My 15 year old daughter is heading to Scotland on her own for three weeks this summer and I am so proud of her that she has the confidence to travel on her own.
I didn’t have the opportunity to travel when I was growing up but somehow was bitten by the travel bug anyway. When I did start traveling I came to the realization fairly quickly that when I had kids I wanted to continue to travel – both to satisfy my wanderlust and to show them the world that I wanted them to feel at home in.
Katie’s first big trip was at Christmas when she was 2.5 months old and we travelled by car to visit both sets of grandparents and her great-grandmother in northern Ontario. It was 8 hours of driving in each direction plus a 2.5 hour drive in between on Christmas Eve to my husband’s grandmother’s home. It was quite a bit of driving with an infant, however, we were so happy that we had done it when my husband’s Granny was admitted to the hospital a few days after Christmas and passed away just a few weeks later. If we hadn’t been willing to travel that far with our baby then Granny would not have had the joy of spending that one Christmas with her great-granddaughter. It also gave me the confidence that traveling with a baby was possible and by the time Katie was 4.5 months old we were on a plane to Florida.
When we started traveling as a family, with Katie, we played it safe and kept our travels to within Canada, the United States and the Caribbean. Emma was born when Katie was 6 years old and we soon had her on her first flight before she was 4 months old as well. By the time Emma was approaching 4 years of age, we felt like she was a good traveler who could venture farther so we headed to Alaska, then Hawaii and on our first trip to Europe as a family when she was 6. Once we had conquered an overseas trip then we knew that the sky was the limit in terms of traveling with the kids and I couldn’t wait to explore more of the world with them.
Travel has so many benefits and I want my girls to have them all. I want my daughters to feel comfortable traveling to unfamiliar places. I want them to feel like global citizens. I want them to understand that people around the world may seem different at first but that once you scratch the surface we all have the same hopes and dreams. I believe that travel makes for more educated and broad-minded people and, above all else, that is what I want Katie and Emma to be when they are grown up.
I raised them to travel so it shouldn’t really come as any surprise to me that they will want to venture out on their own. Katie, who is now 15 years old, has been on several school trips and to summer camp without us, however, this summer she has decided to accept an incredible opportunity and travel to Scotland by herself for a 3 week summer program at The International Summer School of Scotland in St. Andrew’s. She is going to attend this program with students from all over the world while she studies Creative Writing and Theatre.
It would be a lie to say that I didn’t feel a bit conflicted at first about her application to this program. It’s an amazing opportunity, in fact, I wish I could spend three weeks in St. Andrews. But she has to fly, by herself, from Toronto to Glasgow before traveling on to St. Andrew’s. And she’s only 15. And she’ll be gone for 3 weeks.
She’s very excited about going and I’m very excited for her – but just a little bit nervous about her heading off on her own. I know that she’s ready though and I know that she can do this and that she’ll be so much more confident in her own abilities to manage in the world after she returns home. Most of all I’m just extremely proud of her that she has the desire and the confidence to travel on her own.
She’s going for 3 weeks in July and I know that it will be an experience of a lifetime for her. She’s got this – I know she’ll be fine. And, with any luck, I may be able to talk her into writing a blog post or two for me.
Related Reading
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Twokidsandamap
That is so great that you are so supportive of this adventure. I hope my children are presented with opportunities like this. I hope I can handle it the same way you are…and I can’t wait to read the blog posts that come from this trip!
jan
She IS brave. The experience will broaden her perspective no end.
InACents
Wow, what a great momma! It sounds like an incredible experience, and like you have done a fine job instilling great morals in your daughters.
Steve
You’re just trying to keep her away from Talon because you know we’re coming east this summer aren’t you?
Seriously though, that’s such a great opportunity and Katie will have a fantastic time! It’s not going to interfere with the Potter convention in Chicago is it?
Jennifer Howze
I had the opportunity to go on a big trip that like while in my teens and for a variety of reasons didn’t go. I’ve always regretted it and all my friends who went said it really changed them for the better.
To go to such an esteemed school for a short course is a fantastic opportunity as well. Looking forward to updates about her experiences!
walkingon travels
This will be so huge for her, you have no idea. Now that I am a mom I know how hard it will be to let her go (and even harder that she gets to go to Scotland and you don’t!) but this will truly shape her as a person. I went on a 3 week trip to Poland and Moldova in my last year of high school. It was with 3 other students and a teacher through a program at school, but I still did homestays with our partner schools in these countries and it was a big leap of faith for my parents to let me go. They are not world travelers at all. I had been dreaming of getting out on my own and studying abroad my entire high school career and it had finally come. I found out what I was capable of on my own and the responsibilities that come along with it. I would not trade it for the world. MIssed my senior prom because of it and I don’t regret it for a second! Hang tight mama!
Lisa Goodmurphy
@Two Kids and a Map, Jan, and In a Cents – thanks – I’m sure she will have an incredible time and hopefully she’ll want to write about it!!
Lisa Goodmurphy
@Steve – I didn’t know that you were coming east this summer – when and where??
This is how Katie’s summer is shaping up: June 30-July 22nd she’s in Scotland; August 8-12 she, Emma and I will be in Chicago for the Harry Potter conference; and August 17th- Sept 3rd we’ll be on the east coast for our family holiday. I think she’ll be away more than she will be home. 🙂
Lisa Goodmurphy
@Jennifer – she wants to do this trip so badly that I was pretty sure that I would regret it if we didn’t let her go. She opted not to do an exchange this term at school and now she’s regretting it as several of her friends are off having a great time abroad. I think that’s part of the reason that she was so adamant that she wanted to go away this summer. I’m sure that St. Andrews will be a fabulous experience for her!!
Lisa Goodmurphy
Thanks, Keryn – it’s nice to hear that someone else had positive experiences traveling abroad as a teenager. And I am just a wee bit jealous that she gets to spend three weeks in St. Andrews and I don’t.
You aren’t going to believe this coincidence but Katie has to do a service trip with her school in grade 11 and she’s hoping to do the one that goes to an orphanage in Moldova over spring break. My friend’s son went on the same trip last year and had an amazing time – I’m not sure that I had heard of Moldova before then!! 🙂
Spencer
I know what you mean. At least you can console yourself with the knowledge that you have raised a responsible explorer!
Mary @ The World Is A Book
What a great and unforgettable experience for your Katie! I’m sure all your travels have totally prepared her for this. I’m so excited for her and I can’t wait to read about it.
I went on my first school trip without the parents when I was her age. For being an island girl from Guam, it was a big deal to go to Washington, DC and 7 states for 2.5 weeks. It was one of the best trips of my life and ignited the travel bug. I hope to write a similar post like this in 5 years of my daughter =)