Mike Rocket J Squirrel typed:
> We live in California and have offered a trip to Europe to our 18
> year-old son with air fare, Eurail pass, spending money, and a backpack.
> He's intrigued, but hesitant. We would jump at the chance if someone
> made US the same offer, but we've been there and he hasn't. He enjoys
> reading and liked a couple of books from my collection (Night Train to
> Turkmenistan, The Lost Heart Of Asia, and others), and I thought if I
> could find a book or a collection of essays about travel in Europe from
> the viewpoint of a young man, it might familiarize him with what it's
> all about. Recommendations?
>
> -- mike and jacquie
I should add some clarification. We are not forcing this on him -- he
has to want to do it. That's why he wants to read up on it: to learn
more. He may choose to take us up on the offer, he may not, he may want
to delay it; it's his choice. If he chooses to accept the offer, we can
look for others to travel with, or maybe find an organized tour, though
he is a solitary one and not a joiner. The time for travel guides is
after he allows that the idea has appeal, not before. Possibly we can
take him with us on a trip we have planned to Lisbon, and once he's
there he can use it as a taking-off point. I didn't want to get into all
this, though, as I felt it would take up bandwidth on what appears to be
a fairly busy NG. And thanks to those who offered advice in hopes to
avoid a disaster. Anyways, he's not a fan of computers and the Internet,
but he does enjoy reading, and he said that he would find good books or
collections of essays about European travel written from the perspective
of young people helpful in getting a sense of what's it's about.
Christmas is coming up, books under the tree beat twelve-packs of cotton
tube socks hands-down as gifts. Given the vast number of people who
kicked around Europe every year when the were college-age, I would be
amazed if none had written about it.
--
mike and jacquie |