17 yr old to Oz alone?

[Oldowl]

DD will be 18 in September. For her 18th she has asked for money towards going to Perth to see her best friend who emigrated there. However, she wants to go in the school summer holiday when she will be 17 yr and 11 months.

Plan:
London to Singapore (2 days stopover in a hostel)
Singapore to Perth (8 days staying with friend and her family)
Perth to KL (2 days stopover in a hostel)
KL to London (Arrive back two days before school starts)

Would you agree to this? DD is very independent. She flew up to Edinburgh on her own to stay with friends age 15. She is flying to the Netherlands for a uni taster day next month on her own. Is planning to study abroad (in the Netherlands) so is quite adventurous.

I flew Brisbane to to Italy before I turned 18 to start a cultural exchange. It was fine. She'll have a blast!

Does she need the stop over? First non stop flight London to Perth flew yesterday- although no idea how expensive and is about 17 hours (although 12 anyway to Changhi)

My son flew to Australia alone when he was 15 ( to see his father). The only issue he had was his mother clinging to his leg sobbing when he left and squealing when he got back.

I did that trip having recently turned 18 without issue. But I wouldn't recommend put a tee aged girl into a hostel alone. Those places tend to be quite seedy.

Absolutely fine - my sister did exactly this at that age and she wasn't very independent before she went. She had an amazing time.

The hostel bit would worry me - what about an airport hotel or better still the new none stop !

Why the stop overs?

Or, if you want (and Singapore and KL are very safe and nice) why skanky hostels? Hotels on kl are dirt cheap.

Easily ok. I think the trip would be good for her and given your comments on her independence help her grow in that direction as well. Much better to do something like this than go off the rails once they can travel solo but having had no experience.

As for Singapore and KL, the first is one of the safest places in the world and a good place to visit and get over some jet lag. There are tons of hotels but a hostel might be good to allow her to meet some people.

The jet lag can be managed if she is careful. The trip is quite short and will need some management. (My kids regularly arrive on a Sunday afternoon back in the UK the Sin-Lon journey and the 8 hour time difference hanging over them. They manage school the next day quite well. We do tend to fall asleep fairly early for a few days though.)

You can pick up Melatonin tablets in a pharmacy in singapore which can help reset the body clock. (you don't take it like a sleeping tablet but as an aid to reset your circadian rhythm). It isn't a licensed medicine in the UK though so you might not want to go that route.

Good luck. quitmoaning made me smile.

My ds aged 17 has just done this. Perth via Dubai. Absolutely fine.

I did this the day after my 18th and stayed for a year travelling. No problem

Why hostels? Most hotels don't accept under 18s travelling alone.

These are the hostels:

www.booking.com/hotel/sg/footprints-hostel-singapore.en-gb.html?aid=356983;label=gog235jc-hotel-XX-sg-footprintsNhostelNsingapore-unspec-gb-com-L%3Aen-O%3Ax11-B%3Achrome-N%3AXX-S%3Abo-U%3AXX-H%3As;sid=de6ce5b02ea43a380521a3fcfaa65a52;dist=0&sb_price_type=total&type=total&

Actually, it's a hotel in KL

www.booking.com/hotel/my/io.en-gb.html

Malaysia and Singapore are both great places to visit and safe, as mentioned by others. Although, you seemingly take your life in your hands crossing roads in KL.

As someone else said, why the hostels though?

KL Sentral is very easy to get to from the airport on safe, clean, quick new trains and has loads of hotels in walking distance from the station.

Not sure about cheap hotels in Sin myself as I only ever spend a few days at a time there so don't see much, but I'm sure there would be reasonable options there as well.

If your daughter is independent and confident enough to undertake a trip like this then I can't see what real difference travelling at 17yrs 11mths is from traveling at 18yrs 1mth. I travelled to Singapore and Oz in my 30s but would've done it at your daughters age if I'd have been able. For the poster above who said hostels are seedy they've obviously had very different experiences to myself. I always book female only dorm and I've stayed in hostels around the world and never had a bad experience. I can recommend The Adler in Singapore it is in Chinatown and is one of the nicest I've stayed at. Perth is also lovely. I can't comment on KL as it's on my to do list. I'm quite envious of your daughter, to be near 18 again with the world as my oyster and the power of hindsight

Little India îs very exotic for Singapore. A Sunday morning there is very different from anywhere else in singapore. The hordes of construction workers from the sun-continent milling around make it quite crowded and potentially unpleasant. Just a warning as we found t very different when we first stayed in singapore and we put ina hotel in Little India. We live in another part of Singapore but grew to live Little India with its crowded streets and shops and temples.

Why the stopovers? Agree that both Singapore and KL are not overly dangerous but it just adds complexity and opportunities for things to go a bit haywire for someone who is not used to travelling alone. Other than that I did the same trip at around the same age and should be fine.

She will be fine, I love stop overs it gives you a chance to visit a new country. When I was 18 I travelled through Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Egypt staying in hostels it was amazing.

That kind of hostel will be fine. Cheap hotels in Singapore put tourists on some floors and the short time guests on others. That means sharing a loft with a mismatched pair of an older bloke with a big grin and a younger girl in a party dress in the daytime. I worked it out when they walked off in different directions...

Loft? Lift. How do you turn off auto correct here?

Sounds fab if she is used to travelling, however travelling alone is quite different - liberating in some ways. We had brief stopovers at KL (booked a bed in the hotel that is within the airport the first time, wish we had the second time because I got freaked out by the massive cockroach in the toilets and there were no free benches, people were sleeping on all of them. You can pay to go in the premium lounges there as well. I personally wouldn’t do the stopovers travelling alone, or would pay for hotels for security, but I can see why she wants to make the most of it.

I went when I was just slightly older (18yrs 4mths) as I wanted a gap year before Uni. In order to get a cheaper flight, I had about 5 stops! My DM later told me she was ill with stress about it but she still encouraged me all the way.

Of course it's fine! Plus there'll be loads of people of a similar age travelling so she can buddy up with someone at the hostel for the couple of days if she wants. Solo travel is brilliant! No one to please but yourself.

I was a shy and awkward 18yo. I went on my gap year alone and loved it.

OP here, DD is all booked up.

3.5 days in Singapore, 7 days with friends in Perth and 2.5 days in KL.

BA flights at good times then Qantas/Air Asia for the Oz legs. Hostels booked too. Now the fun comes in planning what to do during the stopovers.

She flew to the Netherlands a couple of weeks ago and had no problems and was happy about flying/travelling solo. She has also been messaging a family friend who is on a gap year in Asia for advice. Her main advice was, 'go for it'!

Flights are cheap the earlier you book look Sky Scanner. I would recommend UK to Dubai or Doha, change plane straight to Oz. If stopping I would recommend Singapore rather than KL. In Singapore get hop on hop off bus pass to visit Little India. Chinatown, Gardens by the Bay.