Why my hair is skipping gray and going straight to white:

[hedgehog]

My 19 year old is taking a summer semester in France. My sister invited her to visit her house outside London. Here is a brief re-cap of the various e-mails:

Mom - How much money is in my account? I need money for a $200 train ticket to London. Love, Kid

Kid - I put some extra money in your account. It's all I can send, so budget wisely. Love, Mom

Mom - I need more money because I spent some money in Paris before I got your e-mail.
Also, the train ticket is now $300. Love, Kid

note that she doesn't mention how much money she spent in Paris or how much she has on hand at this point.

Kid - Sorry, but I sent all I had. Maybe you should skip London and take a caouple day trips to Paris? Love, Mom

Mom - I bought a plane ticket for $200, but now I have $25 left and I expect to get a $50 rebate tomorrow. Love, Kid

Kid - Your plane goes to an airport 50 miles from your aunt's house and 50 miles from London.
Just how do you plan on getting around and what is it going to cost? Love, Mom

Mom - I have some bus schedules and I'm borrowing cab fare to Charles DeGaulle airport. Love, Kid

KID - HOW MUCH MONEY DO YOU HAVE AND EXACTLY WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS!?!?! Love, Mom


so at last report, Kid was headed to the airport to spend the night so she can catch her morning flight. Did I mention that my sister sent her a house key because my sister is spending the summer in South Carolina?



.

[khashka]

1. I had a friend who gave her daughter a trip to New Zealand

She got a sweater in the mail and a note saying "Mom, I'm never coming home"

Khash.

[Gonzo Gardener]

2. Sorry Mom, the dollar is pathetically weak.

I backpacked around Europe for six weeks between my junior and senior years of high school. It was the summer of 1986 and I think the exchange rate, at the time, was around 3.65 DM to $1 US. I departed with $900 in traveler's cheques and returned home with $600 still in my pocket. I bought a Eurorail pass for $150 US, slept outdoors or on trains most of the time... bathing in fountains, ponds, and streams, and lived on brown bread and beer. It's just not possible to do that anymore.

I am sorry you're stuck with the ridiculously high costs associated with her travel, but it will be a most excellent experience that she will never forget!


:hug:

[hedgehog]

3. It's not so much the cost ( although I wish it could be cheaper)

it's wondering if she's going to end up somewhere out of cash with no way to phone home! If she needs an extra $50 after 1Pm Sunday, the bank is closed at this end!

[Gonzo Gardener]

4. Oh dear, you are going to turn white with worry!

Europeans and Brits are good folk and very hospitable. She will find help there if she needs it. ;) Part of her "excellent experience" may include a tough little lesson on poor planning, but it'll be ok!

:hug: and... :hug: and another... :hug:

[hedgehog]

5. It gets better - I just figured out she's flying from London back to Paris

the same day little George is coming to London. I guess it's just as well she's not flying through Heathrow!

[hedgehog]

6. Update: so Kid calls from my sister's house to ask me to double check

her flight back to Paris. It turns out that the flight leaves at 8AM with last check-in at 7:20 and that there is no way to get from my sister's house to the airport on time since it is now after midnight in England. So after pricing what it would cost to take a later flght, Kid is planning on taking the train back to Paris after all! Cross your fingers for me that this leg of her trip works out OK!

[grasswire]

7. I've been musing on what it would cost an 18-year-old to...

...tramp around the world for a year. That's what he wants to do next year after high school. He has no savings at this point. I'm figuring that with travel costs and the dollar, he ought to need a thousand bucks a month.

Anyone on this thread have input? (Not meaning to hijack the thread; will start a new one if this is an intrusion.)

[Skittles]

8. tell your kid *NO* n/t

[galledgoblin]

9. don't worry too much, you brought us up with some sense

even if we don't always show it!
:hug: