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Sending your kid to Europe

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Idaho, Sep 25, 2007.

  1. Cadet

    Cadet Guest

    I was one of the few kids of my "group" who didn't go on the eighth-grade Washington trip. I don't know if I've ever forgiven my parents for it. :)
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Seriously, as a parent, I think you're better off sending her there at 14 than you would be at 16 or 17...
     
  3. Idaho

    Idaho Active Member

    No trips to Aruba, though.
     
  4. Pastor

    Pastor Active Member


    Just a note (and this goes by someone I know that did this in high school): Some of the restaurants there only serve wine. As such the parents had to sign a permission slip. I would guess that water would be an option, but you never know.
     
  5. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I think a 13 or a 14-year-old is less likely to try to ditch her chaperones than a 16-year-old might be...
     
  6. Dirk Legume

    Dirk Legume Active Member

    Ides,

    Sounds like a lot of fun. Well chaperoned and you would know whether your daughter would be able to handle being away from home for that long. But since you're leaning toward letting her go, that probably isin't a problem.

    You really should find out how to get a refund if she doesn't go. Some of these trips are non refundable and some provide a way to buy trip insurance. When my daughter was in 8th grade, she was scheduled to go to Washington DC on a class trip...

    In November of 2001.

    Because of the obvious troubles at the time, the trip was canceled and we got our money back. However, the travel company made a big deal about how nice they were beiing and kept pointing out that they could keep our money if they wanted.

    If there were some sort of "incident" that would cause you to not want to send your american daughter overseas, you would want too be able to get a refund.

    Having said all that...

    My wife went to Europe on a school band trip when she was a sophmore in high school. It has been 25 years and she still remembers the entire trip and how much fun she had. It would be great for your daughter to have those same kind of memories.

    Also (this just popped into my head for some reason) if she has a cell phone, make sure you can make and receive international calls. It will be much cheaper than regular phones. When my daughter went to Mexico (yes she lives a much better life than her parents), a 10 minute collect call was 64 dollars.
     
  7. Idaho

    Idaho Active Member

    We signed her up last night. We'll check out the trip insurance and see how it goes. Right now, we're only $95 into it.

    Two of her best friends from school are (tentatively) going so I think she'll have a blast and be with good people.
     
  8. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Go rent Hostel and see if you still want to send her... ;D
     
  9. Cansportschick

    Cansportschick Active Member

    I went on two class trips, one to Paris/England and the other to Russia. Both were fantastic learning experiences. I got to experience cultures, learn history and make new friends on those trips. Also, there were fond high school memories from those two trips alone (they were two years apart).

    We had two teachers and two parents chaperone but they weren't that strict.

    Also, I don't believe age doesn't matter, whether you are 14 or 17 years old.

    Idaho, I would highly recommend sending your daughter on this trip because it would be a great learning experience for her.
     
  10. My brother did this at 15 or 16 and had a great time. I think that the group was very, very small. Fewer than 10 people. He went to a very small school, so my mom knew the chaperones well. That may be the key ... small group with chaperones you know well. I do agree that a 13-year-old might be less likely to go off on her own than a 17-year-old.
     
  11. Mystery_Meat

    Mystery_Meat Guest

    I had a cousin who did a trip to Australia when he was 14. He seemed to handle it okay. Kids are getting more mature faster (though they make up for it by peaking at a lower maturity level, based on what I've seen).
     
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