AIBU to worry about my 18 year old son going backpacking for a year?

[CameronK27]

My son is going travelling for a year, and like most 18 year olds, I don't feel he is ready. All in all, I am quite anxious about the experience.
Can anyone recommend the best way to overcome this?
Thankyou!

my children are younger so I have no advice but I can see why you are worried, I think most parents would be. However old they get they will always be your children and you will always worry.

I suppose if I was in your position I would want him to have some set dates and locations. Explain how important it is to have check in points and dates from your point of view as well as his. I was 24 when I first traveled and even then as I am a complete scaredy cat I had everything mapped out but I was only away for 2 months so I had a set plan, trips organised etc. I found it very strange actually, I did enjoy it, it was amazing and I will always be pleased I did it but I found it quite lonely as well as I was on my own and I did miss routine and my family but then I am that kind of person. I think a lot of 18 year olds wouldn't necessarily find that but you never know. Is he planning to go off the beaten track or is he off to places like New Zealand and Australia? Obviously in some countries he would find it much harder to stay in touch with you regularly but having some planned stuff would really help you I think.

He's old enough for you to tell him this. Sit down with a cup of tea with him, and tell him you're nervous and you'll feel better if he shares his preparations with you.

Ask him to show you his travel plans, any bookings he;s made for flights, trains, accommodation.
Check with him that he has visas and vaccinations up to date, that his passport has an extra six months on it after he comes home (some countries require this.)
Check with him that his back pack and boots are comfortable and that he has decent sunshades with proper UV protection. If he's camping, check he can put up his tent in the dark and the rain, get a fire started and cook something edible etc.
Make triple sure he has very good insurance that covers repatriation and medical emergencies as well as loss and theft of money, tickets and possessions.
Maybe give him an emergency mum-kit of TCP, blister plasters, protein bars, water steriliser tablets and suncream.

I think it's brilliant. Was just chatting with a friend last week about how she did this when she was young. I'm hoping DC take a gap year at some point as people gain so much from it. I really admire your son. I hope he has a brilliant time.

I agree about having some organised activities planned for certain stages. A few ex-students of mine seem to be permanent travellers. They are always on the move but they often book a course somewhere or an organised trip in some places, just to have some structure to their time.

YANBU to worry.

But you should not try to stop him going as it will be a great experience for him.

Just make sure he has planned properly, budgeted adequately and has contingency plans for when things go wrong.

I believe there are also gap year preparation courses run by ex miitary/aid workers which focus on first aid, situational awareness and hostile environment training.

Where is he planning to go to?

It sounds weird but just let yourself worry. He's your baby and he's going off into the unknown. But just think of all of the many thousands of 18 yr olds going off travelling for a year. Most of them are completely fine and have a great time. There's no real reason to think that yours will be any different.

gosh Mullofkintire the gap year preparation course sounds a really good idea before visiting some places on a gap year. There is one part of the world I could never bring myself to travel to having lost very close family members in an unexpected uprising there. I do worry one day my children may want to go traveling near there and I would struggle to deal with that but if felt they were prepared for different possibilities even if unlikely it would be better.