Sunday, May 23, 2010

Carefree Travel in Europe

My daughter, Becky, will be traveling to Germany and Denmark soon for a summer session program. 20 days on the continent. Since she started going to college, I kept encouraging her to take a semester abroad as part of her college experience. Now that the travel is fast upon us, I am worried about this and that. This morning, I got up at 4:00 am to pen her a list of things she should be doing, things she should not be doing, yada, yada, yada.

Now that I have completed my list of cautions and advisories, I feel suddenly lighter. In the meantime, I have given her a list of 20 things she should remember.
I wonder if all parents have the same anxieties as they allow their children to spread their wings in Europe?

Parents are filled with anxiety, concern, worry, and the worst case scenarios.

Youth are filled with hope, excitement, enthusiasm, and the desire to capture life.

No wonder we don't see a mass exodus of empty nesters traveling abroad just to explore the world. We are too full of anxiety, worry, concern, and the worst case scenarios.

The irony of the situation is that all of us parents have lived through our "devil-may-care, all-out-adventure" stage of our youth and have survived very well, thank you very much. So why would our experience cause us to shackle our kids with our anxiety?

So to Becky Hughes, I take back my list of 20 advisories and encourage you to have a GREAT TIME in EUROPE!!! Love you very, very much!! Love Mom

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