<p>Agree about arranging the airport to hotel transport ahead of time. I was nervous the first time my oldest traveled and everything went well, but I did arrange for him to be picked up at the airport. He was coming into an airport that I wasn’t familiar with so it eased my mind to know that someone would be waiting. It was just a courtesy-type shuttle van/taxi/limo service. This might be silly, but I also made sure all my kids had an extra cell phone battery. There are still some airports where it is impossible to find an electrical outlet. During the blizzards at Christmas this year S1 had a several day journey with an overnight in an airport and the spare battery was really appreciated as he hurtled himself from concourse to concourse on the cell phone trying to find a plane that would take him and calling us every half hour. Silly, but I travel with extra (charged) batteries for work, too.</p>
<p>A warning. Once the kid figures out how easy and relative inexpensive it is to travel by air and public transportation, they will be traveling all over the US and world.</p>
<p>“Once the kid figures out how easy and relative inexpensive it is to travel by air and public transportation, they will be traveling all over the US and world.”</p>
<p>This is the best for students if the students are familiar with traveling and the city has a safe and convenient transportation system. You may not want a girl to get mugged in the BART.</p>
<p>Parents of the Class of '13 - a vision of the near future:</p>
<p>This month is the three-year anniversary of the day we put our 17-year-old daughter on a plane to a city 1100 miles away for her college’s Accepted Students weekend. We did all the things you all are talking about. She was supposed to contact us every so often, take a cab, not the subway, etc. We stayed nervous the whole time and crowded around the telephone receiver when she called. It was good to hear all the enthusiastic stories but also good to get her back home.</p>
<p>She got to college and decided to become a Latin American Studies major. She got grants from the college for study abroad and went to Peru on a college-sponsored program that summer. Then she found a great airfare to visit a British college friend in London before the start of her sophomore year. The sophomore summer brought an internship in Argentina during which she got a hug from La Presidenta herself. She organized a helicopter flight over the countryside for herself and her friends and hang-glided off a peak in the Andes. Then she finagled an opportunity to get paid teach a course in Latin American political movements to high schoolers in China. For this summer, she has an internship in Brazil.</p>
<p>She glides around the globe the way that I drive to the mall. She advises me on savvy traveling tips and prudent safety measures. She tells me about her plans for the future, I offer my input and cautions, and she patiently describes how all the details will work out. She’s more worldly than I’ll ever be and as comfortably on her campus as she ever was in her own room at home. And this September, she’ll become old enough to order herself a glass of wine when she goes out with friends.</p>
<p>It’s a stunning transformation, and it’s more than a little humbling for a Dad who was always the voice of experience and authority. But it’s wonderful and makes me kind of misty-eyed just thinking about the life she’s leading in college. And it all started with a small leap of faith and a willingness to let go . . . if only for a weekend.</p>
<p>Congratulations on your remarkable kids, fellow Moms and Dads. They do just fine.</p>
<p>What a lovely tribute gadad. If my daughter can do half as well I’ll be thrilled. </p>
<p>I have to admit that although we certainly gave her the choice, my hidden motive in arranging this crazy weekend for her was to give her the chance to assert the independence that she has always exhibited. I really hope she will seize the opportunities that college offers her and although I’ll be a little jealous, I want her to have the self-confidence to try all those new, exciting things. </p>
<p>I’ll watch carefully for now, but I’m sure she will be off and on her way before long. I secretly hope she may find her way back to our part of the world some day, but I want her to have lots of adventures before then.</p>
<p>No real additional advice, except you will want to track her flight. I always do.
I also think 10% is a good enough tip. If rain is expected (it is), an umbrella might be handy.
