did your 18 year olds go to Europe the summer after graduation?

[Anonymous]

We did take our 18 yo to Europe as a graduation gift. At least half of their friends also went over that summer, but none were in groups of teens. Everyone went with their own family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD did a 3 week backpacking trip with a friend last summer after graduating. They both worked all school year to have enough money to do it, planned it out themselves. Parents paid for the round trip flights as their graduation gift, kids otherwise fully funded it. Both spent the rest of the summer working too.

Discovered during the trip that they thought you booked hostels by nights instead of arrival day / departure day so there were a few nights they had to scramble to find a place to sleep. They got a Euro-rail pass and crammed quite a lot into their three weeks! Was a great experience.

Definitely not rich.

If you have money to buy your kid a r/t ticket to Europe, you are rich.

It was $680, and her high school graduation gift. We own one car, live in a 1000 sq foot apartment, take camping trips for vacation. You make a lot of assumptions about one plane ticket.

I don’t have any extra money after paying bills. Ditto for most of America.

It doesn't mean that someone who can spend $680 on one plane ticket is rich. . .there's are people who can't pay all their bills, ever. There are some people who drop $30k on an international vacation for the whole family every single year, sometimes more than once. I promise you, in real life, you wouldn't look at my life and judge me as "rich". . .but you do you.

Having that amount of disposable income is rich to me. I’d love to have the money to pay for my kid to travel to Europe. We use our earnings for necessities. Traveling to Europe isn’t one of them. It’s a luxury.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD did a 3 week backpacking trip with a friend last summer after graduating. They both worked all school year to have enough money to do it, planned it out themselves. Parents paid for the round trip flights as their graduation gift, kids otherwise fully funded it. Both spent the rest of the summer working too.

Discovered during the trip that they thought you booked hostels by nights instead of arrival day / departure day so there were a few nights they had to scramble to find a place to sleep. They got a Euro-rail pass and crammed quite a lot into their three weeks! Was a great experience.

Definitely not rich.

If you have money to buy your kid a r/t ticket to Europe, you are rich.

It was $680, and her high school graduation gift. We own one car, live in a 1000 sq foot apartment, take camping trips for vacation. You make a lot of assumptions about one plane ticket.

I don’t have any extra money after paying bills. Ditto for most of America.

Just because you are poor, doesn’t make someone who can purchase a plane ticket for $680 rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD did a 3 week backpacking trip with a friend last summer after graduating. They both worked all school year to have enough money to do it, planned it out themselves. Parents paid for the round trip flights as their graduation gift, kids otherwise fully funded it. Both spent the rest of the summer working too.

Discovered during the trip that they thought you booked hostels by nights instead of arrival day / departure day so there were a few nights they had to scramble to find a place to sleep. They got a Euro-rail pass and crammed quite a lot into their three weeks! Was a great experience.

Definitely not rich.

If you have money to buy your kid a r/t ticket to Europe, you are rich.

It was $680, and her high school graduation gift. We own one car, live in a 1000 sq foot apartment, take camping trips for vacation. You make a lot of assumptions about one plane ticket.

I don’t have any extra money after paying bills. Ditto for most of America.

It doesn't mean that someone who can spend $680 on one plane ticket is rich. . .there's are people who can't pay all their bills, ever. There are some people who drop $30k on an international vacation for the whole family every single year, sometimes more than once. I promise you, in real life, you wouldn't look at my life and judge me as "rich". . .but you do you.

Having that amount of disposable income is rich to me. I’d love to have the money to pay for my kid to travel to Europe. We use our earnings for necessities. Traveling to Europe isn’t one of them. It’s a luxury.

Do you buy your kid birthday or holiday gifts? It’s completely reasonable to tell your kid it’s their XMas and birthday gift…or they can get a job and pay for it themselves.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. Not enough money to do that and pay for college. Went after college.

Isn’t it insane that Americans pay so much for college but then think that this routine travel is the expensive part?! What a scam!

Yes. Agree 100%. Just returned from Europe and there were packs and packs of very young Europeans traveling together. Of course they won't be paying $40K or 90K for college--more like $10K.
American is so messed up.

And they can take reasonably priced trains and sometimes flights. And not be staring down a huge tuition bill.

