Giada De Laurentiis is soaking up every last minute of bonding time before her daughter, Jade, heads off to college.

The restaurateur spoke with PEOPLE about the college road trip she took with Jade, 17, in March which she documented on social media as the pair traveled from city to city.

“Because she's 17, there isn't a ton of time for me,” De Laurentiis said. ”Sometimes I feel like she's sort of in a living in a hotel at my house, you know, she's in and she's out, and she has such a full life."

She continued: “Just to have her all to myself for that week was one of the best gifts, especially as we entered the last year of her living at home and all of the mixed emotions I have behind that. I’m super excited for her to fly and find herself and be who she wants to be, but at the same time, it's incredibly sad. I'm gonna miss her terribly.”

The 54-year-old Foot Network alum shares Jade with her ex-husband, clothing designer Todd Thompson, whom she divorced in 2014.

De Laurentiis admits that she’s struggling with the idea of empty nesting and the impact it will have on her day-to-day when Jade goes off to college.

“As a mom, you spend all 18 years of your life sort of cracking your schedule around her, you know your child and their needs, and all of a sudden it's all going to be gone,” she explains. “ And I don't know it's really scary. It scares the s--- out of me, to be honest.”