Chances are your D is even in the same hotel with others attending the event. The front desk will be happy to call a taxi.</p>
<p>I hope she has fun!</p>
<p>Oh, Historymom, good for you! She’ll be fine, and thank goodness for cell phones. You’ll be in contact with her and can literally walk her through everything if she wants. I bet she’s thrilled at the prospect of this independence, and she really will be fine!</p>
<p>Remind her to keep her luggage in front of her and in her line of view at all times, especially in the airport. Also, she should keep some money in a separate place from her pocketbook which should have the zipper in the front (more difficult to get into that way.)</p>
<p>The first time S did this (and the second, third and fourth times), I was also paranoid. </p>
<p>He had to change planes, so I made sure to book the flight that went through the smallest airport possible. Also, I printed out the map of the airport, so he would have a clue as to where the gates were. (I don’t know why I thought he could read maps, he had a horrible sense of direction.) I also checked the flight progress online.</p>
<p>He was gracious enough to agree to call me at significant spots, ‘at the airport’, ‘at the gate’, ‘at the school’. </p>
<p>He said the biggest problem was that people wanted to talk to him about the Harry Potter book under his arm before he finished reading it. </p>
<p>Not as paranoid now, but I do call the hotel/friends house if he hasn’t sent me an ‘I’m here’ text. </p>
<p>One thing to talk about before she goes-- Help her figure out how much time she needs to allow for checking out of the hotel, getting to the airport, and getting to the plane. (The airline site will tell you how much time you should allow at the airport to check in.)</p>
<p>Jamiecakes has great advice that I totally never thought of.</p>
<p>Walk them through all the steps. DD2 had been all over since she was a baby, but we realized when she was a HS sr. that she had never travelled alone. (!) It took a few emergencies to get her through those regular “emergencies” - flight delay, flight cancelled, lost baggage, etc.</p>
<p>Most of what you need to tell her is what you told her at age 3 if she got lost or separated from you at a store: Ask for help from someone in uniform (TSA employee, flight attendant, etc.) Don’t panic and take a deep breath. Make sure you know your address (in this case, the address of where she’s going- the real address, not some phony office park address which is what might be on the motel website.) Go to the bathroom before you leave the house and then every time you see one since you won’t be able to find one when you need it. </p>
<p>She’ll do great and you’ll be so proud!</p>
<p>blossom–LOVE the bathroom advice. Also the address advice as nowadays you don’t get "real"addresses but internet ones. Also, OP-the idea of eating at the airport–although many only have vending machines. One trip through smaller airports I could not eat for nearly 18 hours thus I never ever travel without protein bars and such.</p>
<p>S also traveled solo by plane for a college scholarship weekend. All went smoothly until the return home, when flights kept getting delayed or cancelled due to weather issues. Several of his traveling companions from a neighboring state came up with what I thought were pretty risky alternative plans which when they parted ways could have ended in S being stranded alone overnight in a large city train or bus station. He considered the options and made a good decision about the safest and best way to proceed, and then informed me of the options and his choice. Fortunately, I concurred, but was a little freaked because he admitted having been tempted to make the wrong decision just because other kids were doing it and he didn’t want to be left alone so early in the trip. Therefore, I would discuss with your D some general guidelines for what to do in the event her plans change unexpectedly due to events outside her control.</p>
<p>Secondly, I have a question for you all. Two years ago, I sent S with his sister out of state for an event. DH had made the hotel reservation for them with his travel points. But when they arrived, S was asked for ID and was told he could not check in without an adult since he wasn’t yet 21. I don’t know if they would have given him trouble if he weren’t with a girl whom they had no way of knowing wasn’t his underage girlfriend. Still, have none of your kids had similar issues staying solo in hotels due to their age? Is this because the college vouched for them to the hotel? S thought quickly and told the clerk that D’s coach was arriving later (wasn’t true), so the clerk let him have the room key. Phew! What a disaster that almost was. They had arrived at around 9 PM and we live 10 hours driving distance from where they were.</p>
<p>Jamiecake’s ideas are very good. </p>
<p>I would type out a step by step itinerary that had times, addresses, phone numbers maps included and then discuss each step with her. I am always surprised at what my kids don’t know that I take for granted.</p>
