Thank you degree forum - attending commencement 2016

[Lindagerr]

@Lucky i'm glad I could be of help. I used to live within ~30 minutes of Trenton and both my brother and daughter do/did live there. The area around the venue is fine, but there are some very unsafe areas in Trenton. If you can stay in The Ewing area it is a little safer. Also if you are near Detroit there is a little known airline called Frontier that is cheap and fly's into the small Trenton-Mercer airport.

[LaterBloomer]

Frontier has great prices, but I think it's one of those airlines that charges you to breathe. Check its site to ensure that your carry-on can be carried on without a penalty. The hotels in Trenton were kind of pricey, but the Pope was coming to Philly when I'd planned to attend graduation last year. Since Philly is relatively close, the overflow might have been an issue. When I travel, I like to go to museums, historical sites, etc. When I researched Trenton, there wasn't much there. To me, the cost of a hotel room just to attend my graduation wasn't worth it. Since I've never been a big one for ceremonies, it's not something that I really regret

The others are right on point about your daughter. While you may want to share this moment with her, she's young, and she's likely to be bored. (That's in addition to the safety issue, which is BIG.) You're not having your ceremony at a small high-school gym. It would be too easy to lose her.

Why not have a concurrent ceremony wherever she's staying? Get some folks together, have balloons, make signs, have noisemakers, etc. While she's watching the ceremony, you can text her with comments, etc. Send her selfies from the ceremony. Afterwards, call her up and tell her how much it all meant to you, and how having her share it with you made all of your hard work worthwhile.

Congratulations on your degree! I think getting an associate's degree and celebrating it are GREAT ways to continue the motivation for your bachelor's degree. Hope the weather cools down for you a bit in Trenton. It's been HOT here on the East coast this summer.

As to bus, train, or plane, I've travelled on all 3. Last year I took a trip to Toronto on Megabus. While I was able to get a $1 ticket, with my weight I found the long trip uncomfortable. However you get there, I hope you enjoy the heck out of it!