shipping luggage?

It will be expensive. Just go to any of the shipping sites -- UPS, FedEx, etc. and get a rate quote. It might be cheaper to ship your suitcase to your departure location and you carry it home.

Thanks! Didn't think of shipping it to my destination :)

Last year, I was looking to do the same thing for my son. There are a few companies that will ship the suitcase, no extra packaging required. I looked through my notes from last year, and I could not find the names of the companies. They came right to your door to pick up the suitcase and that is all you had to do or at best, you may have had to take it to the airport if your residence was far which also escalated the price of the shipping. The prices were competitive with major carriers, such as FedEx. As it turned out, we did not use either due to cost.

I would talk to your study abroad program - especially the people who are taking care of your housing. I have been looking into sending our stuff home and have found a few cargo companies that will send the items home for you. You might also check with the airlines.

Had a similar situation with my daughter a few years ago. I really like Frank's idea and wish I had thought of it back then. We ended up shipping it home anyway, and for a fortune, but thought it was worth it in the long run. Didn't want to have her dragging alot of extra non-needed stuff with her. If you do decide to ship, all the regular shippers are available (we used Fed-Ex as it was convenient for her).

One more suggestion BUT it may not work as well for you since you are a female and only a summer program. Our son spent the spring semester in Madrid and the summer traveling in Europe. Took absolute min amount of clothes when he went over and bought clothing at flea markets and other low budget places. When he was ready to travel, he found a classmate that would take a small suitcase of mostly school stuff back to the US -- picked it up later. Sold all of his American clothing (got a surprisingly good price) and sold or gave away the other clothing he did not want to take with him while he was traveling.

Granted he was a male. A pair of pants and t-shirt was considered upscale dressing for him. But you might take a look at what you have, what you need, and, more importantly, what you don't need. Given the costs of shipping something home it might be easier to sell or give away the extra clothing.

I would do as suggested above. We do similar, but not as long. We usually travel for 6 weeks. Wife especially likes to take minimum clothing-we take one backpack each only- to Europe, buy clothing there and bring it back in the suitcase we bought there at a flea market or second hand store. You could do similar, take minimum clothing, buy more at flea market or second hand (charity stores)stores. When finished, sell, give or throw away excess. You could have less than $50 to 75 dollars invested and it is not worth sending them home. The freight would be close to that.

People get attached to clothes for some reason. Remember, they can be replaced. The idea of sending the clothes to the leaving city is a good one if the clothes are worth the time, money and effort. Unless you are an unusual college student, most of your clothes are not worth a lot of extra effort. My childrens were not. Blue jeans and T shirts, not worth the effort.