Staying In Touch

Parents. Like it or not, we all have them and being parents, they tend to worry when their children take off without them to wander the wide world. Whether or not you are on good terms with your folks, it’s not a bad idea to keep in touch with them. First of all, I’ll just say this: There is absolutely no possible way to make your parents stop worrying about you. That’s just what they do. And they will worry for the rest of your life, you just won’t be as aware of it as you are right now. So, don’t even bother telling them not to worry! As young adults, ready to leave the nest, all that concern and anxiety can be a bit much. Especially when you want to travel alone to the Middle East and Dad is shaking his head no. Or when they tell you to call every day when all you really want to do is enjoy yourself without them for a bit. Believe it or not, there are advantages to having people worry about you. Let’s face it, the world isn’t perfect and bad things do happen. Who better to call and ask for money when your purse gets stolen than your parents? And if you’re really homesick, they’re more than willing to talk to you for an hour, on their buck, just to make you feel better. There are ways to deal with overanxious parents without making you feel like you’re on probation or them feel like you’re alienating them. 1. Phone home. This can be the worst part of your vacation. Worrying about calling home isn’t what you want to be dealing with. So, set it up with your parents that you’ll call every two or three days, if you’re heading out for the first time. Otherwise, discuss and come up with a suitable arrangement, but always give yourself a day’s leeway in case you can’t get to the phone. Arrange a code for calling collect so you don’t actually have to spend their life savings letting them know that you’re fine. What my sister and I did while travelling to Orlando is call home collect, giving the name April (a randomly selected name) to the operator. My parents would receive the call and since we’d set this up ahead of time, would know we were fine, refuse the charges and everyone was happy. Don’t use your real name, save that for emergencies. When you give your actual name, your parents will know to accept the charges right away.

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