Ariana Grande dilemma

I would go and stay in the hotel with a good book. I'd be anxious if it was my 2 ds and they are 21 and 26! Some of us are just anxious mothers due to life experiences.

But you're talking about a 15-year-old here. That's not akin to 'travelling with a child' at all. She's not a toddler who is going to run off and get lost if someone forgets to hold her hand, or who might catch chicken pox and need Calpol or start crying in the night for her mummy.

There's no more childcare involved for a 19-year-old catching a flight with a 15-year-old than there is in catching a flight with another 19-year-old - which they do all the time.

She's a teenager. If you don't think she can get on a plane with a young adult and go to a concert without incident, you really haven't done your job as a parent.

My friend's 15-year-old went inter-railing round Europe with her 18-year-old sibling for three weeks last year.

are you quite ok? I am not sure all that drama is necessary.

I am sorry you think a 19 year old couldn't cope with a a trip 2 hours away, and that a 15 year old would be put into a vulnerable position.

So what is it about then? Because you’ve not actually said other than it being a big city.

But you trust her to look after your child whilst you work?

18yr old go on gap years. My DC organised and went to Sweden. At 18 I went to Houston and Texas and didn't even tell my parents.

A 15yr old is capable. I was babysitting at that age. So a 19 and 15 yr old will be perfectly fine unless there's a back story of SEN.

I travelled to Orlando from the UK on my own at 17 (changing flights in Detroit) and all was fine. Just ask your niece to enable find my on her phone for your peace of mind & pre-book them a cab from the airport to the hotel / venue. There again, I am the daughter of a woman who, aged 15 in the 1950s, took her 10 year old sister on holiday for a week from London to Devon!

So did I - back packed extensively in SE Asia by myself without a mobile phone.

Sadly times have changed and the world isn’t what it was 20 years ago. I’d go with them as under US law they aren’t fully adults (21). @coulditbeme2323

Yes, Florida is hot.

But so is the Mediterranean. So is Thailand. So is India. So is Dubai.So is Australia. People go on holiday to those places all the time and manage perfectly well. Most British people who go to Florida are going there in summer because that's when the main school holidays are. It's a completely normal summer holiday destination and really not anything unusual.

I did a road trip from Washington DC to Key West in July one year. It was fine. Hot, sure. But not any hotter than I would have been countless other very popular holiday destinations visited by millions of holidaymakers. And considerably more air-conditioned than pretty much any other hot country I've visited.

But a 15 year old isn’t really a child. It’s not like she’s going to suddenly run off in the opposite direction or have a tantrum in the middle of the departure lounge.

They can figure out logistics and directions together. They can bond and experience some freedom together. And if they get stuck, they can ask for help or give you a call.

All they are doing is travelling through airports and getting cabs. With everything well sign posted in their own language.

Normal?

Has anyone even asked the 19 year old? She might not even want the responsibility, which would be understandable.

Where in Florida? I’ve never lived there, but I’ve been to Orlando, Tampa, Marco Island, Sanibel Island, and Sarasota, and never saw anyone in anything even close to parkas and mittens.

At 20 I was responsible for other people's children as a camp counsellor in America. So yes, a 19 year old can take care of one 15 year old she knows well. Assuming both are sensible and have had opportunities to gradually build their travel skills.

You realise 19-year-olds live and travel independently all the time, surely? And she's planning to travel with a 15-year-old, not a toddler. She's not going to have to do any childcare.

What 'life experience' do you think is actually needed to catch a flight and go to a concert? What do you think a 19-year-old can't manage about that? These are very normal things for 19-year-olds to do. And what do you imagine a 15-year-old is going to do that will be difficult for the 19-year-old to manage?

I’d be more concerned about supporting a concert of someone clearly extremely unwell with anorexia. The videos I’ve seen this week are terrifying and I think an awful thing for impressionable teenagers to see.

I was flying by myself at the age of 12 so you seem very over protective to me. Airports are incredibly safe places. They have very tight security and are pretty idiot proof.

No - despite being an American who has been to Florida seven times, I have never heard of this “air conditioning” you speak of. Is it new?

I’m not “pissing in their chips,” I’m just talking. Right now I’m in Minnesota and it’s supposed to reach a high of 31 degrees Celsius (you use Celsius in the UK, right?), so if that’s Minnesota, Florida is going to be sweltering. I hope they have a great time regardless. Once in the ‘90s, my parents and I spent a week in DC that was 38 Celsius all week and it was one of our best trips.

Sorry I meant state.

It’s not the flying that I would have an issue with.

It’s the travelling to and from the airport, hotel and venue etc which may cause problems.

I don’t see it’s worth the risk when OP can just travel with them.

The 19 year old isn't the issue.

It's a 19 year old in the US with a 15 year old she's not legally responsible for flying, checking into a hotel and going to a gig including getting to and from the venue.

It's the whole combination not a 19 year old going to the local restaurant with a 15 year old.