Interrailing aged 15 without parents.... Too young?

Probably depends on the kid. Would you say 16 is fine (generally) then?

Edit, just read the article. The kid has just done his GCSEs and is young for the year. Most of his mates will be 16. A lot of kids are off doing stuff without parents at that point so it's a non story imo.

In the 70s or 80s maybe not but nowadays it's a bit much for the average 15yo

Dunno, very much depends on.the kid,.where they're going and how they're keeping tabs on them.

At age 15 I was a 6 foot lump and if I'd had the sense of a loaf of sourdough I'd have probably been fine.

It's very borderline though.

Was it not Kirsty that booked seats separate from her kids on a flight?

I think she's wanting a break from her kids but taking it to extremes

I thought this would be practical advice for a forum member, where i had some tips

I’m not judging others about this

It's all about the kids, thier progression to independence and thier character.
Ours were spending a few weeks in Morzine with pals that age.

I went youth hosteling at 14. MrsD travelled to Canada on her own in her GCSE summer.

Kirstie allsopp is a bellend in general, but on this I would trust a parent to know their own kid.

In the 70s or 80s maybe not but nowadays it’s a bit much for the average 15yo

I'd have said it was easier, and safer, now given access to 24*7 communications and everything the internet can offer in terms of translation services, timetables, accommodation information etc.

Not a chance.  16 is too young to be travelling around multiple countries on their own.  It’s too young to drive, drink, vote and even rent a property in most parts of Europe.  Kids at 16 are still pretty stupid and almost totally immune to risks, cause and effect.

I started work at 15.

Kids nowadays,etc,etc 🙂

If the kid is capably why not? Mine wouldn't cope but I'm sure others would.

Not really

The media have most folk scared of the day they’ve never seen.

Id be more worried about them getting the bus into the city centre tbh.

Both my lads were working at 15 having left school to earn. If they hd decided to head abroad I’d have let them , I trust them enough.

I started work at 12, but thats a few hours out each working day and returning home.  It’s not 3 weeks in a plethora of countries whose rules, laws and languages you don't know when you’re thousands of miles and a number of days travel from those who have responsibility for you.

Daily mail headline is entertaining though - implies the social workers are interfering again...

Just imagine the outrage if they hadn't been in touch with the lovely middle class Kirsty.

Although I can't help thinking she could have potentially avoided all this if she hadn't been humble bragging all over Facebook ?

EDIT - ? was of course a smiley.

Harry_the_SpiderFull Member
If the kid is capably why not?

because capable at home isn't the same as capable in totally unfamiliar surroundings and if something goes wrong, you’re placing a whole lot of YOUR responsibility into the hands of others by not being in even the same country.

Point of order - Kirsty Allsopp is not middle class!

In the 70s or 80s maybe not but nowadays it’s a bit much for the average 15y

Casually offensive in exactly the same way as if I said that all people turning 15 in the 70s or 80s are now technophobic incompetent hand-wringers who cheer for Farage and still haven’t figured out how contactless payments work. See, it’s not nice when it’s you on the receiving end.

100% depends on the 15 yr old and one would assume that the people who’ve known him for the entire 15 years of his life are best judged to make that assessment. And it’s not as if KA is short of cash, he’ll have had the ability to walk into any hotel and get a room if he needed it, probably including the presidential suite.

My school had a bursery scheme each year funded by an old boys gift to cover educational travel.

Me and a mate applied after O levels as we were going to visit the Roman sites we’d learnt about doing Latin (part of the deal was to do a write up of our travels).

No-one else bothered so we had the full fund for that year. Had a week charging around Italy, picking guide books (to do the write up) then hit the beaches on the Costa Brava

I started work at 15.

Kids nowadays,etc,etc 🙂

I started work at 13. Part time with my dad and uncle. 9 hours on a Saturday 8 on Sunday.

I'm pretty sure it was a plot by my mum to make sure I didn't join the family firm.

I worked with some 16 year old lads who couldn't work out how much the pay was each week. 9 hours sat, 8 hours Sunday at £2 an hour. Same as last week, same every week.

They probably shouldn't be inter railing at 15. They had left school at 16.

I decided aged 17 to ride the 180 miles to Inverness. I'd never ridden more than 5 miles in one go or stayed overnight anywhere on my own. I can't remember what my folks thought about it. I very much doubt they suggested it.