<p>I would have her preprogram her cell phone with the phone numbers that she MIGHT need, including cab, hotel, airline, host, campus police (who could be very helpful for non emergency questions too).</p>
<p>I WOULD NOT be on the phone with her while she is doing all of the travel. I would think she would get more out of taking in her surroundings and planning the next move and would not want her to be distracted by talking on the phone. I would want frequent check in phone calls.</p>
<p>She will be so proud of herself! and you will too.</p>
<p>blossom’s bathroom tip reminded me of how I used to tell my D to always use the bathroom before getting on the subway. Believe me, I’ve been there and I’m convinced there is nothing worse than a stalled subway car and a full bladder!</p>
<p>The best advice I have to offer is for your daughter to give herself plenty of time between transitions. For this trip, I would say double the expected time. Even after years of travel, I run into unexpected situations. Just last month, I accompanied my D to the airport on the public bus. We were congratulating ourselves that not only had we saved $30 in cab fare, the bus came right away and we were right on time. Then we got to the airport terminals and missed the right stop because we couldn’t see the sign for her airline (you would think it would be easy to spot, right?). Well, the next stop was half a mile away, so we ended up sprinting back to her terminal with all her bags. Ugh.</p>
<p>D was always afraid of flying, so we wondered how she would get through all the flying back and forth. She has gotten used to it, and so have we.</p>
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</p>
<p>Most safety experts discourage talking on the cell phone, since it makes you look vulnerable and distracted. Have it ready, but don’t talk and walk at the same time.</p>
<p>
From [How</a> to Avoid Muggers | eHow.com](<a href=“http://www.ehow.com/how_2110903_avoid-muggers.html]How”>ehow | ehow).</p>
<p>
From [Staying</a> safe: Don’t look like a victim](<a href=“http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/42146647.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUHPYDiaK7DUiacyKUnciatkEP7DhUr]Staying”>http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/42146647.html?elr=KArks7PYDiaK7DUHPYDiaK7DUiacyKUnciatkEP7DhUr)</p>
<p>
From a “how to pickpocket” site [‘Pickpocketing</a> 101’ - rotteneggs.com - A Social Network for Pranksters.](<a href=“http://www.rotteneggs.com/r3/show/se/143355.html]'Pickpocketing”>http://www.rotteneggs.com/r3/show/se/143355.html)</p>
<p>“Still, have none of your kids had similar issues staying solo in hotels due to their age? Is this because the college vouched for them to the hotel?”</p>
<p>Mine are sophs and haven’t reached this stage yet, but I did have a somewhat related issue a few months ago. Dd (16) and a girlfriend (15) wanted to visit a friend in a city 4 hours away. They were originally going to go on Amtrak, but as it turned out the only schedule that would work was Greyhound. The Greyhound 1-800 number had said that we (parents) needed to show and sign a consent form, so both I and the other parent showed up as opposed to one of us just taking the girls to the terminal; meanwhile, the personnel at the Greyhound terminal said that children under 17 weren’t allowed to go out of state even with parental permission, and refused to give us tickets we had bought online. But, we could buy tickets for “ourselves” and give them to the girls and don’t-ask-don’t-tell. It was a mess, but the Greyhound trip itself was uneventful.</p>
<p>The suggestion above with the preprogramming the cell phone is TERRIFIC. </p>
<p>You might even want to go on the website of the airport and have her familiarize herself with where she’ll be landing and where she’ll go to get her transportation. And a map of the college, too, if she’s not already familiar.</p>
<p>wow-gonna guesss that these posts have been helpful and also alarming. I think that I know which school your D is visiting and most likely the whole trip will be uneventful. I like the idea of programing in the cab and hotel and school contact # into the phone. She is going to do fine and have a good trip.</p>
<p>Yes, you need to make the hotel res. (which I think you have) as a pre pay so your underage D can stay there–I have had to that a few times.</p>
<p>You might also want to get her one of those handbags that sling across the body as opposed to the kind that she carries on her shoulder or hangs off her arm. I would do carry-on (she doesn’t need to deal with waiting around for luggage) but make sure it’s a rollerboard and not a duffel so she can handle it easily.</p>
<p>Make sure she is NOT on the last flight out to her destination. </p>
<p>If it makes you feel better … I was 17 and flew up with a girlfriend to the college I wound up attending; we took a bus (!) to the campus – we didn’t know what we were doing, but we were totally fine. She will do fine! You may get some gray hairs though!</p>