# A four thousand dollar trip to Europe for a fourteen year old? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 25, 2015, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939 "2015-03-25T14:11:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/101 "2015-03-26T00:57:53Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > The last kid who walked up to my house and asked me to fund her soccer trip to Hawaii got nothin’ either. > > I couldn’t believe it. Mow my lawn, rake my leaves, wash my dog, wash my car, or something. SELL THE CHOCOLATE. Whatever. Give me something for it. > > The entitled young cheerleader then sneered at me, when I refused her, guessing that I was living off of social security or something otherwise of course I would love to give her money. > > At least on the internet when you don’t give, you don’t get sneered at. She didn’t even try to sell you fake magazine subscriptions? Wow, that’s some serious entitlement there, and she actually did it in person. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/102 "2015-03-26T01:15:00Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > That’s all fine, but I don’t know what valuable experience they’ll get from the London part of the itinerary. > > The Strand, Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Convent [sic] Garden, Piccadilly Circus. Really? > > That’s basically a road, three fucking roundabouts and a glorified shopping precinct with an opera house on one side. > > It’s like they planned it using the UK Monopoly board and a cheesy postcard someone sent them. I think the Monopoly board explanation must be it! Not a single museum on the trip, just two churches and some roads. > [@Guinastasia](#): > > Except, if we keep getting crappy, “fund my special totally-not-necessary-luxury project” threads, it makes people hesitant, I would imagine, to start threads asking for legit things, like someone is about to get kicked out of their home, and needs a loan for a month’s rent. Or you have a sick kid, and you’re trying to raise funds to cover a medical expense. > > Little Emily wants to see the changing of the guard? [Here you go](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPsTqfqfPIY) Free of charge! Agreed. “Just ignoring it” means that more worthwhile causes will also get ignored. People have to ask permission to post those threads. What’s the point if they’re all allowed anyway? ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/103 "2015-03-26T01:25:59Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > We donate to a variety of charities every year and take the tax deduction. A valid charity is one thing, but crowd sourcing is just panhandling under a different name. The whole notion of it just rubs me the wrong way. I really don’t understand anybody giving money so that somebody else can use it to leverage their start-up business (but not have to pay back the loan), let alone use this method to get money for frivolous activity like this trip to Europe. That this has become a ‘thing’ just astounds me. Who raises people this stupid? The people setting up the GoFundMe pages aren’t stupid, they’ve got brass balls. The really stupid people are the ones _funding_ the vacations & rabbit air conditioning & such. We’re three pages into [del]pointing & laughing[/del] a Pit thread but when you hear about enough successful ones, it’s easy to think, “Well, why shouldn’t I do it too?” ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/104 "2015-03-26T01:29:50Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > People have to ask permission to post those threads. What’s the point if they’re all allowed anyway? That’s a good question. What begging threads are getting turned down by the mods? \*Help Me Buy My Next Crack Fix? Cute Hooker on the Corner. Need Funds Fast! My Kid’s Not Very Bright and Needs to But an Essay off the Internet. Help Little Jimmy **Finally** Pass Ninth Grade!! Caught AIDS From a Cactus. Need $$ for Medical Bills!\* ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/105 "2015-03-26T01:45:27Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > I don’t have a problem with it. I don’t feel any pressure to give, and to think travel is a valuable experience if you can make it happen. > > My high school graduation present was a set of tickets to Europe. I financed most of the rest from savings. I had a good (and surprisingly wholesome) time backpacking around, and it definitely built my confidence and independence. My daughter has been to Europe twice - and is fifteen. She MIGHT go to Columbia this summer for a friend’s quinceanera. She goes to NYC tomorrow with school. Last Summer was an EF tour like this one. They are great opportunities. My son’s been to Europe once, he passed on last Summer’s trip for baseball. He leaves on Saturday for a baseball training camp in Florida over Spring break. My kids haven’t paid for these trips - my husband and I have. We value these opportunities. But frankly, keeping my own kids in opportunities and college funds plus funding my own retirement - plus the “donations” we make in buying candy bars and cookie dough for our friends’ kids’ once in a lifetime opportunity is challenging enough without funding an internet stranger’s kid. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/106 "2015-03-26T02:15:09Z")
Yeah, it’s weird and probably inappropriate to ask total strangers to fund this type of thing. But jesus fucking christ, people, it’s not that insane or bizarre for a kid to want to go on a trip to Europe, or for parents to support or encourage it. Some of the posts in this thread make it sound like this is akin to buying your child a grain silo full of dollar bills and letting her set fire to it. Yes, travel can be a great experience. No, it is not insane to let your 14-year-old child travel on their own, assuming they are responsible. I am really not feeling the OH MY GOD A THREE WEEK $4K TRIP outrage. When I was 17, I went on a 10-day trip to Germany with my high school German club. It was pretty expensive. It was also a great opportunity. The only thing wrong with the post linked in the OP is the begging from strangers part, and frankly I’m having trouble getting worked up about that part either. If you don’t want to donate, don’t fucking donate. Why does everything always have to be a federal case? ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/107 "2015-03-26T02:22:09Z")
