Anyone want to make a bet as to whether or not DS will make it to Oslo tomorrow?

[WickedGoodDoge]

DS(17) just finished a tall ship sail from Aberdeen to Frederikstad. He needs to catch the bus to Oslo tomorrow morning. This is his first time of truly independent travel, although he is pretty well travelled as part of the family/school trips.

So far I’ve had utter confusion via messenger about where the bus station is in Frederikstad- a seeming inability to use Google maps. He tried telling me the bus stops didn’t have any numbers on them so how was he to know which is his stop tomorrow? I don’t know where he was, but I don’t think it was the bus station as after my sending various screen shots showing the location, he says he found it.

Then I had bemusement when trying to use the self serve till in a supermarket when he realised he can’t actually read Norwegian . Of course he can’t read Norwegian! I have suggested Google translate for future.

He’s supposed to be on the 11:00 bus to Oslo tomorrow. A good night’s sleep will make everything clearer to him, won’t it?

Probably!!
He can always ask - I suspect there may be some English speakers around (or google translate)

Yes, exactly! have told him to ask people- just show them the screenshot of where he needs to be (no more than a 20 minute walk from the boat) and ask if he’s headed in the right direction/in the right place.

I’m telling myself it’s a good learning experience for him. He will catch this bus tomorrow. Surely he will. He’s 17- well old enough to figure it out.

He'll figure it out, I imagine. If he asks people, they are likely to help him.

Travelling alone is character building!

Norwegians are lovely people. They'll take you personally to where you need to be even, which is really odd. The vast majority speak wonderful English too. He should just ask. They'll leave him alone if he doesn't, as they're very reserved too, but otherwise they are truly the most wonderful and warmest people ever.

Tee hee, we've all been there. One of my first trips as a teen was to Italy. My flight was delayed by 8 hours and when I got there I'd missed the last train to my onward destination. I managed to figure out a taxi to a hotel all by myself (although I did accidentally leave all my travel docs and the passport on top of the airport pay phone!, luckily the airport police found it and I was able to retrieve it the next morning). He'll be fine, it's a great learning experience.

Oh don’t tell me about delayed flights! He still has to fly to Stockholm on Sunday and then back to Edinburgh on Tuesday!

This morning he says he knows where the stop is. I’ve told him to message me once he’s safely on the bus.

He made it onto the bus. I had more panicked messages this morning saying he was at the bus stop but it had a later, different number bus on it going to a different destination and nothing about his bus.

After much discussion he finally said that actually he was with a group from his boat and they are all heading to the same hostel in Oslo and all was fine because they’d asked people for help and, oh now his bus has turned up and all is fine.

Good grief! All character building, but Good Lord, when I was his age I managed without a smart phone with Google/Google Maps/Messenger etc- I just got on with it!

Google translate ?

Yeah, I’ve told him to use Google translate. Oddly, when we are on holiday as a family, he’s constantly on Google maps and Google translate- you’d think he’d be using them while on his own! At least he’s on the bus now so hopefully no more panicked messages!

Bit mean!!