We all know the good old tale about how beneficial travel is. And it is, we don’t argue with that fact. At the same time, that doesn’t mean that it can’t make people anxious.
Like this mom, who got a proposition to let her 16-year-old twins go on aflightoverseas alone. It wouldn’t be for no reason; they would be meeting their father at the other end. Yet, the woman can’t help but feel anxious about letting her teenagers fly alone, no matter how well-planned everything is.
More info:Mumsnet
RELATED:
Should a parent allow teenagers to fly overseas alone?
Image credits:Timur Weber (not the actual photo)
A woman’s ex-husband offered to have their two children fly to him in the United States from the United Kingdom
Image credits:Maxwell Pels (not the actual photo)
The kids are 16-year-old twins, so according to airline rules, it’s legal to let them travel alone
Image credits:benzoix (not the actual photo)
But the woman had a hard time imagining her kids going on such an adventure without her
Image credits:yanalya (not the actual photo)
She was worried that they wouldn’t be able to handle something that might come up, for example during the airport check-in process
Image credits:fabrikasimf (not the actual photo)
Her ex-husband told her she was limiting her kids’ growth, but it didn’t help her to shake off her fears
Image credits:Dreamholidaynot
She asked online whether not letting her children on this flight would make her unreasonable
This story’s protagonist is a woman who once was married to a man from theUnited States. They had kids together who recently turned 16. Unfortunately, the couple is no longer together. Now, the man lives in his home country, while the woman and their twins live in theUnited Kingdom.
The main issue of this story arose when the OP’s ex-husband decided that he wanted to celebrate his birthday with his kids. To be more specific, he wants the twins to come to the US for about 8 days. He even already has a whole itinerary for each day. But here’s the problem: The man wants the 16-year-olds to travel alone from London toJFK– the airport in New York.
The age of a child that can fly alone depends on the airline. Butgenerally, with some airlines, kids between the ages of 5 and 12 can be assigned a chaperone if the company provides such a service, or they can fly with a responsible adult. Then, minors of 16 years old or older usually can fly alone.
So, it’s normal for a mom to worry that she’s ruining her kids’ lives because she struggles with something mentally. It is proven that traveling while being young has manybenefits. It helps a person to broaden their worldview and strengthen their intercultural skills. It also boosts confidence and drives personal growth.
Image credits:Ross Parmly (not the actual photo)
In fact, a best friend of one of the twins has traveled with another friend alone. So, it isn’t an unprecedented experience in the OP’s environment. Yet, she just can’t imagine letting her kids do that.
Her ex-husband feels the opposite. He even said that she is ‘restricting their growth.’ Back in the day, he traveled a lot himself and didn’t see this as an overlyscarything. So, the woman came onto the Mumsnet forum to ask whether it’s unreasonable not to let her kids travel alone.
But maybe this will work for her as a motivation to work on her travel-relatedfears. It’s starting to affect her life, and even more, her relationships. If she decides to let her sons on this adventure, perhaps, in a way, it’ll be like a step of worrying about it less in the future. After all, her kids don’t seem like the type who will give up traveling after turning 18.
And people online told her that it did and encouraged the woman to overcome her fear and let the twins go
Thanks! Check out the results:
Parenting