> [@Penfeather](#): > > While I wholly endorse the sentiment, this Pitting loses points for not being titled Pay MissTee For Me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/108 "2015-03-26T02:27:42Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > Some of the posts in this thread make it sound like this is akin to buying your child a grain silo full of dollar bills and letting her set fire to it. Funny you should mention grain silos. [They are a real hazard, killing kids every year.](http://extension.psu.edu/business/ag-safety/confined-spaces/silo-safety/e16) That’s why I’ve asked the mods to approve my GoFundMe to get the word out. Thanks for reading this. ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/109 "2015-03-26T02:27:47Z")
> [@eclectic\_wench](#): > > Or for $20 you can cover diarrhoea and pneumonia as well. Which I just did. Thanks for the link. > > See? The ‘trip to Europe’ thread wasn’t silly! It may have saved a life! 🙂 Good for you! They’re a great organization doing truly necessary and important work. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/110 "2015-03-26T02:32:12Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Seriously. Totally the most boring circus ever. There were lots of clowns walking around but not a single elephant. I’ve got some bad news about Tooting. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/111 "2015-03-26T02:32:18Z")
> [@LavenderBlue](#): > > 🙂 > > Good for you! They’re a great organization doing truly necessary and important work. > > Four thousand dollars is just sooooo much money for most of the world. Even here in affluent America that’s six thousand before taxes. My inner lower middle class New Yorker is screaming ARE YOU KIDDING ME HERE? THAT’S A SEMESTER OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE. THAT’S A GOOD USED CAR. > > It’s the deposit on an apartment. It’s five months of generous grocery bills for an average family. It’s a furniture budget for many newlyweds. It’s a huge nest egg for most of the population. > > My god. What kind of values are you teaching your kid here? There are families that live in cars here because the parents lost their jobs. There are kids who go to bed by he sound of gunfire in East Orange each night. There are kids who have never been on vacation ever because the parents can’t afford it. > > Hell, a big chunk of the world lives on less than five hundred bucks a year. And YOU expect perfect strangers to hand you money so your kid can go on a vacation that most people would be lucky to get after years of hard work and saving? > > ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? > > That was kind of my internal monologue initially. And the crazy thing (well, another crazy thing) about all of this is that it isn’t just “fund this so that my kid can go to Europe,” but really “fund this so that my kid can go to Europe without having to get a job and save money, because she has too many extracurricular activities for that.” Insane. And that it’s from a poster who has posted like five times in two years makes this akin to the biannual email from that cousin who contacts you only when he needs money. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/112 "2015-03-26T02:39:34Z")
Oh, and when people DID ignore it the first time around – she bumped it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/113 "2015-03-26T02:40:49Z")
I’m with those who won’t be donating and who think it’s probably a rather goofy request, but who aren’t worked up about it. The rabbit one pissed me off because it was fucking dishonest. This one doesn’t strike me as dishonest at all. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/114 "2015-03-26T02:43:19Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > She MIGHT go to Columbia this summer for a friend’s quinceanera. She goes to NYC tomorrow with school. So she’s going to NYC twice in a few months? But that’s an in-country trip, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/115 "2015-03-26T02:47:32Z")
I looked at the Education First website and I think I found the tour that **misstee** was describing. The site mentions an option to pay for the tour in monthly payments of about $300 each. I think the daughter could earn a good chunk of the monthly payment from her part-time job. Add to that birthday and Christmas money, and I think she could do it on her own. ---
**Author:** ![Octarine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/22d042/32.png) [@Octarine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Octarine)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/116 "2015-03-26T02:49:54Z")
On the one hand: yeah, obviously the begging thread is even more ridiculous than the typical internet panhandling. On the other hand: to all the people in this thread who are proud of never having left the US? The world’s a pretty cool place. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/117 "2015-03-26T02:50:45Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > So she’s going to NYC twice in a few months? But that’s an in-country trip, isn’t it? I suspect she may mean Columbia the country. I doubt the 15 year old is at Columbia University. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/118 "2015-03-26T02:54:47Z")
Could I start a thread to fund my heroin habit? I don’t have one yet, but I’ve always wanted one. This could be my chance. > [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I suspect she may mean Columbia the country. I doubt the 15 year old is at Columbia University. Nitpick: The country is spelled Colombia. No U. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/119 "2015-03-26T03:00:36Z")
I’ve always wanted to be an international assassin, but sniper rifles, explosives and untraceable poisons are expensive. Help me to fulfill my dream! ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939/120 "2015-03-26T03:00:44Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Could I start a thread to fund my heroin habit? I don’t have one yet, but I’ve always wanted one. This could be my chance. > > Nitpick: The country is spelled Colombia. No U. Spelling has never been my strong point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-four-thousand-dollar-trip-to-europe-for-a-fourteen-year-old/715939.md?page=7)