I love to plan trips for our little family, this was a new challenge. In the past we have done trips with us traveling to 2 or 3 locations and setting up a homestead. This was a whole different experience. From 8 hotels to one vacation house , along with two car rentals. I was doing good, the only thing I screwed up, was the flights home. Thankfully Delta was very kind in issuing a credit for us to use. I’ve already used one of those credits for a trip to LA last year. (A lesson was learned, that said credits are only good for one year!) Looking back here are some key planning tips when booking a college road trip.

School List: You will want your student to have a list of schools that they are looking at periodically during their Sophmore and Junion year. We kept the list in the spreadsheet doc that was shared between the three of us. Be sure to keep all of the data on the spreadhsheet, even when your student is crossing off schools during their research into the schools. Ill post later a look at some of the data you might want to pull together for your student, to cut down research time.

No Weekends: The majority of schools do not have campus tours or info sessions available on the weekends. Out of the 12 schools we booked, none of them had weekend dates available. Before you start booking anything, I suggest in your research spreadsheet a column that lists out the dates available to do a tour or admission meeting. This way you don’t have to go back and cancel a booking because something didn’t fit or you forgot to book one of the two options.

Map It Out: For our trip we were looking at 12 schools spread out over 7 states. What I chose to do, was to pick the furthest location, and land there and road trip it across the seven states. We were mostly traveling around New England, so obviously if you are traveling around the west coast or mid-west, driving won’t be the best option. My goal was to try not to have us retrace our steps on the trip. Mapping it out on Google or Apple Maps helped us stay on schedule and gave us the ability to plan down time by exploring.

Two Schools In One Day: Avoid booking tours at two schools, when the schools are in two locations that require a long drive. For example, one school was 2 hours away from the second. To save money, you will be tempted book them on the same day, to save on travel time. We had two schools in the same town, it worked out in our favor, because most schools offer morning and afternoon tours/sessions. Keep in mind, having down time after looking at one school, will be important for your students’ well being. Processing one schools song and dance, is enough for one day. Doing a second school, will just increase pressure and anxiety.

Recharge on Weekends: Since most schools don’t have tours or info sessions on the weekend. Use the weekend to distract your student and help them feel less pressure to process the reality their lives are going to take on a major change in a short time. Booking the visits over the weekend, allows you to explore the area around the school(s) and get that much needed one on one time with your future grad. One weekend we kicked off Saturday at the Fairy Festival in Adams, MA.

Where to Stay?: You will jump to the typical choice of staying at a local hotel or inn on or near the campus. If you are going to a small town school, walking distance is the best option. If you are in a metro or city, choose as you wish. Just make sure that you are not staying some place that is a long distance. Most of the info sessions and tours will happen in the late morning or afternoon, so traveling to your final destination the day before, and spend the night. Allows your student to wake up at a resonable time to grab breakfast and maybe arriving early to explore the campus before the official tour or meeting, it will also settle any jitters your student might have.

Info Session vs. Tour: An info session is a great way to get more detailed information about the admission process at the school and ask questions to someone on the admissions staff. An info session typically runs about an hour and leads to a tour of the campus. Some schools might reverse the two for time management reasons. Some schools will also offer appointments with a admissions rep, these can be fruitful if your student is pretty set on going to the school. If your student is unsure or unfamiliar with the school, an info session will be a less stressful for your student because they are in a group setting. Group settings allows your student to participate as much or as little as they want. They can sit up front or hide in the back. Tours typically are offered with a info session or meeting, but some schools only offer the tours. Keep in mind tours are varied in lengths and be prepared for a lot of walking and stairs.

Connect With Your Student: The drives between two schools is a great opportunity to talk about anything under the moon. It can even be a great way to revisit the past and for you to apologize for the crazy shit you did to your kids when they were young. No matter if they remember about it or not. Be ready for fun conversations about everything thing they love or are worried about. It’s also a great opportunity to share your college years and the lessons you learned. Listening is paramount on these drives, let them talk. They will have many questions or or just want your opinions.

Go Over Travel Plans More Than Once: The process of planning of the trip will evolve over time. Your students school list will change in the weeks or months leading up to your trip. Be prepared a wrench being thrown in to your travel plans. Smile. Take a deep breath and pivot. You’ve been doing that their who entire life at this point. One more pivot is not going to kill you. Meeting with you about planning keep info flowing, and sharing plans helps them envision the trip and feel some control over the trip. IT’s a also a great way to teach them how to pick hotels, figure out best routes and scheduling the right flight.

While the travel is exhausting, the experience you have with your future college student, is priceless. Planning the trip down to the minute is not the best option. We found having some downtime, and padded travel time, gave us the option to explore. Like driving from Pennsylvania to the Berkshire Mountains was a fun journey, especially venturing into the hidden towns in northern Pennsylvania with their amish and Mennonite communities. I did wish there were more antique stores to stop at. The exploration gave us the ability to talk about crazy and familiar things we would run across. The will also help your student feel like they flying a little on their own. When you are visiting schools, being on camps will the students who are lost or just don’t know what they like or what they want. After the visit, asking your student about what they liked and didn’t like, helps them envision their future a little more. On our trip, after our second major city school, our daughter decided that she didn’t want to go to a city school. That allowed us to cross off one stop on the road trip, giving an extra down day. Remember, it’s always important to let them take the lead. Even if it’s choosing what kind of food to eat or how they want to burn time in between visits, maybe some shopping or exploring. This is their time, and not yours. If you are bummed you can’t go some plece, remember, those empty nest days are coming quicker than you think. Keep a bucket list for yourself instead.

The College Road Trip: Road Trip Planning is Key

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