<p>S had his pre-registration meeting with his advisor yesterday. I’m really glad he fell in with the advisor he has. I really feel as if we’re all pulling on the same end of the rope.</p>
<p>2016BarnardMom – I think S was a little older (but a year at most) when he started flying by himself. He had parents waiting on the other end, but your D sounds as if she’s functioning as an adult (as opposed to just in the legal sense), so I think he’d be fine.</p>
<p>Now, if my S invited his little sister to visit, I’d be in shock. :)</p>
<p>I think that is incredibly sweet. I love that.</p>
<p>One word of caution, though. When I was a junior, I went on my Spring Break to visit my brother at Duke. OMG. I was introduced to parties, no lockers, no school bells ringing etc. Granted, I was clearly pretty naive, but all I have to say is that my Mom says that was one of the worst mistakes she ever made. I came back to HS with my eyes OPENED, looked around, and said “This is Bull@#$#!” I had had a taste of freedom and there was no going back. She said from that moment on, I had a foot out of the door of high school and I never really enjoyed it again. </p>
<p>That might be an exaggeration on her part but honestly, I think you have to know your kid. I have always been ready to grab the bull by the horns and be independent and thus, seeing there were all the freedoms out there really made me restless. Your son may or may not have that reaction but I thought I’d throw it out there as an FYI. :)</p>
<p>BarnardMom – You said your D had traveled more by herself by the time she was your S’s age. Sounds like it’s about time to let your S spread his wings.</p>
<p>Maybe you can adjust the dates a little for his travel so it’s not so cost-prohibitive? Sometimes shifting by a day or two can do wonders.</p>
<p>If he does travel as an Unaccompanied Minor, then that will be extra cost and frequently those reservations cannot be made online. Different airlines have different ages for UM.</p>
<p>Most airlines these days are 12 for the unaccompanied minor. You can request the service if they’re older but the pricing for it has gotten ridiculous. Back when my kids first did it (more than a decade ago) it was like $25 one way. Now some of them are $100. And they really don’t do much for that money unless something happens (ie they need to help them with overnight accommodations, etc.). </p>
<p>However, if your child is under 18, you CAN accompany them to the gate, whether they’re officially traveling as an unaccompanied minor or not. You’ll need to go to the ticketing counter and show your ID and get a gate pass. I did it several times when my kids flew out for soccer camps or STEM programs, etc. and they never gave me a hard time with different airlines or with a 17 year old. Just remember to add in extra time to wait at the ticket counter.</p>
<p>My son flew from So. Cal. to Dallas at age 15 or 16. It went well; flying seems to be pretty easy for unaccompanied minors. I don’t recall any problems. He subsequently flew unaccompanied at age 17 to Lehigh and MIT. Only once was it problematic when he went on the overnight flight to MIT or Lehigh, I forget which, and the couple sitting next to him was carrying on an affair! That was awful for him, poor thing. So my advice: No overnight flights alone!</p>
<p>I feel like the wild mom here. My kids started very young taking a short flight by themselves to see grandma. Direct flight, teeny airport (6 gates). As they got older they started flying unaccompanied and I’d take them to the gate with direct flights.</p>
<p>My 16yo went with a summer program to Costa Rica and Ecuador and flew by herself, but she was with a group of kids. I left her at security.</p>
<p>My kids are very comfortable finding their way through airports, the security check, getting taxi’s, etc. </p>
<p>Contrast that with my office where only one or two have ever been on an airplane and most have never left the state. I don’t want that being the norm for my kids.</p>
<p>Hi guys. DS was accepted into the summer abroad in Spain through his college. He will live with a host family in Seville and Salamanca and take two Spanish classes. I need to book his flights today so that he is in Madrid in time for the mandatory program meeting. I am an anxious mom by nature and have very little information other than the dates of the program and that it is run through his college so I am feeling a bit of a freak out this am. I hope that it is not too out of line for me to call the CIPA dept. at his school and ask a few more questions. I did get DS to forward me all communication that he received so far (since he is not communicative) and it just said to book the flights now. I am used to being more in the know.</p>
<p>My daughter’s been flying by herself for a long time. She was so glad when she turned 12 because that was the age that Southwest let you dump the Unaccompanied Minor paperwork.</p>
<p>She’s never been by herself overseas, but she has traveled with a small group where I considered her the responsible person in the group.</p>
<p>We’ve scaffolded her into this, though, letting her guide us through the airport, etc., when we travel.</p>
<p>Good luck getting the info you need, Seiclan!</p>
<p>Same as eyemamom… my kids have been flying alone since they were wee ones and know how to figure out there way around airports. Funny story this past summer, my DS 14 was going to Canada for a Shakespeare intensive in Stratford. We dropped him off at LAX at the front and left. So we get a call from him when he was in Canada that he was stuck in customs and being interrogated as a run away because he did not have a note from us saying it was ok to leave the country since he was under 16…Oops… He then missed his shuttle that was supposed to drive him to Stratford which was 2 hours away. He negotiated with the shuttle company to get him a bus to meet the shuttle driver at a designated spot and then on to Stratford… all this on his own. I truly think it gives them A LOT of confidence as hard as it is on us( I was totally freaked out and was pacing the floor). </p>
<p>And, as most of you know my DS12 hiked 2650 miles from Mexico to Canada by himself… so there you go, let them go, they will figure it out…you might be surprised:)</p>
