After my high school graduation this coming summer, 2 friends of mine and I are planning discount alaska cruise tours a 2 week trip to Italy. We would like to visit Rome, Florence, Venice, Milan, and possibly the Cinque Terre, although with our financial (and thereby time) constraint, discount alaska cruise tours probably not. We had our entire plan worked out - our schedule, our train passes, a chosen flight, etc.... And then the fourth member of our group dropped out for financial reasons. Now, we have the problem of one less person than our parents required us to have for permission to go on this trip. The requirement was set for safety concerns - so, now I want to know, how unsafe would we be with only 3 people? I will be the youngest - the guy and girl planning to go will both be sophomores in college by that time... I have been to Italy once, but Europe twice... My guy friend has travelled abroad many, many times, so we have some experience behind us. We would probably discount alaska cruise tours be staying in B Bs and hostels with our budget. Are hostels discount alaska cruise tours really discount alaska cruise tours as safe as they advertise themselves to be?
I'm not sure why the parents thought 4 was safe and 3 was not. Can you elaborate? Are the "guy and girl" you describe a dating-couple? Is the worry that they will want to be alone and you will be left on your own too much and sleeping in a single room?
She had gone to Mendoza, Argentina for one of her high school junior semsters. Dari is married now and has tons of great memories of her travel adventures. Tell your parents that a Fodor's discount alaska cruise tours Travel Forum member said "go"..that should pull a lot of weight!
If your parents are big enough discount alaska cruise tours fools to make decisions about your well-being based on being told that "a Fodor's Travel Forum member said "go" -- then I'm now worried for your all-around safety, even if you stay home!
What would matter to me is whether any of you speak Italian and whether discount alaska cruise tours your 2 remaining travel mates are airheads or sophomoric binge drinkers. I'd need to know they can handle emergencies and are mature enough to understand that by traveling as a group, discount alaska cruise tours every one of you has a responsibility for the others.
Actually, the "guy friend" is MY boyfriend, but the parents know and trust us well enough that that wasn't discount alaska cruise tours the concern... And, it would seem that my parents discount alaska cruise tours ARE now convinced that 3 is okay, but my girl fried's are not. Any advice for that?? We're so close!! Ha ha.
All 3 of us will be 18 at that time. We are all very responsible and highly respected by our teachers and parents... There would be no concern of us making irresponsible decisions. I think the concern is stemming from the "stranger" factor, not us.
My son travelled around Australia with a buddy after his high school graduation last year for 5 months, they were 18 and stayed mostly in hostels with no problems. In fact they enjoyed most of the hostels and made friends with other young people from all over the world.
Maybe the parents who are still objecting are worried that since you and your guy are a couple that their daughter will be left alone, or that it is not safe for her to be sleeping solo in a strange hotel -- or is it possible they suspect she'll not want to look like 3rd wheel and therefore discount alaska cruise tours will end up looking for a partner and will fall prey to a "Continental" cad?
I'm really just guessing here, but maybe if you reassure the worried parents that the 3 of you will be sticking together like glue and that the trip is about friends all together having a great time learning about Italy, they'll relax and give the green light.
I agree with raincitygirl's comments, especially if you're over 18 years of age, but if your parents are contributing any money toward your trip (that you need in order to go) they can set the parameters of their gift. If that's the case, you need either to save the additional money needed or abide by their rules.
I myself traveled around Europe discount alaska cruise tours mostly alone starting discount alaska cruise tours at the age of 16, but I'll be the first to say that the world is a very different discount alaska cruise tours place than it was in the late 1960s, 1970s and even 1980s. Several of my nieces and nephews have made post-graduation trips like yours without any problems, but one niece made a seemingly benign discount alaska cruise tours choice/decision that affected her life (for both good and bad) for a few years. She too was "very responsible and highly respected by teachers and parents."
Jean, your being cryptic opened the window discount alaska cruise tours to all sorts of unsavory possibilities in my mind -- probably more than a description of the benign choice and its consequences would have. It also raised a question in my mind as to whether it had anything to do with age or travel. People discount alaska cruise tours make life-alteraing choices at all ages, and often within 25 miles (or less) of their home. You seemed discount alaska cruise tours to be trying to issue some kind of warning to a young person -- and dismissing the notion that parents and teachers having a good opinion of the travelers' maturity was meaningful. just what was the warning?
