<p>You are right about the boys not being as much to worry about. When I was lecturing S1 about the prevalence of thieves in the bus station area, he said, “Mom. Look at me. I’m a young, strong guy. If a thief is going to hit on somebody it probably won’t be me, and if it is, I guarantee you I can catch him!” :)</p>
<p>A scooter in India?!?! That’s the scariest thing I’ve read in this thread so far!</p>
<p>In my family my Mom was the worrier and when I started to travel, including after I graduated from undergraduate college, she wanted to be infomed whenever I was traveling, given contact info, and told when I arrived at my destination and when I got home. In practice any hiccups in the communication process caused so much angst for my family that I came up with a much better plan … I didn’t tell her about my trips at all … it eliminated a ton of hassle. </p>
<p>Now that I’m a parent I try to parent much more as I wanted to be parented … when my kids travel it is not as important that I know where to reach them in the unlikely case of an emergency but it is much more important that our kids know where to find us in case they need us … and in an age with cell phones this is pretty easy (we carry them with us and keep them on when the kids might need to reach us).</p>
<p>3togo,
We follow your family’s philosophy. Our kids contact us when they have some unexpected thing come up with their travel & want us as a sounding board. We don’t always know about some of their adventures until after they get back home. They DO keep our contact info & know how to reach us & I’m reachable to them 24/7. It has worked well for us.</p>
<p>It helps give us peace of mind that we have a joint credit card with each kid, so that when the kid may be stuck for funds, they can generally pull the card out & charge things while sorting things out. It has helped D when she had no idea what her balance on her debit card was. She charged a meal with her friends & they gave her cash reimbursement so she could have that to spend for the rest of her trip.</p>
<p>S called once to say that one of his plane segments were delayed but not to worry. It worked out OK for him & he was just killing time when he called.</p>
<p>Oldfort…now that things have settled down…have you heard more from your D? Hope so!!!</p>
<p>In the meantime…does anyone know where my son is:)</p>
<p>Yes, she actually called yesterday. Asked me about Fiji dollar to US dollar conversion. She said, “wow, everything is half off then.” </p>
<p>Give us an idea where he was last seen, if he is in the states I am sure we could send one of CC parents out to find him.</p>
<p>Not surprised to hear that they had no one registered by her name at the hotel in Figi.
We were in Thailand when husband’s company HAD to get in touch with him. They had the phone number of our hotel, but there was no record of him or me checking in. Turns out, our 8 year old’s passport was the first one the receptionist looked at, so the room was in her name… The guy calling us had lived overseas for awhile, and knew he had to think outside the box. So he was able to ask enough questions to get connected to our room.</p>
<p>Now there is tsunami warning for Fiji due to the quake at Samoa. Just spoke with D1. She told me to breath. I told her to have her stuff ready, have sneakers on (not sandals) just in case if they need to evacuate. Beach front room just doesn’t seem as appealing now.</p>
<p>My son is studying abroad and not a great communicator. I basically rely on asking his sister if he has posted on facebook. I just want to know he’s “ok”. Attending class is required so my thinking was, if someone posts about his missing class or not seeing him around, I will know he’s in trouble. If he’s out having fun, then I know all is good. </p>
<p>He recently got Skype and that has helped. He has begun calling home frequently BUT it’s mostly been bad news. First the call to say he’s really sick. Turned out to be flu (luckily he had Tamiflu). Very sick for a few days, but then high fever subsided and he thought he was recuperating. But fever returned and he got sicker. Then the dr put him on antibiotics for pneumonia. Today, he called to say the dr was sending him to the hospital for more tests because of chest pain and something he “heard.” Mostly calling to let us know and ask how to pay… Good news was he called back 2 hrs later to say they did a couple tests, saw a doctor and the tests ruled out whatever they were worried about (pericarditis or something?). His biggest worry is missing classes as the school has a strict attendance policy (something he’s not used to at his US college). I’m glad the doctors keep checking him. And I’ve told him I now NEED to hear from him every day by phone or email until he’s better. I reminded him I have my passport ready.</p>
<p>We’ve heard more from him in the last 2 weeks than in the prior month. I WISH there WASN’T a reason he was calling.</p>
<p>Sorry to hear that. It sounds like he is getting better. We don’t seem to hear from them unless they are in trouble.</p>
<p>I hope morrismm’s daughter is feeling better too.</p>
<p>Last night I had D1 text me every hour for 3 hours until the warning was called off.</p>
<p>oldfort, I’m sure you appreciated those texts.</p>
<p>Glad your S sounds like he’s on the mend and that his health is being taken seriously. Hope he fully recovers SOON.</p>
<p>Read in the paper about the serious damage yesterday’s earthquake and tidal wave inflicted on several South Pacific island nations. It will be long & expensive digging out.</p>
<p>oldfort–can’t imagine what you have been through between the hotel registration snafu, earthquakes and tsunami. I hope she is safe and sound. I feel so bad for all the people effected by these events.</p>
<p>Also hope your S is getting better jerz.</p>
<p>As it turns out, my D does have shingles. She got into see a doctor Monday. But I spoke to her today and she is pain and not feeling well. Shingles can be a long recovery.</p>