<p>My older kids flew when they were about seven and nine a few times to visit family across the country. It was fine. My daughter flew unaccompanied to England when she was fourteen and it was fine. Last summer DS, while still seventeen, flew a connecting flight to Paris to visit family. While there he took the Metro all over by himself. He had a great time.</p>
<p>Both of my kids started flying alone in HS. Both have flown by themselves out of the country. D1 left yesterday for South America for 5 months. </p>
<p>The good news is that with the technology of today it is easy to helicopter a bit. I could track my DDs fights and they can text or email (internet is almost everywhere) as soon as they are settled. </p>
<p>When I graduated college I spent a month trekking around southeast Asia. I sent a telegram home every Friday and picked up letters at the GPO in major cities. Looking at that as a parent I am amazed my parents did not totally freak out.</p>
<p>We did decide it was cost prohibitive right now, but agreed that maybe during parents’ weekend in the fall he could go. He would do a college visit at Columbia while there too. </p>
<p>I do think he would be capable. He hiked for 9 days with everything he needed on his back and at one point, all of the adults in his crew had been injured so his crew was on their own for a day. They eventually got word to the adults in the other crew and one of them came to join them. </p>
<p>He has really grown a lot in the past couple years and does do things on his own that surprise me. He’d probably be fine. I was quite freaked out when I sent D to NYC for her summer program at Barnard. She was to text me when she landed, when she was in the cab and when she arrived at Barnard. So she is texting me from the cab, telling me her driver was asking if she was a Columbia student, etc. He was very friendly and he had come up to her to see if she needed a ride. Yikes.</p>
<p>She got there fine. She sent a text later that day saying “I guess I was in a gypsy cab and they said to never get in those cabs.” Oh my.</p>
<p>D did say she’d meet him at the airport to bring him to campus so he wouldn’t navigate that alone. But really, the flights are $500 the weekend that would work, because of spring break. That’s almost as much as her Thanksgiving flight cost! It is MUCH more than I spend on a birthday. We’ll work something out. I wish she had thought of that before his 4 day weekend break last week!</p>
<p>They flew as unaccompanied minors when they were 12 and 14, to go see Grandpa in Florida. I was supposed to go but my mom was hospitalized here right before the trip. The plan was that we were going to stay with my dad for a few days then meet up with my ex-husband who was taking the kids on a cruise. So the kids had to get down there somehow. It all worked out. Ironically, it was the same day that they had the liquid bomb scare in London that led to us not being able to carry large sized containers of liquids on planes. That was kind of scary!</p>
<p>S will be 17 in a few weeks so unaccompanied minor isn’t necessary!</p>
<p>The talk of travel reminds me of when my son and his friend went to New Orleans during 10th grade spring break. My son had flown a number of times but his friend never had. They had just boarded the plane and were getting buckled in when his friend said," Oh no, I left my iPod where we were sitting in the waiting area." My son told him," You just go out there and get it. Tell the stewardess you forgot something and will be right back." The friend did. A hundred dollars saved :)</p>
<p>I hate when they call because something is wrong and you can’t do anything from hundreds of miles away. D called tonight and you know how you can just tell that everything is not ok from their voice? I instantly said “What’s wrong?” She has a migraine, which is a new thing for her. She took some ibuprofen and slept for a couple hours, but it was still there when she woke up. I told her there isn’t much else she can do but try to stay in a dark quiet area and rest. She sounded so miserable :(</p>
<p>Barnardmom - I hope your D feels better today.</p>
<p>Add my guys to the experienced flyers. They’ve flown since they were young. Oldest started flying by himself at 13. Younger two probably started at 14. Youngest was the chief assistant (traveling-wise) with his school class when they went to Paris guiding through the airports and metro + streets. Their teacher was experienced, but the other students were not.</p>
<p>Middle son told us yesterday that his spring break trip to Haiti got put off for a year, so he’s coming home. It’s so late we’re having to drive to pick him up along with one of his friends who was also supposed to go to Haiti and can’t afford to home. I’ve already scheduled the day off from work and am REALLY looking forward to seeing him again (plus meeting the friend)!</p>
<p>Barndardmom - D1 had wicked migraines as a teenager. It was so bad that one side of body was paralyzed. They determined it was due to hormonal change. Not sure what is the cause for your D. D1’s doctor told her to take Motrin as soon as she felt it coming, not wait for it to be in full blown. She used to carry Motrin with her. She was also told to stay away from caffein (coke). She no longer gets bad migraines, but her options for birth control is more limited. She loves her coffee now, but she still doesn’t drink coke.</p>
<p>Caffeine helps my sons migraines. The best OTC is excedrin migraine. If she doesn’t have that she can take 3 or 4 ibuprofen at one time. If she has access to any kind of ice, putting it on the back of the neck or where the headache is can help as well. Sorry she’s suffering.</p>
<p>I just realized I need to buy tickets for the trip home for spring break! Can’t believe it’s almost here.</p>
<p>W used to have really bad migraines until she was prescribed propranolol (a beta blocker) for high blood pressure. She asked her doctor if this could be related. Sure enough, some docs prescribe beta blockers as a prophylactic for migraines. Regardless of blood pressure, she now takes a small dose daily and has had very, very few migraines in the years since.</p>
<p>If this starts to become a regular occurrence, I’d work with a doctor.</p>
That was awful for him, poor thing. So my advice: No overnight flights alone!</p>