taylor_made

Lady:

You are thankful to the informative posters. For telling you what? For re-assuring you that your daughter will be safe. In spite of the fact that aside from the most common advice on phone cards and frequent internet emailing, nobody had given you the possible dark side of travelling alone, with the possible exception of Hans, who provided information regarding sleeping in train stations, things getting stolen and some other poster who wrote about bringing condoms.

Yes, you got your assurances from the internet that your daughter will be safe and sound in Europe. Congratulations, and I trust and pray (oooops, just make that, I pray) that she has a good and safe time.

BTW, I have to take exception to your statement about being embarrased. Let me tell you this. My mother has nurtured and carefully-reared me with a lot of love and respect. She respects me and she has the confidence in her abilities to raise me such that she will personally confide in me the negatives and positives of travelling alone, which I did when I was 18. She had taught me the ups and downs of travelling alone that she, herself, experienced or would have learned from
reading messages on this board had this been available back then. Unlike you, though, she wouldn't rely on a bunch of complete strangers posting on the internet to determine how she can trust or have faith in me or how they can guarantee my safety.
At my age, I still feel that imaginary umbilical chord in spite of the fact that I live thousands of miles away from my mother. She reared me with respect that I was able to demonstrate I deserved and she worried about my whereabouts (and still does when I don't call) but not to the extent that she had to ask my boss as to how safe would be the place where I'm sent to travel to.

I'm so happy that my mother is so different from you.

BrimhamRocks

Lady, to quote your own words...

"I'm not going to protest her going any more..."

We can all tell you care about your daughter's safety. That's not in question. However, your original post is very contradictory - you state her age and how mature she is, and the fact that she has already had exposure to Europe twice, and then you state that you have been protesting her going to Europe, period, not just because of safety concerns. I think that's where some of the confusion and negative responses are coming from.

Giving you the benefit of the doubt, perhaps you just didn't express yourself very well when you typed your original post.

Many valid points have been made by the people who responded to your post. Honestly, it does sound as if your daughter will be A-ok. She's certainly old enough, you say she's mature enough, and the experience will do nothing but benefit her, both personally and maybe professionally, too. Give her your blessings. Trust the common sense and maturity that you admire in your daughter. Then when she gets back, observe the confidence and sense of accomplishment that will be radiating from her.

I hope your daughter has a wonderful trip!