[Anonymous]

Mine enlisted and travels the world on the government’s dime.

[Anonymous]

Most of my DD's friends couldn't afford this right out of high school. And she'd like to spend the last summer at home with them before they go their separate ways.

A trip like this will be better with a few years of college under her belt.

[Anonymous]

There are many great documentaries on this sort of enrichment, like Emily in Paris.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 18 DD traveled to London, Belgium and France for 3 weeks but went with us as we are not trusting her along with flakey 18 yo’s to make decisions. We had a great time!

Helicopter parenting at its finest!

GMAFB. It’s helicopter parenting to travel with your 18 year old?

To insist on accompanying your adult child rather than let them travel independently and develop some life skills? Yes it is.

Did you not comprehend? The poster said in an additional post that her friends are flakey. Maybe they are. Europe is not a great time to suddenly be irresponsible and flakey. What if they lose their passport or are robbed and alone? Have you not seen Taken? Feel free to have your kid get kidnapped and sold. She chose not to. She also said she can travel by herself after her freshman year. What is wrong with that? I also read that she is black so maybe black girls are under a greater threat than white kids. Why don’t you go F off and parent your own kids or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD did a 3 week backpacking trip with a friend last summer after graduating. They both worked all school year to have enough money to do it, planned it out themselves. Parents paid for the round trip flights as their graduation gift, kids otherwise fully funded it. Both spent the rest of the summer working too.

Discovered during the trip that they thought you booked hostels by nights instead of arrival day / departure day so there were a few nights they had to scramble to find a place to sleep. They got a Euro-rail pass and crammed quite a lot into their three weeks! Was a great experience.

Definitely not rich.

If you have money to buy your kid a r/t ticket to Europe, you are rich.

It was $680, and her high school graduation gift. We own one car, live in a 1000 sq foot apartment, take camping trips for vacation. You make a lot of assumptions about one plane ticket.

I don’t have any extra money after paying bills. Ditto for most of America.

Just because you are poor, doesn’t make someone who can purchase a plane ticket for $680 rich.

Well it’s DCUM and some of us do make a lot of money, make sure investments and save our money so that we can have a luxurious life and do what we want. Don’t hate just because you have to go to Ocean City each summer or have your kid work and slave to pay their upcoming tuition. We planned ahead and have our kids tuition already set aside. My son’s first year has just been paid in full.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD did a 3 week backpacking trip with a friend last summer after graduating. They both worked all school year to have enough money to do it, planned it out themselves. Parents paid for the round trip flights as their graduation gift, kids otherwise fully funded it. Both spent the rest of the summer working too.

Discovered during the trip that they thought you booked hostels by nights instead of arrival day / departure day so there were a few nights they had to scramble to find a place to sleep. They got a Euro-rail pass and crammed quite a lot into their three weeks! Was a great experience.

Definitely not rich.

If you have money to buy your kid a r/t ticket to Europe, you are rich.

It was $680, and her high school graduation gift. We own one car, live in a 1000 sq foot apartment, take camping trips for vacation. You make a lot of assumptions about one plane ticket.

I don’t have any extra money after paying bills. Ditto for most of America.

Just because you are poor, doesn’t make someone who can purchase a plane ticket for $680 rich.

Well it’s DCUM and some of us do make a lot of money, make sure investments and save our money so that we can have a luxurious life and do what we want. Don’t hate just because you have to go to Ocean City each summer or have your kid work and slave to pay their upcoming tuition. We planned ahead and have our kids tuition already set aside. My son’s first year has just been paid in full.

I planned ahead too and have saved up $8k from working 2-3 jobs. Planning ahead isn’t going to get me to where I’ve saved enough to pay for four years of college. Recognize your privilege. Did you have a parent pay for you to go to college? That’s a privilege. Do you have a spouse who had a parent pay for them to go to college? That’s another privilege. Do you have well paying jobs and money to save because you both were able to go to college? Not everyone has what you have (even though it seems like they do in your circles).

It took me until I was 30 to work and pay for my own college. Then it took until I was 48 to pay off my loans. I feel happy I was able to do both. That has limited my ability to save and now my kid is headed off to college. He might be able to finish in four years but I’m the only one paying since his dad died years ago. One teaching income (plus what my DS earns) is not going to pay for four years of college no matter what I do. We all started on the same starting line but people need to recognize their own privilege. I am privileged in my own way. My school district paid for half of my Master’s degree so that I could get a pay bump. That pay bump has easily paid for the half I had to pay for. Not everyone has that help.

