Page 1 of 1

#1 My 16 yr old son thinks about doing a journey to London...

Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 7:58 pm
by Durango2k
... I was a bit suprised. He today said he thinks about a one week London travel with his best schoolmate, both aged 16, this autumn. Flying by plane from Hannover and back the same way (of course zero drivers licenses, but an iphone and an apple watch :-) ).

I am not really feeling confident - I know he won´t do any foolish things etc., he´s a very rational type of guy. But still, its a foreign country, foreign language, long way back home.

What would you do as a father ?

Carsten

#2 Re: My 16 yr old son thinks about doing a journey to London...

Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 8:12 pm
by cactusman
Well only you know how sensible and savvy your son and his friend are but 16 sounds just a bit young. London is a big place and while it is pretty safe there is always the possibility of getting lost and winding up somewhere that is maybe less safe than the main tourist spots. I'd suggest he brings his dad along....when he gets to 18 he can do it with his mate!...just my take...

#3 Re: My 16 yr old son thinks about doing a journey to London...

Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2019 10:04 pm
by Series1 Stu
:yeahthat:

Being minors, would they need to be accompanied for the flight and to be handed to and from a responsible adult at each end? Others may know for sure.

Regards

#4 Re: My 16 yr old son thinks about doing a journey to London...

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 7:40 am
by christopher storey
It is now more than a quarter century since I was the father of a 16 year old, and so I may be rather out of date . However , London is a strange place these days, and is not the place I would choose for a "first solo" trip. It would be quite different if it were a school trip with a responsible adult to keep an eye on things . On balance i would say no, but as others have said, only you know your son's capabilities and, equally important, propensity for getting into mischief :bigrin:

Is there an alternative place where he would like to go unsupervised ?

#5 Re: My 16 yr old son thinks about doing a journey to London...

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 11:45 am
by Herzeg
To answer the previous post about flying, 16 is old enough to go on your own. Some airlines even take you at 14!
My eldest did a trip at 14 with Wizzair. He's travelled a lot but he was taken to the airport and we met him at the other end.

As a Londoner all my life and also a dad, I wouldn't let two foreign 16yr olds loose in London alone. As previously said, there are areas and people here that are not nice, and I would be concerned about them losing their way.

What about York? It's a fantastic tourist town, I believe the second most popular with Chinese tourists after Buckingham Palace. Lots to see and the nicest English town I've been to in years. My son is in Uni there and I go a lot. Leeds Bradford airport not too far away, and Manchester aiport a reasonable train ride, London two hours away.

John

#6 Re: My 16 yr old son thinks about doing a journey to London...

Posted: Tue Jul 02, 2019 4:40 pm
by malcolm
Rather than go to another city, I'd try and get them to wait a year or two and then go to London. Having said that, I went to sea at 17, didn't get home for 15 months, and in that time I got marooned in Bombay, lost in Calcutta, stung by a portugese man of war in Ceylon and so on; I lived to tell the tales, and the experiences were invaluable. It probably depends on what sort of 16 year olds they are as to whether or not I'd let them go, and exactly what their plans are. Only you can judge Carsten. I'm sure some on here (including me) wouldn't mind providing their phone number for emergency use.

#7 Re: My 16 yr old son thinks about doing a journey to London...

Posted: Mon Jul 08, 2019 5:41 pm
by Jaglex
From my own experience (fourtysome years ago) and from what my boys told me:
This trip is a good idea; 16 is a good age.
The only real problem might be the mother:
Some of them tend to imagine horror movies as soon as the kids don't answer a WhatsApp within seconds.
If you can stand that:
Let them go. They'll learn a lot. (The boys, hardly the mother)