Writing this
post up has been on my mind for a while and, what with my workload for school
looking a little intimidating, I
figured I’d get it done now. Quick forewarning, I will be getting a little
emotional.
Taken 2014
So,
traveling first became a dream for me when I saw a tourism ad on the television
that consisted of the Remarkable Rocks in South Australia. It, along with many others,
were nice and inspiring ads and I’m most certain that others around the world
have had similar moments. Thanks to social media, it’s become an epidemic that
we can all get on aboard with.
An abundance
of images are floating around cyberspace featuring temples, beautiful cities
and natural environments that leave our jaws dropping to the ground – seriously,
travel is the best disease ever!
Now, let’s
skip ahead from the inception moment to the long desired one when ‘Young
Aspiring Traveller’ – they know who they are – is of age, has worked their arse
off and finally has their bags packed… and something stops them from getting on
the plane.
This, I can
only trust, can be a heartbreaking moment kiddies…
Reasons can
vary – the Young Aspiring Traveller has broken a vital limb, the airline has
pulled a Tigerair and been forced to cancel all of their flights to Whoop Whoop
or the chosen destination has been hit by some uneasiness, hence putting the
plan on hold. If the Sheep is talking about you, good reader, you have said
Sheep’s sympathies. Some things just simply cannot be helped.
However,
there’s one excuse that I simply cannot tolerate stopping the YAT from getting
on the plane. Said YAT has pulled out of their dream trip… because their
parentals don’t want them to go.
This is wear
my emotions will start to kick in.
Brenna of This Battered Suitcase fame went live on
the Facebook abomination a few weeks back, in which she answered her followers’
queries (thanks for answering mine) and shared one saddening question by a
young woman. The young woman in question pointed out that her parents didn’t
want her traveling simply because they believed it to be unsafe.
A little bit
later I was reading about Cynthia over at Every
Footstep An Adventure (you want a good travel blog you suss out the
Canadians – they know their shit) who
was meant to take off with a friend before said friend’s parents made them pull
out.
My heart
breaks for anyone who has been placed in this kind of shituation.
Taken 2016
For the
record, parents have a right to be worried for their children’s safety – it’s
only natural, and I’ve always believed that there’s nothing more dangerous in
the world than a parent protecting their child, but children do grow up.
They develop
aspirations and if said aspirations include a passport, than I say, ‘Let them
go.’
My own
parents had their reservations about me going my own way – to Thailand during
the coup of 2014, and they even expressed their concerns about me crossing
Australia for my first weekish long holiday (our homeland by the way). This
pissed me off (in a quiet way) and it made me angry and so forth, but I
reminded myself, they never
experienced what I wanted to do. They weren’t able to reassure themselves of
what could really happen.
This is where
the fear stems from. Some have the luxury to raise their children with the odd
trip via customs and immigration, whilst others won’t – reasons will vary and
the latter shouldn’t be blamed. Not everyone is granted such privilege, but
with budget travel another much welcomed epidemic the privilege can be very
real. So, with all of that said, if it can be done parents, share in your
child’s disease.
And this is
where my big shot of advice gets thrown in…
I’ve had
people come to me asking for advice on locations and tricks to use and I’ll
happily give them the answers, should I have them – TripAdvisor forums don’t
always bear fruit and asking those who’ve attended Google university is just
plain illogical to me. If I don’t have said answers though, I’ll point them
towards individuals (solo females, people with special needs, those who’ve been
to a certain destination and so on – I’ve met my share of these awesomniacs)
who have first-hand knowledge.
That said –
to stamp the fears out good parents, I highly recommend seeking out fellow
parentals who’ve seen their offspring off at the airport. They can help
reassure you that travelling can be the best of things.
You’re likely
to know your share of passport holding elders. If you do, go to them, ask them
every question you can think of and put yourself at ease. If you don’t, beg
your friends and family if they know any of their own and hunt those people
down relentlessly.
Information
can be the tamer of our hesitations - it can put us all in a positive frame of
mind that will get us all out the door and looking in the right direction that
some of us can so sorely need. The world is calling – Lonely Planet’s yearly top ten destinations is temptation enough.
Taken 2011
It’s the
best thing you can do for yourselves and most importantly, for your YAT.
Little
steps, people.