Some of the 15 year olds I teach would be 100% fine and have a great trip. Some would run out of money in the center of the very first city they got to

Not too young, I hitchhiked to Spain and traveled around when I was 16 (late 80’s).

Fuss over nothing and been done to death on the likes of LBC/R5 etc last week

Working and traveling at 16 too. I can use a computer.

Seems crazy to me that Social Services have become involved when no harm has come to the now 16 year old young adult. Probably less to this story than tabloid journalists and attention seeking parent makes out.

Point of order – Kirsty Allsopp is not middle class!

Thats the Honorable Kirsty Alsopp to you.

The silly woman was reported to social services after desperately trying to be inspiring- so they had a duty to respond.

I am sure that a lot of 15 yr olds would be responsible and able enough to travel with a group of friends across europe. The risk of course is that a typical group of 15/16 year olds abroad without any parental/adult supervision are probably going to do something silly ..

Seems crazy to me that Social Services have become involved when no harm has come to the now 16 year old young adult

If something is reported to social services they have to investigate.  They may be able to close the investigation quickly after a quick chat with the parent / kid and determining they don't have any concerns for their safety but they can't refuse to investigate or close it before they're satisfied the child is safe.

that a typical group of 15/16 year olds

I spend much of my working life with this age group and a little older. There is no such thing as typical at this age. Some I'd trust with my life (or the life of the child they are instructing) whilst others are incapable of safely transporting a pencil case. They are like a shit version of an 11 year old with all the good bits removed.

Inter railing at 15 or 16 takes a particular type of kid AND a particular type of parent back home to handle it.

I can say with certainty that any child of Ms Allsop will have seen their fair share of airports, train stations, countries and cultures. This won't be their first rodeo, even if the first one solo.

Edit - very interesting to know (well, interestingish - can't actually be arsed to look) if a mirror thread to this one on Mumsnet would have different responses.

Totally fine if the young person is of a sensible disposition.

Depends on the 15 year old. Binnerette number 2 flew to France on her own last year, aged 15, to meet up with her mates then they travelled down through France and Spain on trains to Barcelona. She’s very mature and sensible and we weren’t remotely worried about her. Didn’t think twice about letting her go.  She had a great time.

Depends on the kid, doesn't it. A child who is 15 years and 364 days doesn't magically adultise two days later. Social Services was right to ask questions, the answer being "it's all fine."

In the 70s or 80s maybe not but nowadays it’s a bit much for the average 15yo

WTF? What's the difference?

Daily mail headline is entertaining though – implies the social workers are interfering again…

Just imagine the outrage if they hadn’t been in touch with the lovely middle class Kirsty.

Quite. If social services hadn't checked in, the Heil would've dined out on it for months.

Depends very much on child, where they are going and where they grew up.  For most a trip round mainstream Europe at 15 should be just fine, especially if you have access to parents cash if you get in trouble.  Back in the days of travelers cheques, reverse charges calls and no automatic translation it's different.

Having said that though I also know of someone who at 18 got into trouble that they wouldn't have at 15 just because they were then a bit too open for trouble.  Maybe 15 is a better age

because capable at home isn’t the same as capable in totally unfamiliar surroundings and if something goes wrong, you’re placing a whole lot of YOUR responsibility into the hands of others by not being in even the same country.

Indeed.
But ours were travelling the UK on trains solo at 13. Whether a change in Birmingham or Barcelona, I would still have been hours and hours away. So they learned to manage things. They were taught from an early age who to go to for help (parent with kids, someone in uniform, big chain shop staff etc). We had a few wobbles.
When one of ours was in Morzine for 3 weeks at 16 I was more concerned about a friend's kid of same age who was off to Glastonbury.... My biggest worry in Morzine was him trying to keep up with Steve Peat in a mates race....

At 15 I was hitch hiking down to Cornwall from London and  virtually every weekend up to Derbyshire for the next three years climbing at Stoney Middleton. I then graduated to hitching around Europe and then southern Africa. I  lived to tell the tale, great positive experiences and very few scrapes (although there were a few). It was an education and took me to places I would otherwise never had had the money to visit.

“We” intentionally send 14 yr olds into the wild and insist on them camping, cooking their own food, and not using mobile phones are as part of DoE expeditions.  Whilst there is “supervision” there it’s supposed to be be sufficiently remote that if someone falls and breaks a limb, gets taken ill, gets wildly lost they are relying in the first instance on a bunch of 14 yr olds to manage the initial emergency.  In contrast most of this “group” were 16, would all have had phones, been in populated areas with cash to buy themselves out of trouble; and with mummy almost certainly able to hop on a flight at moments notice to bring him home if there was a problem.

