Transporting luggage long distance to uni

[ifonly4]

DD is struggling to find courses that are right for her. She's found a couple of courses in Scotland, but we're talking a 350/400 mile drive, which neither of us really wants to do - also we have a small 1200cc car which I'm sure wouldn't thank us. I can't take time off term time and DH is transferring to a new job which requires lots of travel and being on call, so have to factor that in. She can get the train, but obviously need to think about how we transport we transport clothes/folders/books/personal items/bedding.

How do others cope?

When I was a gal and a student in Scotland, my belongings were packed in a trunk and sent ahead by rail.

Does that sort of thing still happen?

See if her unis offer the opportunity to buy a bedding pack etc that's there when you arrive. Even if it isn't great quality sheets etc, she'll have something for the first few weeks and then can buy her own. Could she do a short distance flight and then she could take a few suitcases without having to drag them along?

There is an actual company that does exactly this. Can't remember what they are called - something like campus collect - but you can google them.

Google box moving companies.. when I did the same I just boxed everything up and sent it separately. Cheaper than a removal company when you don't have much stuff. One of the millennials I work with just moved house entirely using Uber cabs.. sounds a bit unbelievable but actually worked out quicker and much cheaper for him than hiring a van etc.

Hire a car. Move at the weekend. Sorted. Tens of thousands of students go to uni several hundred miles away. It's really not an issue. Stay overnight if you've got a long drive back. It's only once or twice a year!

I've used Unibaggage to transport stuff before, they were reliable and not too expensive.

Well I would do everything I could to help mine so work/small car issues would just be worked around.

I would hire a car if mine wasn't big enough, and either arrange some extra days off or if that wasn't possible just do it on my days off.

I can't imagine just sending them off!

My ds is at Uni in Scotland, 360 miles from home...for first year we transported all his stuff up for freshers week and stayed overnight.
However at end of first year he's put all but clothes he'll need over summer, in a storage unit (£9/ week- which is cheaper than us driving up and staying in hotel overnight)
He's then getting train up at start of term in September
Dd also went to uni in Scotland for her MSc at Edinburgh and the halls she was staying in had a very nice pack of stuff you could order online which would be in flat when she arrived ( bedding and cooking utensils etc)
At end of the year all unwanted stuff was donated to a homeless shelter

This past year I've had one over 5000 miles from home and the other 400 miles. The DHL man who delivers the suitcases home now knows my dog's name.

Sendmybag , unibag and parcels2go can all be recommended.
It costs about £19 to send a 29 kg duffel bag across the UK and about £6 to send a 5 kg box.

London student on departure last september took train with two suitcases. Seven boxes arrived separately with Saturday delivery to reception. Also IKEA do home deliveries so all IKEA things were ordered online and posted to student residence. (IKEA uses parcelforce). Duvet and mattress protector also ordered separately from the Duvet Store arrived on move in day. The local ARGOS also has student things that can be delivered at very short notice to halls of residence. Many others used Amazon prime.

15 x double-sided boxes are about £15. Parcel tape is cheapest in Costco. You just need to plan ahead and think before you buy how you are going to transport.

Factor in wet and cold weather gear.

And buy a 'Two Together' rail card [with tesco vouchers £15] or £30 without to take advantage of cheaper train fares for you and your husband. DC can get a 4 year railcard with student bank sign up.
If you travel with your DC initially bring the suitcases home with you on the train so you don't clutter up their room. [Kit bag / duffle ones without wheels are ideal for sending back and forward with couriers but aren't so good at stations. If you buy luggage with wheels make sure that they fit inside each other like Russian dolls for storage and transportation. I blooming well should get an honourary BSc Hons in student logisitics

Thanks everyone, will look into all the options. We want to make sure that we can realistically work around wherever she wishes to do, now rather than finding out we've got a problem in 2019.

Hire a van/larger car at the weekend. Stay overnight. Plan ahead. Buy lots locally. Use delievery companies - only useful if there is a porter or such-like at the Hall of Residence or the luggage might be stuck in the street. You post does seem to be about what you cannot do. Others manage so get planning and support your DD.

We bought my DSD an Eastpak soft case with wheels for her 18th. It’s great and will squash up under a bed when not needed. It has shoulder handles too for making travelling on public transport easy and there is a great range of colours and patterns to choose from. Useful for trips home during academic year.

We were recommended to a local transport company who transported a large box containing "stuff" ( clothes/bedding/kitchen equipment) for 6 months in Dublin for £13.00. Handed it in on Wednesday afternoon, delivered to his room on Friday. Tracked all the way.
He had flown over there with a 20kg suitcase of inital kit and we posted the rest after a week or so.
Otther DS shared a flat with a guy who had flown down from NE to Southern Uni with hand luggage and bought everything new and put it into storage during the summer vacation.

