17 year old wants to go travelling

[Rayason]

I’ll start with - I know I’m going to sound incredibly uncultured and very insular but I just don’t know about these things due to a lack of exposure.

DD is 17, August 31st baby so the absolute youngest in her year (currently Y13). She moved schools for sixth form to get the right subject combo and the school she goes to now is in a much wealthier town. She made new friends and they were quite different to her old friends (very middle class is the only way I could describe it!). They are all lovely kids, smart, hard working and I’m glad DD has them. All in there is 7 of them.
During the Taylor Swift ticket fight last year they managed to get tickets for Vienna in Austria in August. They didn’t want to try for any June dates as they have A-Levels. It’s before DDs 18th but we did let her go, we got the ticket for her “Christmas” and she is covering the Accomodation and such with the money from her part time job.
Now they are all considering going travelling for the month of August, leaving on the 3rd coming back on the 30th, just around Europe, backpacks and Hostel style.
They will all be 18 barring DD for the full trip (the next youngest is August 1st, so they are deliberately waiting until after her party on the 2nd to go).
DD has said she wants to go, there will be 4 girls and 3 boys (2 of whom are the boyfriends of 2 of the girls). She’s only been abroad with school, France and Skiing in Switzerland. She does have a passport but I think it will need renewed.
I’ve never been abroad, couldn’t afford to when I was younger and didn’t want to as an adult, I like our Haven holidays. Initially I thought no way is my 17 year old going travelling but now I’m worried I’m being unfair. I don’t know if she will be allowed in hostels at 17, I’m worried about her being the one not being able to drink and if the rest of the group will view her as dead weight. She has savings from her job so not expecting us to cover it.
Does anyone have any experience or teens travelling especially at 17? AIBU to say no?
They don’t have exact places decided yet but Austria is a must, Czech Republic, Germany, North Italy/Switzerland and maybe Amsterdam are all on the list. Avoiding Paris/France since the olympics will be on. Are these safe for young people?
How much money would she realistically need for spending? Can she stay in a hostel so young? Do I let her go?
Any advice appreciated!

My son did it after his Alevels two years ago. His friends were all 18 and he was the only one still aged 17. His birthday is also the end of August. I was a bit worried about it but he didn't encounter any difficulties. They interailed for 2 weeks, Netherlands, france and Italy. They booked their accommodation and trains before they went.

I think it's an absolutely wonderful opportunity and I'd be thrilled if my dd was considering something like this. Cost will be a bit of a concern (she may need some financial support, even with job savings, as travelling isn't cheap). But it will be a fantastic learning experience. I did a trip around Europe for 3 weeks when I was 15 (though it was chaperoned) and it was a really beneficial experience for me.

I understand being worried. I would be too - but it comes with the territory.
Really though, objectively, 17 year old are resourceful and capable when it matters.
I didn't even live at home at 17 and I was fine and very able to navigate .y way round grown up life.
Just take all sensible actions , back up card in case its needed, insurance etc.

Just listening to a guy on the radio, who has been travelling the world since he left for Uni. He started with a one way ticket!

Not only would I encourage her to go, if I were you I would also look at going abroad at least once!

Just a concern about results day, university applications, clearing, etc. If they are away until the end of August, they'll find it very difficult to manage the process if they need to go through clearing. Also, my niece got her results on the Thursday last year and the slot to book her accommodation was given for the very next day - she had to be at her laptop at a specific time to secure the accommodation she wanted.

Just some things they might not have considered...

Sounds fabulous. Perhaps she isn’t going to uni this year? If so, no problems.

Allianz do under 18s travel insurance when they aren’t travelling with parents.

She will have a blast! Do get her an EHIC card and I would advise them to miss Switzerland as it’s so expensive.

Travelling in a group can be tricky - 3 insist on going to Switzerland, 2 want to just go clubbing, etc. - so I’d also suggest that she has a plan B in case of fallings out in the group. Does she have a good friend in the group that she could pair off with?

100% let her go, she'll have a wonderful time. Not saying she might not have the occasional problem (thefts, friendship troubles/disagreements, transport problems etc) but as long as you equip her with lots of information and remote support if needed, these things can usually be overcome and will teach her some valuable skills. Europe is a very familiar and safe environment for a British teen to cut her travelling teeth, make a few mistakes and fix them, see some absolutely wonderful sights, meet new interesting people.

I travelled Europe alone at the same period in my life (between A'Levels and Uni) and had SUCH a great time. It was the making of me. With friends, she'd be even safer and could have a lot more fun.

Absolute musts though:

(a) make sure she and her female friends are personal safety-conscious and have a plan to look out for each other (no-one goes back from a night out alone, watch each others' drinks, etc etc). Young girls on their own are vulnerable to assault. She shouldn't be over-trusting of her male friends either, especially when drink has been taken.

(b) make sure she has various money options (cash, debit, credit cards) and that she keeps them in different places, in case she is robbed. You can fix most problems abroad with ready money, at least temporarily.

(c) inform yourself about where she's going and how to deal with worst case scenarios (embassies, banks etc) in those locations so she can call you in tears and get calm, useful support.

(d) make sure she budgets to be able to come home whenever she's ready to.

Other than that, wave her off and get used to sleepless nights! You can't hold her back from this, it's such an opportunity.

I say let her go - I was 17 on my first holiday abroad. It's like a tradition for a lot of young people finishing high school now to book a holiday abroad with their friends. Most of the time and in my case it was to the well known party destinations so at least this way they'll see a few different places.

They'll have a great time.

Our situations our so similar I thought I had to comment.
DD is 17 too, August 2nd birthday, she is travelling around Europe with her friends all of July, from Croatia over to Lisbon. She and one other girl will be 17 and they've already booked all the accommodation. 2 or 3 places needed me to sign a form, will also be writing a letter for the flights. They are moving at quite a quick pace 1-3 nights per place and covering I think 14 places all in. For Como and somewhere near lake Garda they have booked an air b and b style place since hostels aren't as readily available.
They also have a stop in Milan to see Taylor Swift (teenagers!).
I'll be honest I'm a little worried but she is street smart, with a good group of friends etc.
She does have a Fake ID she plans to use if necessary but we've been told that most hostel bars won't bother checking.
They decided on July instead of August as they want to be home for results day, then they have a big trip with 20+ going to Zante after results (actually much more nervous about this than the backpacking!!)
Let her go she will have a ball, just make sure she gets all the accommodation sorted in advance!!

I think the only extra I would have is that she must have £150 ish kept separate so that if anything goes wrong and she needs to come home she can get a flight.

I gave DD a credit card on my account for such emergencies!

She is totally trustworthy not to use it on anything else - she's had it a year now and hasn't used it at all, but I like the reassurance she has it; my parents did the same for me at Uni. I never used it either.

Sounds amazing. Let her go.