The downtown restaurants were the only thing left on the list.
After visiting 15 colleges for your older daughter, your family now has a pretty detailed list of questions that you ask and places you try to visit whenever you go to a new college location. Now that your younger daughter is starting her college search you have pulled the list out again. Obviously, you always look at everything on campus and make sure that you see the dorms, the science labs, the fitness center, and the other student gathering locations that are often unique to each campus. You also, however, check out places where your daughter might get her hair cut, where she might have eyebrows threaded, where she might go to the pharmacy, buy groceries, find a great cup of coffee, and get her car fixed. You do not always have time to work all of the way through the rather extensive list, but you find that by looking for these at home favorites you get a pretty good picture of the local community outside of the college campus.
Finding the best downtown restaurants is a family favorite and lately your husband has lobbied for locating the available cabin rentals and campgrounds in the area. Your husband is certain that when both girls are out of the house the two of you will turn weekend visits to see them into opportunities to take some relaxing camping vacations as well. In the past your camping time has been limited, but he is planning to help fill the more quiet weekends when it will just be the two of you.
Finding a Way to Embrace Your Children’s College Experience Is a Must
From checking out the most popular downtown restaurants near your older daughter’s campus down south in Louisiana, to finding the best horseback riding options near the Florida campus that your younger daughter loves, the decision to embrace the transition to college can help you in the long run. When you and your spouse are preparing to be empty nesters, in fact, finding a way to embrace the local activities no matter where you are can help you fill in the gap taht is created when your children move out for good.
It likely comes as no surprise that as many as 37% of families say that vacations make them happy, making vacations the activity that makes families most happy. What do you do, however, when the kids leave for college and it is just you and your spouse visiting new places? The couples who make the easiest transitions love the opportunity to really experience the local flavor of every place that they visit. Whether you are one of the estimated 7 million people who ride horses each year in the U.S. and you take the time to enjoy that activity when ever you travel, or if you are an adventurer who wants to try your hand at zip lining, embracing the local offerings can enhance every trip that you make. Whether that trip is visit one of your daughters for a Parent’s Weekend on campus, or whether you are empty nesters with more available vacation time than you have ever had before.
The transition to college can be a difficult task for your children, but you can help that transition by finding local activities that both your students and your whole family will enjoy.