Some great info here - thanks.
Ds starts at Warwick this year and we will be in China for another 2 years. Am coming over with him for a couple of weeks, but he will need to sort himself out re storage during summer vacation.

ds3 is over 300 miles away and when he started, we were able to load the car up with a roof box but decided to get bedding, stationery, towels, saucepans and crockery etc up there rather than transport it all. He has only brought clothes home for the summer as a friend is storing the rest for him. Once he graduates, he will hopefully move into somewhere with his friends so they can work it all out together. If he comes back home then we will probably have to hire a van!

Never actually used this company, just came across their ad on another site:

lovespace.co.uk/how-it-works/

We found that getting DS1 to university for the first time wasn't a great problem, but moving stuff the relatively short distances between subsequent years' private 'homes' has been more of an issue somehow.

I would agree that arranging for things to be delivered is a useful way to start, then either divvy up some cash for buying other things, or load up something like a Wilko card. If you are arranging deliveries from stores, or mail order etc, though, check that the halls of residence allow this; I'm sure came across one university where resident students have to have everything delivered to one of the Amazon type mailboxes as there is no facility for parcels to be taken in.

We are in Scotland and dd at uni in Scotland but still 200 miles away. We used 2 cars to transport all stuff down at start of term but have put 3 boxes worth into storage over summer.
Can also recommend sending "stuff" via parcel - dh does this when travelling to visit family in SE England - cheaper than paying for checked luggage with "low cost" airlines .

When sending stuff via a courier, you ideally need to be in residence when it arrives. Not all halls have reception staff and security systems certainly mean it won’t be delivered to your flat door. It can only be delivered to reception and sometimes they are non existent.

Once they are out of halls it helps if they rent the same house every year, no need to transport stuff home for the summer then. Of course this has never happened with my dd 🙄One year when we were unable to collect her, she managed to leave a lot of stuff with a classmate who was staying in the uni city for the summer. Then once the new lease started she got a train up & moved her stuff again.

My DD has now decided on a gap year working, but it's something that we decided / planned when we were looking at Unis for this year because I don't drive and don't have anyone who would drive her to Uni . No doubt we will still be doing this in a year's time! Our plan was this:

Firstly, to look at Halls that her stuff could be kept in her room or stored at the Uni during the smaller holidays (xmas/easter), even if it cost more to do so. Obviously we didn't expect to do this over the summer break.
To travel down and book an overnight stay in a nearby Travelodge/Premier Inn for myself and her sister when she would move in, and all three of us travel with large suitcases containing her clothes and personal things (and just a rucksack for mine and younger DD's overnight stuff). Check out nearby shops that you can order online in advance with delivery planned for the day after arrival, or that the store is close enough to order in advance and collect from (with a taxi back to Halls) and buy all kitchen, bedding and storage items there; also to check out where the nearest Home Bargains / B & Ms is for cheap homeware. I also planned to take her food shopping too before we left.
Then younger DD and I would leave the next day, taking x2 large but empty cases home on the train and leaving DD with one for when she comes back home for a visit. Anything she found that she didn't need after all can come back when she comes home for a visit. Repeat in reverse at the end of the year if needed (travel down with empty cases and fill it with extra stuff).

Also decided that cheap and cheerful was the best way to go with household stuff, that way it could be disposed of at the end of the year (either in the bin if damaged, or the DD could take it to a charity shop if still in reasonable condition) rather than carted home, and back again in September.

courier plus storage.

Both mine are at uni over 300 miles away. We took all their stuff at the very start of their first year (luckily we had a big car, and they started uni two weeks apart).

Where they are, student house lets start on 1 July each year, and last for a full 12 months, so they didn't need to move stuff back here when they moved out of halls at the end of year 1, it went straight with them to their rented house, either borrowing friends cars or using a taxi. DS stayed in the same house, so again, no need to move stuff. DD moved, there was a 1 day gap between moving out of the old house and into the new one, but she managed to store stuff with friends overnight.

Both will finish uni and be due to finally move out of their houses on the same day in 2019 so we will need to arrange some sort of final collection but will try and stagger this.

As others have suggested, it might be best to buy most stuff when you get there/have it delivered, or do a courier delivery. Or just hire a bigger car for a weekend, whichever works out most cost effectively.

we lived in east Anglia & landed up with dc1 going to north wales & later dc3 going to Durham. for dc1 we had roof box - going over the Welsh mountains was fun with 5 in the car (not v big car!) we use to start very early & plan route via supermarket eateries & have breakfast brunch there & stay in family room which wasn't en suite! It was a good giggle except when dc3 got travel sick (over front on me!) & when the Welsh floods invariably cause detours over the British Country side! Most unis have store rooms for short holidays we found & if you had rooms in community year2 &3 you only have to worry about clearing stuff in summer. Could you travel by coach?

My DD took a large suitcase on the train from London to Edinburgh. A lot of her clothes were vacuum-packed, so it was heavy. After checking into her flat, she went straight to Ikea for bedding and kitchen stuff.