In this day and age, it might seem "lame" to admit to your friends that you want to stay a reasonable distance away from home when you go off to college. I applaud those ambitious students who find their dream schools in states of their choosing - everywhere from California to Colorado to New York. It takes some serious courage and independence to move thousands of miles away from home and begin a fresh start. It's not like whenever you need a nice home cooked meal, you can fly home for the night and still make it back for classes in the morning. Or whenever you're feeling down and need some quality family time, you'll have to spend a good chunk of money and time planning to make it home. And forget being able to sleep in your own bed when you start to get sick; you'll have to stick it out in the college dorms.

Even though I haven't made it out of my home state yet, there are so many perks of living an hour away from home that I don't think I'd want to give up just quite yet in my life.

Whenever I want to see my family, I can.

Who doesn't miss dinners out or at home with the whole family once in awhile? I absolutely love planning for my family to come out to school for an evening to catch up and enjoy a nice meal together. Or I even love coming home for a night arranging to see them and getting to spend some quality time at home. Sometimes it's good just to get away from the college scene, if just for a little while, and reconnect with family members.

If I'm sick, I have care better than a hospital - home.

Winter brings on more than just fun holidays and delicious treats. Colds and flus circle like plagues and it's almost impossible to avoid them. Instead of dreading the inevitable wintertime suffering, I feel comforted in the fact that I can escape away back home for a weekend for some quality rest and relaxation to rejuvenate myself for the week ahead. Being sick just sucks, and it's even worse being sick at school when everyone else is having fun and you're left without a nurse to take care of you. And don't even get me started about the campus health centers...

If I forgot something, no problem.

If you try and tell me that every time you pack up to go back to college you don't forget a single thing, I'll laugh in your face. I'm lucky if I even remember my pillow or toothbrush. It's so easy to leave one out of a million things at home, but even better if you leave a plethora of items, you can run home or have someone run them to you. Why not make a trip out of it too, right? Get some good food, see friends and family, and secure that essential Hawaiian skirt you left at home for this weekend's luau.

It's easy to bring friends home.

It's easy to get used to, almost bored, of the same old activities on campus. The same old restaurants, the same old parties, the same old routine that everyone needs to shake up every once in awhile. Especially if you live only an hour away, it's so easy to invite your friends over for a nice dinner out, and maybe even a sleepover in a nice house to change up the weekend festivities. Everyone needs to get away sometimes, and there aren't better people to relax with than your best friends.

All in all, I just love having the ability to be able to go home practically whenever I want, or have my family visit whenever they want. Some might argue that that's against the tradition of going off to college, going home some weekends and still relying on your family. I argue that the tradition of going off to college is learning to transition and be very independent for the first time in your life, and not everyone succeeds. It's perfectly okay to long for home sometimes and arrange to go back. It's especially a learning experience when you have the ability to go home whenever, but your family still complains they barely even see you when you're home for the holidays like every other college student. I'm happy I get to go back home for some family time whenever I need it.