So when my daughter was 15 we sat down with her to discuss "Sweet 16". In our area, Long Island, NY, this event can be as fancy as a face punch wedding. I don't get it. You throw a 5 hour party upwards of 2-5 grand, and sometimes a lot more, just so it can all be forgotten by midnight of the same day. We wanted our daughter to have a much better experience that all that. After doing some research we got the local Rotary Club to sponsor her for a one month trip to Belgium. She lived with a family there that had a daughter about the same age.
Bree spent the entire month of June in a rural village in Belgium immersed in their culture for a grand total of an 1100 plane fare. We gave her 200 for spending money on top of her own money.
She returned a month laterand handed me 35 bucks she did not spend and brought along her new Belgian friend to stay at our house for the month of July.
I am so glad she was smart enough to see the wisdom behind choosing a month in Europe over a 5 hour party at about 1/3 the price. Worth every penny. The kids are still friends.
It also instilled in her the desire to travel cheaply. Recently, while in college, she spent 10 weeks in India and Nepal. The program was new to her school so the expenses were picked up, almost entirely, by the school. Total cost to me? 600 dollars......when theres a will there is a way!
