Driving issue - but DD wants to go to uni 300 miles away!

[Netballer3]

I can’t drive on motorways or busy dual carriage ways any more - was getting huge anxiety so stopped about 5 years ago. DD is very keen on Newcastle uni though - which is 300 miles (6 hour drive) from us. If she gets a place, how would we get her stuff to and fro? She doesn’t drive either and we have no close family or friends to take her all that distance. Want to make it work but can’t see how…

Trains I guess? You both go up together so you can help her with the amount of stuff and the mm come back alone.

Could you box it all up and use a courier company such as DPD to get it all to her?

Do you have a friend or family member who could take her initially, and you pay them? Then she can come back on train for the holidays. Or there are courier companies who could take her stuff there.

Or she takes a couple of suitcases with her on the train and buys her bedding etc once in Newcastle.

Man with a van?

You could package in all up and DHL or driver early hours of the morning up and then stay over and drive late at night back

Hire a man with a van type person for her belongs and she travels by coach/train?

Book some refresher driving lessons and/or some CBT sessions and face your fears!

seriously it’s so limiting not being able to drive and will impact your children in other ways.

big girl pants time!

Sendmybag.com is used by lots of students to ship their stuff from all over the UK (and the world) to their uni accommodation and back again.

Did it all by train. Was fine, with 2 of us. Bought stuff for bed etc in the new uni town.

If she wants to go there, then she should put some work into figuring out the logistics of doing it by train. Part of it may well be buying some of the things she needs when she's there rather than before, though then of course storage during the vacations especially the summer between different accommodation needs to be considered.

Trains. I moved to France on the Eurostar for my year abroad.

Two large wheeled suitcases - both of you go by train at the start and end of term and she buys bigger bulky stuff when she is there ?

When I went to uni in the 70s my trunk was sent ahead on the train and was in my room when I arrived. Not sure if that's still a thing? Though of course in those days you didn't need a fraction of the stuff people take with them these days.

Take clothing etc in a suitcase on the train/coach. Buy bedding and kitchen stuff when she gets there. International students cant take loads of stuff with them.

My parents hated driving and I went to university similar distance by coach or train. I bought crockery pans bedding etc up there and then arranged storage for holidays rather than bringing everything back over the summer. It’s doable.

Trains, large suitcase each for clothes. Go to ikea in a taxi when you arrive.

Buy bulky stuff up there, an IKEA kitchen box, duvet, bedding, etc, and get it delivered.

Massive wheely case and big rucksack.

All of mine went to uni a flight away.
2 large suitcases and get bedding, kitchen ware and other bulky stuff etc delivered directly to accommodation.

She can do it by train, she will just have to think carefully about what she needs and pack well.

Or use a courier for bulky stuff.

It's only twice a year.

Yes, IKEA, taxi.

Train, shared van, sendmybag/myluggage?

Uni students travel long distances and move countries all the time, most accomodation is furnished and she'll be fine. If she's in uni accomodation she won't want too much anyway, as you often have to pack it all up every term to allow for conferences etc.

You would be surprised how much 2 people can schlep up on a train if needed, or you can send a large suitcase by DPD for under £50.

There are numerous sorts of 'send my trunk/ bag/ box' sort of services that could transport her initial stuff.
A lot of unis offer a 'set up package' which is basically everything a new student needs - kitchen stuff and bedding etc - provided on arrival. It's often used by international students.
She'd need to make sure she wasn't in accommodation which needed emptying every holiday, but she could also store her stuff over summer at a self-storage facility.
Hopefully she might make friends with someone else who is doing the driving in the future!

On a different note - have you sought help from your GP about the driving anxiety? I had the same and found it was solved by HRT...

Not being funny, OP. But many thousands of students move all around the world every year for university. Your DD heading to Newcastle isn't insurmountable.

Please don't let your anxiety about the practicalities stifle your DD's enthusiasm for the next stage of her life. My mum is similar to you - won't motorway drive - and killed my buzz for my dream job with her practical worries about how I'd move all my stuff, and how she'd get there to visit me. It was 15 years ago and I still haven't forgiven her TBH.

Absolutely everything she needs (especially the bulky stuff) can be bought once she's there and delivered to her halls.