DS (10) doesn't want to go on Y6 adventure holiday. WWYD?

[HerBeatitude]

He came out of school before the summer holidays excitd at the prospect of this school trip - canoeing, fencing etc. As soon as he realised he would be sleeping there and not coming home every night, he went rapidly off the idea.

Now the deadline is looming and I haven't managed to convince him that he would absolutely love it and have a whale of a time. I don't want to force him to go if he really doesn't want to and make him have a miserable time for a week, but I would really like him to have this fab opportunity to do stuff he wouldn't normally be able to - there's no way we could afford this vastly subsidised action trip as a family.

He says he'd miss me and being at home and I've tried to persuade him that it's only 4 nights and he's stayed at his nannie's longer than that, but he's not having it. I've asked him if he's worried aobut who he will share a room with, being forced to do activities he doesn't want to, is he worried about wetting the bed (he only really stopped for good round about Easter) but he reckons none of this is why he doesn't want to go.

WWYD? Is there anything else I should be asking him?

So he won't be alone if he decides not to go . Have the school done a presentation on it and will all his friends be applying ? Make sure he understands there is no going back either way and let him decide. dc get this opportunity in year 5 and only one missed out in ds' year. He had a great time despite reservations (he'd never been away on his own and only had the odd sleepover). They were kept so busy they didn't get homesick. dd is already excited with a year to go ! However there will be other opportunities if he opts out.

if it's just nerves about an unfamiliar situation can you remind him of something new he's tried recently that he was worried about but turned out ok? my dd1 is by nature cautious about new things but there seems to be a snowball effect where once she's tried one thing she's scared of and actually has fun we can say "remember this feeling the next time you're nervous" and it really seems to work. we also explain that everyone feels that way to some extent about venturing into the unknown (and give our own examples) and that seems to help too.