6 weeks in Europe - Things to think of

[Anonymous]

In addition to your insurance, get a really good one-year travel insurance policy for everyone in the family. We use Geo Blue by Blue Cross Blue Shield, and we pick the maximum coverage.

Charging blocks for electronics.

Converter plug ins.

Italy and Spain have a lot of pick pockets and snatch and grab style robberies. This is why fanny packs are so popular in Europe. Invest in a good fanny pack, a nice crossover bag, etc.

Tylenol. They call it paracetamol and you can only get like 20 at a time and they want like 10 bucks for it. No.

[Anonymous]

PS: personally I'd do France, not Spain or Italy. Much more centrally located.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS: personally I'd do France, not Spain or Italy. Much more centrally located.

But presumably not if they want to learn Spanish?!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS: personally I'd do France, not Spain or Italy. Much more centrally located.

But the French hate Americans more than any other nation. No, not a good match.

[Anonymous]

If your kids are going to camp -- do they even have camps for teens in Spain? -- but coming home to you every day in your AirBnB (or whatever), they won't really have immersion. What about having them do a language program with a homestay?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PS: personally I'd do France, not Spain or Italy. Much more centrally located.

I feel like France has a higher prevalence of terrorist attacks than Spain or Italy, and therefore seems less safe to me.

[Anonymous]

NP here. My family once traveled in Europe for 5 weeks, mostly in Spain. We didn’t have any issues with healthcare, driving, needing passports on us at all times, etc. It was just like any other vacation, except that it lasted 5 weeks.

I would choose Madrid and do side trips from there.

Have fun OP!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For spain:

16 year olds can and do drink in Spain (really starting around 14 it is normal to see kids doing "botellón" or outdoor illegal BYOB drinking parties) but they can't drive until 18 even with an international license. (Be sure you get an international license.)

Also, mandatory schooling in Spain ends at 16, and like 40% of Spaniards stop going to school at 16, so there are a lot of 16 year olds in the workforce already.

I just get the monthly overseas cell plan that has unlimited data, it works fine although with a ton of phones (4 with the teens?) you might decide it is easier to get spanish SIMs and turn off your US plan. Also download whatsapp, everyone uses it in Spain.

Always bring your passport and intl driving license with you when you drive (you can get the intl license at AAA I think?). There are a lot of mandatory police checkpoints in Spain where they will check your papers and sometimes breathalyze drivers. You can also be stopped on the street/on public transport for papers and to make sure you have a ticket, and there are pretty hefty fines if you didn't buy or validate your ticket.

Also the traffic lights in spain are not across the intersection but on the side you stop at, which is annoying if you're the first car.

Except in Asturias, the drinking age in Spain is 18.

https://www.esmadrid.com/en/legislation-and-illegal-practices

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PS: personally I'd do France, not Spain or Italy. Much more centrally located.

But the French hate Americans more than any other nation. No, not a good match.

All French? Or just Paris?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For spain:

16 year olds can and do drink in Spain (really starting around 14 it is normal to see kids doing "botellón" or outdoor illegal BYOB drinking parties) but they can't drive until 18 even with an international license. (Be sure you get an international license.)

Also, mandatory schooling in Spain ends at 16, and like 40% of Spaniards stop going to school at 16, so there are a lot of 16 year olds in the workforce already.

I just get the monthly overseas cell plan that has unlimited data, it works fine although with a ton of phones (4 with the teens?) you might decide it is easier to get spanish SIMs and turn off your US plan. Also download whatsapp, everyone uses it in Spain.

Always bring your passport and intl driving license with you when you drive (you can get the intl license at AAA I think?). There are a lot of mandatory police checkpoints in Spain where they will check your papers and sometimes breathalyze drivers. You can also be stopped on the street/on public transport for papers and to make sure you have a ticket, and there are pretty hefty fines if you didn't buy or validate your ticket.

Also the traffic lights in spain are not across the intersection but on the side you stop at, which is annoying if you're the first car.

Except in Asturias, the drinking age in Spain is 18.

https://www.esmadrid.com/en/legislation-and-illegal-practices

And in the USA, the drinking age is 21.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PS: personally I'd do France, not Spain or Italy. Much more centrally located.

But the French hate Americans more than any other nation. No, not a good match.

That wasn’t my experience while spending weeks in France.

Don’t listen to the negative person above.

If they were rude, you were probably being rude yourself with a lack of cultural knowledge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great points about healthcare and meds, 100% did not think of these!

The drinking is interesting too, I'll approach that too in the coming months.

Yes, they take Spanish in school but its dreadful. We'll be getting virtual tutors set up for the intervening months (preply or similar).

Italy is the back up plan, and that's a good point, no we wouldn't want them in camp to learn Italian.

Not trying to disparage your kids, but I think there are two ways to learn a language not spoken in the home:

1. Immersion school from a young age (and this is by no means fool proof)
2. Move to a country/place where that language is primary

I think any other concepts are almost all worthless half-measures. Just seems like a waste of time unless its a prelude to moving to a Spanish speaking country.

My kid took a year of French in high school and we included France on a summer trip- she could barely get out a 5 word sentence and stopped trying after day 2.

And why bother when so many Europeans have already learned Engligh for you, right?

[Anonymous]

*English

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I assume you have a plan for your pets, plants, mail, bills, yard?

+1.
Also make sure you have a plan for your car battery.

[Anonymous]

Do your teens have their own credit cards? Sure they’ll want to be somewhat independent at time/, so make sure they have a way to pay for things.