my 22 year old daughter on a tour to Europe

There is very little in life that is more difficult than to let go of our children. We know of all the horrible things that sometimes happen to people and we want to grab hold and hold on for dear life. Protection is our first instinct and our last. There is no easy way to handle this. Try to think back to when you were that age and all the things you either did or wanted to do that may have been dangerous. If you did some of them you now know how your parents felt. Consider this: When we reach our elder years and all that is left is to look back the most memorable things we will remember is the things we did that we took a chance on. What she does now will be a wonderful memory for her to look back on and I am sure there will be more. I look back at my grandfather. I loved him dearly but he never got more than 300 miles away from home in his entire 83 years. I think that is sad. Of course his generation did not consider it so but mine sure does and I am sure yours too. I am now 66 years old. I have seen much of the world and most of the United States. I would not change a thing. Yes the risk of travel is more now but there are times had I not made the decision I did I would have missed out on so much and the risk was there also. Yes it is hard for you but let your little bird fly for she will do much good. And she will never ever regret doing this no matter what.

Wow thats very nice, I hope I can also travel like her. I dont have much in life but its my dream to really travel the Philippines and explore its beauty, I have started exploring its beauty in our city and hopefully to explore other nearby places as well.

My sister went interailing around Europe when she was 18 or 19, though she was with some friends. I think it's great that your daughter is going off and seeing the world, I'd recommend Ireland..;)

I know how your daughter feels because I was her age once and my family took some time to get to used to my love of traveling. I began to travel alone at the age of 18. My mum was so worried about me but she need not have been. Whilst overseas I kept in regular contact with her by letter and telephone. I used to collect my letters from a post office. For example my family would send letters the main post office in Oslo one week. The next week they would send them to Copenhagen. These days communication is so much easier. You could use a computer to email each other. I know that some mobile phones work over amazing distances. I was surprised when my mobile phone from the UK worked in Mexico and Belize. So at 18 I traveled around Europe. At 19 I went to North Africa. At 20 I set off around the world with a working holiday visa for Australia. I stayed away on that trip one year. It was a safe and happy trip until I got very sick in Malaysia, this had come from being in Sumatra. Then I fell down a drain. You can imagine how worried my family was about me. But I was okay. Now I am 35 and I still love to travel.

Stay focussed on the positive effects all these experiences will have on the rest of her life. How wonderful for her to get to do all of these things. She will be so glad she did these things while she was young. Just be excited with her.

This positive. Think that she's having a nice time. She's living her life. Let her be. Plus ask her to give you a call every weekend, just to calm your nerves. Your kid is not going to war, she's having a great time. =)

Wow, a tour of Europe!!! I would love to go on a tour of Europe. I would love to go back to Denmark, first. Half of my family is from Denmark. I'd also love to see Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and all kinds of other wonderful countries in Eastern and Western Europe.