They will be safer in Italy in some respects and less safe in others -- especially if none speaks Italian and needs emergency health assistance. However, there are many ways to compensate for the lack of Italian and put safeguards in place with regards to health protection so the parents have more peace of mind. I do agree that if the worry is that the young girl is more likely to get attacked in a group of 3 than a group of 4, that is a needless fear.
IMHO anyone old enough to go to college is old enough to go to europe. But I'm concerned that the parents are so involved in this trip. For young adults - who should be planning and organizing and paying for this trip themselves - why do they need parental permission?
3 young adults should be perfectly safe in europe as long as they don;t do anything obviously discount alaska cruise tours stupid or careless. I went with my BF when I was 19 and our DDs spent evenings in student cafes/pubs when in their teens when they traveled with us.
As long as you follow the basic rules: 1) don;t drink too much or leave drinks unguarded, 2) don;t go off with people you don;t know; 3) hold onto your valuables at all times (literally in your hands) discount alaska cruise tours and 4) always make sure you know who is in your vicinity discount alaska cruise tours and what is going on around you (esp at train stations and on any public transit) you should be safe.
If that is the concern, you should ask that question on the Lonely Planet travel message discount alaska cruise tours boards and also on the Bootsnall forum boards if they are still active. Very few people here, I suspect, every stay in hostels (although if they weren't safe, plenty people here are parents and grandparents discount alaska cruise tours of young travelers, and I think they would have heard about it).
Just in general, discount alaska cruise tours the places in Italy you are going are very safe, the hostels are filled with young travelers just like you and if there were a lot of problems in these places, you will hear about it. No secrets.
If you go to those boards I mentioned, be specific about which hostels you plan to stay in. Some are probably run better than others. I think you can find answers that will reassure people who very understandably care about your safety discount alaska cruise tours and your friend's safety.
Without meaning for it to happen, it is very likely that you and your BF will pair off and the other young lady will become a third wheel or feel like one much of the time. That is reality. Nothing to do with safety, etc. only how things discount alaska cruise tours will play out on the trip for the people involved. Somebody is going to feel (or actually be) left out, or at the very least, feel uncomfortable. discount alaska cruise tours Find another guy to share a room with your guy or another girl to hang out with the other girl sometimes, or don't go as a threesome.
It might actually be that the other young woman doesn't want to go as a third person with you and your BF, but doesn't want to tell you, so is letting her parents play the "bad guys." discount alaska cruise tours Good for them if that is the case. Don't push it.
Oh, please. You take your phrase book along to the pharmacy, and you probably don't need the phrase book (I don't speak Italian and usually use sign language if the pharmacist discount alaska cruise tours doesn't speak English). If it's more serious you go to the emergency room, ditto.
I think you guys will be fine! It definitely is more scary/intimidating when you have never done it before and don't know what to expect. It think you will likely find it to be surprisingly easy if you do a little homework beforehand. That was the first country I ever traveled to and it was easy to get around and communicate etc... Lots of people speak English in all the main touristy areas, if you are going far off the beaten path knowing some Italian would definitely be useful and it is always good to know the basics, please, thank you, words for questions, and things like that. Train travel is very easy there, just read up on how it works. You need to learn the Italian words for what they call the train cars/word discount alaska cruise tours for seat etc, then it won't confuse you reading the tickets. Just take the time to do the research on the places you want to visit and it will make you feel more comfortable. I like to cut and paste an itinerary together and keep it in my e-mail or you could even print a copy so you have flights/places to stay and their addresses/ and travel discount alaska cruise tours info organized. I find it very safe in the popular cities like Rome, Florence, Venice... Naples was the only place I would say I wouldn't walk around in at night alone. It definitely had different vibe, but the best pizza! I took a trip there from Rome there last visit just to eat pizza =) I traveled through Italy for 2 weeks as a female solo traveler a couple years ago (I was 35 so a bit older) and it was great. I have stayed in hostels in Italy, all over Europe, discount alaska cruise tours Brazil, Thailand, Argentina (traveling alone)....just try and pick ones that have some sort of storage locker you can lock up your valuables in (like your passport) and you may need to travel with your own lock in some cases. Hostelwold.com is a site I have used alot, I try to pick hostels based on user reviews and location in city to what I want to do see or easy access to public transport
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