Family & Friends

Everything you don't want to know when your child goes on vacation alone for the first time

By Bo Geschiere | #!31Sat, 15 Jul 2023 05:00:23 +0200+02:002331#31Sat, 15 Jul 2023 05:00:23 +0200+02:00-5Europe\/Amsterdam3131Europe\/Amsterdam202331 15am31am-31Sat, 15 Jul 2023 05:00:23 +0200+02:005Europe\/Amsterdam3131Europe\/Amsterdam2023312023Sat, 15 Jul 2023 05:00:23 +0200005007amSaturday=9#!31Sat, 15 Jul 2023 05:00:23 +0200+02:00Europe\/Amsterdam7#07-15-2023#!31Sat, 15 Jul 2023 05:00:23 +0200+02:002331#\/31Sat, 15 Jul 2023 05:00:23 +0200+02:00-5Europe\/Amsterdam3131Europe\/Amsterdam202331#!31Sat, 15 Jul 2023 05:00:23 +0200+02:00Europe\/Amsterdam7#

It's no small thing, your sixteen-year-old going on vacation alone with friends for the first time. You'd prefer to keep them chained at home, but you can't escape it anymore. It's just part of that age and you have to let them have that fun. Plus: you probably remember your first drinking vacation like it was yesterday and that this is one you'll remember until you die. Or well, parts of it.

Well, we all know that crazy things happen on such a vacation, so let me remind you what those things are. Because are they going to tell you all about it in detail when they return? I estimate the chances are slim.

1. That they are kissing in the club
Yep, we've all been there. You're young and you want to have fun.

2. That they are vaping everywhere
That tenner they got from grandma and grandpa will definitely be spent on a blueberry-flavored vape.

3. That at least one morning-after pill is being bought
Yeah, sorry, they're having sex. Whether they use the condoms you secretly stuffed in the suitcase? Let's hope so. But the chance that at least one person from the friend group has to go to the pharmacy for a pill is very high.

4. That they are drunk on the plane
As soon as they are waved off, the first bottle of vodka is already being paid for at duty-free. And opened.

5. That they are looking for fights with everyone and everything
The tempers are naturally getting shorter by the day when you have to go out for the fourth night in a row on two hours of sleep and a hangover from here to Tokyo.

6. That all phones are always dead
Also something. Somehow they always manage to leave the house with 20 percent battery.

7. That they eat McDonald's the entire vacation
The money they earned by working at the supermarket for a whole year is spent on 1: drinks and 2: Big Macs.

8. That they puke all over the place
And you can still clap your hands if that happens neatly in the toilet bowl.

9. That they have almost lost their ID card three times
Or the damage is already done and it's gone. Who gets to solve this? You, of course.

10. That they walk on the road at night
Nine times out of ten, the Uber doesn't show up and they decide to walk back. Whether that's along the highway or across the roundabout, that's secondary.

Not only will they have sleepless nights, I guess, but you will too. And yet we wish them an unforgettable vacation.