To insist DS uses bum bag on holiday?

[iwonderwhat]

DS and friend (both 18) are going on their first holiday abroad together. They are pretty sensible but possibly a bit unworldly.

I think they should each be taking bum bag with RFID protection for their passport, phone, cards and small amount of cash but DS is resisting. They are going to a Greek island for less than a week, taking carry on bags only.

I'm a bit anxious - but trying not to show it! - and may be going overboard [getting the contact details of the local British consulate] but I don't want them to come into difficulties that could be avoided. Any suggestions much appreciated! TIA

If he's got any sense he'll tell you he's going to wear it then not bother!

Tell him to take a photocopy of his passport in case he loses it as well as paper copies of his bookings and insurance. They don't take up much room in the bottom of a bag.
Don't rely on him to buy his own insurance! Take your own copies of these things just in case he loses everything.
Has he got a bank card? One of mine went to Hungary with just their phone to use for Apple pay!!!
The bum bag is a bad idea, he'll lose it!

My DS 19 wears a sling bag which is worn across the shoulders. When he flies and has to catch connecting flights its useful for easy access for passport, tickets and phone.

This sums it up perfectly. Chill out op.

Zante where ds is now. Hip bags worn across chest by men are very much "in"

I understand the anxiety about it but you’ve got to let him do it. Odds are he will be fine loads of people don’t have bum bags.

Alot of the male teenagers round my way wear sling bags,can get quite cool looking/designer ones, which I guess is a modern version of the bum bag, to be fair you do see teens with bumbag sometimes, but never round their waist, fastened across the body , I'm in Edinburgh, and volunteer at a charity that supports young people getting home safely, so see lots of teenagers out and about.

Just get him to make copies of his docs to leave at home and then you get him decent travel insurance as a gift. Teenagers have no concept of how many millions it costs to fly somebody home 🤷‍♀️

Aw op I imagine a lot of people on this thread don’t have eighteen year old kids. I remember having toddlers and five year olds seeming so grown up!

I do have mixed feelings when I read these threads….part of me loves that my son (apparently) became an adult overnight on his eighteenth birthday. What a wonderful feeling of freedom that gives! But of course most eighteen year olds are still kids and need guidance. You’re just taking a few precautions so that you can then relax (a bit) knowing that you’ve done everything you can to keep him safe.

Even if he agrees he probably won't do it or will be paranoid.
I suggest he takes photographs of important documents like GHIC and Passport and saves them to cloud.
Make sure he has GHIC, travel insurance and condoms.
Tell them not to go in pool when drunk. You can do no more.

I'd buy them both decent travel insurance. Tell them to take a photo of their passports and WhatsApp them to you. That way if they get lost theyll have all the details and so will you. Make them promise they won't hire any vehicle. Then leave them to it.

Good ideas I'm taking from this thread.

Photocopy all travel docs & email to self & parents.
Write parents phone numbers down & leave in safe & suitcase.
Make sure travelling companions know where phone numbers are.
Use a currency card with limited money on and top up as required. Give parents details so they can top up in emergency.
Leave passport & debit card in safe. Don't take driving license until too old to think mopeds are a good idea.

Well OP you've given some people a really satisfying Friday afternoon - there's nothing quite like finding someone Wrong On Mumsnet for the warm happy glow that comes from telling them that! (After the first twenty or so replies there's clearly zero need for anyone else to say the same thing, but then where's the fun in not joining in? 😄)

The problem with the niftiest containers for valuables is they're not much use if they're carried by someone who doesn't actually understand deep down why they're using them. You need to be motivated to put things away in the safe place, not put it down somewhere and forget about it and so on, and 'because my parents said I should' isn't very powerful there.

Obviously he's probably married and divorced with several kids by now, but on the off chance that he's not, and you're still financially supporting him and buying some of his clothes, you could see if there are joggers/cargo shorts/swim shorts with zip pockets he likes?

I'd get him to leave gmail/phone details with you (maybe in a sealed envelope to be opened only in an emergency, to reassure him it wouldn't be for general parental snooping). Then in an emergency he can get you to wipe his phone remotely, or in a worse type of emergency (gets separated from friend, drunk, goes missing) you could help the friend to find him again.

My 20 year old has grown up a lot since 18 (even without having been on holiday abroad with mates), and even he would recognise that the 18 year old him was a bit flaky. Not all 18 year olds are the same either. YANBU to think about all this. (But I know, I know... "OP said 'INSIST' so we're allowed to be as mean to her as we like and say it over and over again because it's fun".)

I loved that show 🤣

😂😂 @Slaistery wins the internet for today.

Loads of kids use the bum bags as a cross body bag.

This! 100%

My DS went on a lads holiday to Corfu at 18.
In hindsight he was immature and ill equipped. Though I did do all the things suggested in my post above (takes photographs of important documents like GHIC and Passport and saves them to cloud. Make sure he has GHIC, travel insurance and condoms. Tell them not to go in pool when drunk.)

When they got back they made out it was the holiday of a lifetime. It wasn't until some years later he admitted to me what a nightmare it had been. He was naively expecting something like our family holidays - fun in pool all day, nice meal out and then a few drinks in a bar. In fact they were in bed all day, got up to go out all night, ate crap food and his friends got lairy.

Have you got his traveller's cheques from the post office! Make sure he keeps them in his moneybelt under his clothes at all times!

Or you know, just leave his passport in the hotel safe and use his phone to pay for stuff like any normal young adult.

😂😂😂

When I went backpacking (admittedly back in the late 90s) I scanned or photographed all the documents that were important and made a list of important numbers and references etc. Then I emailed it to myself so that I could log onto my email in a worst case situation and obtain that information and would be enough to get me back home or emergency documents issued for travel.

Do that, and then leave him to it. He will continue to be unworldly whilst you continue to interfere. Make sure the information isn't just on his phone, or he'll be stuffed if that's nicked. Also, make sure you've got access to that info. Email accounts can be a bugger to log into from a strange device and if his phone's been nicked, he'll end up having security codes for the email sent to that and then you just end up in the 7th circle of hell.

He's 18... you cant insist.
With that said, cross body bags are very 'in' so he'd probably be happy to wear one.

😂 yeah good luck with that!!

I hate it on threads like this when people say “leave him alone, he’s an adult, I was living on my own with a baby by then” etc. Kids don’t become adults overnight in any way other than legally. They’re still immature and inexperienced, and need a lot of guidance. Especially boys.
In fact, the people who had babies at 18 demonstrate perfectly that they weren’t as sensible as they thought they were!

good luck OP. My DS is doing the same in a couple of weeks and I’ll be petrified. Standing back is bloody hard.

How exactly do you plan to insist that a legal adult uses a bum bag on a holiday you aren't going on?