[Anonymous]

Ours enrolled in the German Language School in Berlin and had an amazing experience. Highly recommend the school and their program if your child wants to learn German and experience life in Berlin. She made lifelong friends, became fluent and had an incredible time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My 18 DD traveled to London, Belgium and France for 3 weeks but went with us as we are not trusting her along with flakey 18 yo’s to make decisions. We had a great time!

Helicopter parenting at its finest!

GMAFB. It’s helicopter parenting to travel with your 18 year old?

To insist on accompanying your adult child rather than let them travel independently and develop some life skills? Yes it is.

Did you not comprehend? The poster said in an additional post that her friends are flakey. Maybe they are. Europe is not a great time to suddenly be irresponsible and flakey. What if they lose their passport or are robbed and alone? Have you not seen Taken? Feel free to have your kid get kidnapped and sold. She chose not to. She also said she can travel by herself after her freshman year. What is wrong with that? I also read that she is black so maybe black girls are under a greater threat than white kids. Why don’t you go F off and parent your own kids or not.

You do know Taken is a fictional movie, right?

Do you avoid camping because of the Friday the 13th movies…or avoid the ocean because of Jaws?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD did a 3 week backpacking trip with a friend last summer after graduating. They both worked all school year to have enough money to do it, planned it out themselves. Parents paid for the round trip flights as their graduation gift, kids otherwise fully funded it. Both spent the rest of the summer working too.

Discovered during the trip that they thought you booked hostels by nights instead of arrival day / departure day so there were a few nights they had to scramble to find a place to sleep. They got a Euro-rail pass and crammed quite a lot into their three weeks! Was a great experience.

Definitely not rich.

If you have money to buy your kid a r/t ticket to Europe, you are rich.

It was $680, and her high school graduation gift. We own one car, live in a 1000 sq foot apartment, take camping trips for vacation. You make a lot of assumptions about one plane ticket.

I don’t have any extra money after paying bills. Ditto for most of America.

Just because you are poor, doesn’t make someone who can purchase a plane ticket for $680 rich.

Well it’s DCUM and some of us do make a lot of money, make sure investments and save our money so that we can have a luxurious life and do what we want. Don’t hate just because you have to go to Ocean City each summer or have your kid work and slave to pay their upcoming tuition. We planned ahead and have our kids tuition already set aside. My son’s first year has just been paid in full.

I planned ahead too and have saved up $8k from working 2-3 jobs. Planning ahead isn’t going to get me to where I’ve saved enough to pay for four years of college. Recognize your privilege. Did you have a parent pay for you to go to college? That’s a privilege. Do you have a spouse who had a parent pay for them to go to college? That’s another privilege. Do you have well paying jobs and money to save because you both were able to go to college? Not everyone has what you have (even though it seems like they do in your circles).

It took me until I was 30 to work and pay for my own college. Then it took until I was 48 to pay off my loans. I feel happy I was able to do both. That has limited my ability to save and now my kid is headed off to college. He might be able to finish in four years but I’m the only one paying since his dad died years ago. One teaching income (plus what my DS earns) is not going to pay for four years of college no matter what I do. We all started on the same starting line but people need to recognize their own privilege. I am privileged in my own way. My school district paid for half of my Master’s degree so that I could get a pay bump. That pay bump has easily paid for the half I had to pay for. Not everyone has that help.

I'm the PP who spent $680 on my DD's plane ticket to Europe as her high school graduation present.
I'm more like the poster above who has had to move mountains to save $8k for college. . .truly the poster who thinks it's a matter of "just saving enough" for college is out of touch with what most people can do. But the $680 I used to get the plane ticket also wasn't going to determine whether or not my kid gets to go to college or not - not spending that wouldn't move the needle. DD getting an almost full merit scholarship did that. That's another kind of privilege, yes. And still. . .being able to buy a plane ticket as a gift doesn't make me rich.

[Anonymous]

Backpacking in Europe aint what it used to be. Arabic is more useful than German or French.