Very common. Both of our children went to Europe for three weeks following HS graduation with a bunch of friends.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC is there for about 3 weeks with several groups of high school friends. Living the 11pm-4am disco life.
Going to some museums during the day. They are staying at hostels. My son is spending money he made earlier in the summer.
How common is this?

Very uncommon imo. We are in a non-DMV private school. Here everyone takes European vacays with parents, and then just does short local overnights with friends. Pre-freshmen I wouldn't encourage drug/disco/free range life. I know they'll be all going to college soon but there are more laws/rules in college than in Ibiza and Amsterdam non-academic party life.

The problem is all the immigrant men from North Africa, Syria, Afghanistan etc.

Far too many of them are rapists. Europe isn’t safe for young women anymore.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC's have doing study abroad since 6th grade. What OP is bragging about would be boring to my DC's.

Is that because your DCs are losers?

You do know that most of these European hot spots are populated by other…Europeans who still get a ton of enjoyment training from say France to Barcelona or Germany to Italy for a couple of weeks over the Summer.

I gather you live in the US and also travel to other parts of the US, no?

Not because they're "losers."
But because being in kitchy European spots with kitchy Europeans or Americans is boring, unless you're a loser.

So….they are losers. Thanks for confirming that it’s because they don’t have any friends that would want to spend two weeks with them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DC's have doing study abroad since 6th grade. What OP is bragging about would be boring to my DC's.

Is that because your DCs are losers?

You do know that most of these European hot spots are populated by other…Europeans who still get a ton of enjoyment training from say France to Barcelona or Germany to Italy for a couple of weeks over the Summer.

I gather you live in the US and also travel to other parts of the US, no?

Not because they're "losers."
But because being in kitchy European spots with kitchy Europeans or Americans is boring, unless you're a loser.

My DS did this with friends. They’ve all traveled internationally with families. He had a great time! DD did a summer semester abroad program after she graduated high school.

Anonymous wrote:DC is there for about 3 weeks with several groups of high school friends. Living the 11pm-4am disco life.
Going to some museums during the day. They are staying at hostels. My son is spending money he made earlier in the summer.
How common is this?

Very uncommon imo. We are in a non-DMV private school. Here everyone takes European vacays with parents, and then just does short local overnights with friends. Pre-freshmen I wouldn't encourage drug/disco/free range life. I know they'll be all going to college soon but there are more laws/rules in college than in Ibiza and Amsterdam non-academic party life.

Anonymous wrote:We're in a wealthy neighborhood and no graduate I know did this. They have already experienced multiple international locations with their families or on school trips, and they all knew they would do study abroad programs with their colleges. We are French, are pretty widely traveled, and my kids don't feel the need to go to another country as a sort of rite of passage.

Ok, traveling with family is not the same and neither are school trips. And not all of your neighborhood teens are doing international programs. If you’re from France then I’m sure you’ve been all over Europe. American born teens might want to go even if they’ve been there although I doubt too many have been to every country.

My goodness. . .this thread is fascinating. A venn diagram of sanctimony from the poor, the rich, the over protective, the French . . .Classism, racism, sexism etc - it's ALL here! Well done, DCUM!

Anonymous wrote:

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

This is why I might let my son backpack through Europe, but not my daughter.

Are you the one who thinks Taken is a documentary?

Anonymous wrote:We're in a wealthy neighborhood and no graduate I know did this. They have already experienced multiple international locations with their families or on school trips, and they all knew they would do study abroad programs with their colleges. We are French, are pretty widely traveled, and my kids don't feel the need to go to another country as a sort of rite of passage.

None of what you say makes much sense. Going on international trips with your family isn’t anything like going with a group of friends. We have taken our kids to 20 different countries, but that wasn’t ever going to be the same as independently going with their friends…nor was it thought of as a rite of passage but rather what they thought was a more interesting alternative to beach week.

We're in a wealthy neighborhood and no graduate I know did this. They have already experienced multiple international locations with their families or on school trips, and they all knew they would do study abroad programs with their colleges. We are French, are pretty widely traveled, and my kids don't feel the need to go to another country as a sort of rite of passage.

Anonymous wrote:

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

This is why I might let my son backpack through Europe, but not my daughter.

Why exactly is that? What’s the issue with people who speak Arabic and your daughter being around them?

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

This is why I might let my son backpack through Europe, but not my daughter.

Nope, I wouldn't allow that.

Anonymous wrote:My DC's have doing study abroad since 6th grade. What OP is bragging about would be boring to my DC's.

Is that because your DCs are losers?

You do know that most of these European hot spots are populated by other…Europeans who still get a ton of enjoyment training from say France to Barcelona or Germany to Italy for a couple of weeks over the Summer.

I gather you live in the US and also travel to other parts of the US, no?