Wondering...how far have you traveled for your class reunion ..and was it worth it??
 

In the process of planning our high school class reunion...Its interesting to see just how far people will travel to come back "home"...thought I'd get some fodorite perspective.......

Our high school experience has been that about 80 percent or so who attend are those who never left the area. Those of us who moved far away (we live in Houston, H.S. was in Charleston) get there about every 20 or so years.

College, on the other hand, does draw people from further away, and more frequently.

IMHO, it really depends on the dynamics of your class. Those who were the "in group" when in school usually give it more effort. They are there virtually every time. It has more of an appeal, I suppose, for people who REALLY enjoyed high school.

Hope this helps.

Jim

I went from Seattle to Los Angeles a couple years ago and yes it was worth it. The reunion was actually for a high school I did not graduate from, but had many of the people I went to elementary school with there (my family had moved from the area). So not a place I consider "home" at all and not that far to travel for me.

My class reunion got cancelled due to lack of interest. :)) I wasn't going to go and I only live about 30 miles away.

I drove 22 miles from Chicago to the south burbs, and no, it was not worth it, I wouldn't go to my next reunion if I lived close enough to walk.

I still live less than 20 miles from my old High School and have never gone back to a High School reunion in the last 30+ years since I graduated.

Utahtea

I travelled 1,000 miles to my 20 year high school reunion, the only one my class (of 1966) has had. It was great fun.

My college is 75 miles away, and I've never gone to a reunion, and have no interest in going. My class had 5,000 students, and I've been married to my favorite classmate since two weeks after graduation.

I attended the 20th year reunion in 1971 on LI traveling from northern VA. However, I've been attending my ship's reunions (DD530) every year for the last twelve years in various cities around the country. The furthest from Virginia were held in Reno and San Diego. This year we will be in Warwick, RI and next year Baton Rouge.

20 miles. It was definitely not worth it.

I would go anywhere to be at one of my high school class reunions. I went to high school in Panama and my classmates live all over the world. People have come from Thailand, Hong Kong, Australia and throughout the US, Canada and Europe to attend. We have the best times and I would not miss one for the world! In fact a large group of us went back to Panama for a class party about five years ago. Many of our classmates still live there and it was an extraordinary experience.
On the other hand, my college is about a twenty minute drive away and I never go to those reunions.
It all depends as another poster said on the dynamics of your class.

I traveled 900 miles to my 50th grade school, high school and medical school class reunions.

Definitely worth it.

We have med.school class reunions every five years.:-B

About 370 Miles. I attended my 15 year & plan to get to my 25 year, this year. I also traveled short distances for a 10 year college reunion & my 10 year HS reunion. Certainly, time well spent. The funny thing is, those who live nearby, are usually the ones who don't attend.

I lived less than 1/2 mile from the hotel hosting my 10th year high school reunion and I didn't attend. The only time I've been back on campus was to take the GRE.

Yea, 'dynamics' that's a great word.

My Dad and Uncle travel 50 miles and 1000 miles respectively to attend their reunions. They are VERY involved in the planning and it has now evolved into annual events for smaller groups. They are almost the the 50 year reunion point.
They come from a close knit, small East Texas town and these events seem to be popular.
I grew up in Garland, Tx and managed to make it to the reunion picnic event, which had light turnout. My 25 is almost here and I am looking forward to it... I think.

Its fun to see how differently people feel about reunion things.I grew up in a fairly small southern town and we had a good class.We have people coming from a lot of cool places and then we have those folks still around who simply arent interested.Good excuse for travel if you live far away.

We traveled from Hawaii to Houston for my husband's 10th high school reunion. Fortunatly we could combine the trip with visits to his parents, siblings, etc. because the reunion certainly wasn't worth it. There was a picnic and later in the weekend the reunion at a hotel meeting room. It was one of those evenings when people are standing around in clumps of 2 or 3 struggling to come up with something to talk about. Painful. The only people who seemed to enjoy it were the "popular" girls (per my husband's report) who has stayed in touch since high school anyhow. I was suprised at how few people from his class had moved away from Houston.

I went to my 15th high school reunion because it coinsided with a trip back to Michigan (also from Hawaii) to visit family. It was pretty fun to see everyone again - but I wouldn't have made a trip just for the occasion.

I have never had an interest to attend my high school reunions. We do try to get to our college homecoming each year though, and I have attended a few sorority reunions. Those have always been a lot of fun as I have stayed close to many sisters over the years. When we moved back to this state (Oregon), i found out that we live less than 1/4 mile from a sister!

actually it seems like the ones who live farthest away make the most effort - for them, the most has changed and there is a bigger contrast (speaking for myself anyway).

I just went to one and I tell you, some folks I didn't even recognize, and others looked like they did in high school. it's fun - a time capsule!

Yep....some people have changed and others seem exactly the same.It seems no matter who you talk to though, eveyone seems to have strong opinions about reunions.They are either very excited or have no interst whatsoever.Im sure some of the events are pretty lame ..others over the top.Guess it depends on a lot of things.I just wonder why some people are some negative about the thought of them.

I traveled around 2,000 miles from the West Indies to Houston for my 10-year reunion. I wasn't certain of my choice to travel so far for the event, but hoped it would be worth it since I went to school with the same people from the 4th grade on. I was pleasantly suprised at how much I enjoyed seeing everyone again since I hadn't lived in the area in so many years and don't see any former classmates often.