end table and as additional storage.
• To deal with the boxes for fragile items like computers or stereos you can:
  • Nametag the boxes and find out if there's a storage room at school.
  • Flatten the boxes and store them under the bed.
  • Take them back home with you.
• Use soft comforters, pillows and towels to cushion fragile items like computer screens or appliances.
• Decide in advance where everyone will sit in the car
• Once you adjust the seats and pack the back seat and floor, some necessary legroom may disappear.  Make sure the driver can see out of the rear window.
• Consider a roof rack.  If you use roof storage containers, pack light items in them because it's hard to lift things overhead.
• Take along a small stepstool for easy reaching.

Word to the Wise
Think carefully about leaving possessions in the car if you are staying at a motel overnight.  Loaded cars are natural targets for thieves.