This is an ode to the brave few, the ones who, after seeing their friends from high school ship off to Great State University or Next-State-Over College, hop on a plane to the school of their dreams, no matter what the distance. Despite the rewards of a fun new place and a great education, living so far from home can be a pain. Be it across the country or across the world, we all share the same set of struggles. Be it packing, homesickness or the never-ending trek to finally see our families, here are a few things that only those who study far from home understand:

1. Packing (it’s a bitch).

Everyone has that fantasy of leaving for college, loading up the car with boxes, and having your parents there to help you unload as you move into your new place. But when you go to school across the country, you’ll be lucky if your parents will even come with you to up your total luggage count on the plane; your parents would be saints if they were willing to drive 24-plus hours to drop you off, help you unload, and pick you back up again when it’s time to move again. For the rest of us, we fit as much stuff as we can in two suitcases under 50 pounds, and we pray that it’s enough to get us through the year. When moving out? A storage unit is a girl’s best friend.

2. The cost of travel.

Nothing hits you in the gut quite like the cost of travel. There’s nothing like thinking about going home for Thanksgiving, dreaming of pumpkin pie and turkey, and then seeing that price tag and deciding to stay where you are. You roll your eyes when your friends complain about a three-hour drive or the cost of a $20 train ticket, and you’re even more envious of friends who have their families close by; they don’t have to pay a minimum of $600 out of pocket every time they want to hug their mom.

3. Spending holidays at school.

Sure, it makes you feel a bit like Harry Potter, minus the wizardry, but not having enough cash to travel for every holiday means that sometimes you’re stuck at school, basting turkeys, dyeing eggs, and waving American flags all by your lonesome. Sometimes, you decorate your place by yourself and throw a mini-party; other times, you crash a friend’s family function. More likely than not, you forget the whole thing is happening, until someone asks what you did over the long weekend and you have to say, “Uh... nothing.”

4. Long flights.

And when you do get to finally go home, the travel time is long. We’re talking five, six, seven-hour flights here. If you looked up "purgatory" in the dictionary, it would be a picture of the interior of an airplane. You bring headphones and music, a pillow, some required reading for school, maybe even a coloring book. Nothing helps. Twenty minutes seems like six years, and the cramps in your legs won’t go away until the plane has touched the ground.

5. Lots of phone calls.

Being far away means being creative with how you keep in touch. For some, it’s playing phone-tag with your parents until one of you picks up. For others, it’s scheduled FaceTime or Skype sessions. Ten years ago, you might have produced quite an expensive phone bill, or spent tons at a payphone, but now? You’re just grateful for unlimited calling and WiFi-connected video chat.

6. The good moments.

Through the packing, the long travel time, the money spent, and the long amounts of time spent away from home, you do have the good moments. The moments where you remember why in the hell you did this to yourself. Maybe you aced that final, accepted a prestigious grant, landed that amazing internship. Or maybe you simply returned home and were reminded that everyone outside of your immediately family is bonkers, and you’re once again feeling blessed that you got out of your small town. Either way, these are the good moments that you carry around with you in your pocket, the next time the frustration that comes with living so far from home gets you down.