I don’t think it’s just about the sense/maturity of the 15 yr old, but the particular group of friends he’s with.  The reality is your suitability doesn’t change at 15y364 days v’s 16y1d. Realistically lots of 15 y olds will get in all sorts of bother in the U.K. and plenty of 18/19 yr olds go abroad and get in serious bother.  But plenty don’t.

A bit naive to shout about it on social media, especially given she has a “following” of people who don’t like her and would take joy in having her squirm in front of social work.   BUT I’m not a fan of hers in general, I think the point she thought she was making was a valid one.

Depends on the kid.

I'd want to see a "practice trip" in the UK first, then "yes.

Although I recently had to accompany Thump to Birmingham as he was under 18 and competition rules demanded a chaperone.

Thud has been bopping around Scotland by train since he was 12. Have skateboard,  will travel.

We bricked it when our daughter said she was going interailing at 18.

Our reason for the worry was that she was just starting to recover from chronic fatigue. Which meant she hadn’t really left the house for 5 years. She certainly hadn’t been to school in that time. She had done some uk train travel to visit friends towards the end.

Mrs Ampthill decided saying no wasn’t the answer. So we called in every favour we could. Elder brother got her to Paris and did a few days with her. Train to Geneva to stay with a mate and f my dads. Train to Northern Italy to stay with some mates of mine. She then did Rome and Pompei on her own and flew home.

We had some really funny calls home

“I’m walking round Rome at night and it’s really scary. I’ve decided to follow a group of nuns. Surely no one messes with nuns”

Non story IMO. I empathise as I’m the parent of a child with an August birthday who has always been a year younger on paper than most of his peers in his school year but not a year younger in terms of maturity. It depends on the individual, but I’d imagine that there are many year 11 students with the maturity and independence to travel safely with a group of their peers (plus to put it in context, at this age the person involved will be only a few weeks from being eligible for starting the D of E gold award).

I have more issue with the complaint about the file remaining open, as this should be the default position (celebrity or not).

When I was 15 I travelled from Kent to Hull solo to stay with my sis who was at University there. Jealous he got to do Europe.

Girl I knew at University spent her secondary education commuting from the UK (lower league public school) to the Middle East (dad worked in oil). In the early years she had chaperone from school to airport & then looked after by airline staff.  By the time she was 13/14 she got a list to the nearest train station and then made her own way.

Neighbour sent their kids off to boarding school at an age that seemed ridiculously young to me (at the time) but that was how it worked. They were more independent because of it.

At the age of 16/17 I would get on a train and go from the North West, down through London (via Tube) then a bus out to a military base somewhere. No mobile phone, it was just what you did.

We kind of twitched and tracked our 18yr old daughter on a train journey from Scotland to the North West recently - she arrived in one piece but the fact that we could track more meant that we used that functionality rather than behaving as our parents had. Maybe kids are just a little more molly-coddled today generally ?

Maybe kids are just a little more molly-coddled today generally ?

I think there's a small, but vocal, section of society who do this now. Despite, as scotroutes points out, the modern world is both safer and much easier to get in contact for some advice...

At that age I'd certainly done intercity rail travel round Scotland and plenty kids flew home unescorted. Again, non-story.

Contrast to my daughter who's 11 and genuinely never made her own way anywhere. Not by our choice FWIW.

Totally depends on the kid. @Lister and I spent a week cycling around the lakes, youth hosteling in the summer just after our GCSSEs. So I would have been 16 and him 15. None of our parents were looming in the area as they were all working. We had a couple of OS maps, some cash for food and a rough plan.

My mum and dad just bunged me on a flight unaccompanied to Belgium for two weeks when I was 12. Took me to check-in at Newcastle and told me to get on with it. Was awesome. Doubt an airline would actually allow that now.

Yeah, too young.

I guess he's an august child like me, so done and received gcse's but all his mates are 16. I didn't go inter-railing, but started work in Morrisons on the checkout out and stacking shelves! Too young by their rule book, but accepted because I'd got my gcse's.

I know people who sent their daughter to Leeds festival at 15. I'd be more worried  about those few days than weeks around several different countries!