# Europe is a cool place to visit, right? (donation request) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 17, 2015, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241 "2015-03-17T22:52:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![donkeyoatey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@donkeyoatey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/donkeyoatey)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/21 "2015-03-25T02:44:44Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I can’t believe the mods actually approved this. I can’t believe the mods actually let you post. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/22 "2015-03-25T02:51:02Z")
> [@Calatin](#): > > The mods approved this? Not as far as I know. I’m closing this until I check to see if I missed an email. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/23 "2015-03-25T02:51:14Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > You know, I would think carefully before allowing a girl of that age to take a trip to Europe. > > I had a friend who, thanks to pressure from his ex-wife, allowed his young daughter to follow a rock band around Europe. > > As soon as she landed in Paris she was targeted by an eastern European sex-slave gang, and was shortly thereafter abducted. > > Fortunately, my friend had a very particular set of skills, skills aquired over a very long career. So after several adventures, including killing several men with his bare hands, one with a home-made electric chair, shooting his friend’s wife in the leg for some reason or other, and being tortured while chained to a heating pipe, he was eventually able to rescue her by overcoming a yacht full of highly trained arab guards and shooting a fat man in the dishdasha. > > Maybe wait until she’s 15. Your friend is Liam Neeson? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/24 "2015-03-25T03:30:10Z")
I was confused by the fact that approval was asked for a week before the thread was made. Approval was sought and given. Feel free to donate or not. Do not thread shit. ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/25 "2015-03-25T04:16:07Z")
When’s the trip? ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/26 "2015-03-25T08:24:30Z")
She is 14 years old! I don’t care how cool Europe is, why exactly should I give money so a fucking 14 year old can have a holiday? No doubt she wants it _really_ _really_ badly, but thats teenagers for you. Besides, if she wants to travel around Europe she should wait until she is 18/19, it will be far cooler for her at that age, going at 14 is a waste. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/27 "2015-03-25T09:22:18Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > She is 14 years old! I don’t care how cool Europe is, why exactly should I give money so a fucking 14 year old can have a holiday? No doubt she wants it _really_ _really_ badly, but thats teenagers for you. > > Besides, if she wants to travel around Europe she should wait until she is 18/19, it will be far cooler for her at that age, going at 14 is a waste. You (and everyone else) have already been told not to thread shit. You’re not being forced to donate, you can either give or you’re free not to. But anyone making these type of comments after this note **will get a warning**. If you don’t want to donate, you don’t have to post. If you still feel that much disdain for the OP asking, feel free to use the Pit. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/28 "2015-03-25T13:51:40Z")
In the current ATMB thread there were a few complaints that the thread title did not make it clear that this was a request for donations. Upon review I have to agree so I did edit the thread title. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/29 "2015-03-25T14:35:03Z")
**misstee** , you go at lengths in your OP to show that your kid is a nice kid. Which is fine, but unfortunately the world is full of nice kids. Is there any reason that I should give money towards this trip beyond the fact that she is a nice kid and she really wants to go? ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_fun_ball/32/17664_2.png) [@Happy\_Fun\_Ball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Fun_Ball)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/30 "2015-03-25T14:35:39Z")
Nope, not gonna donate. We have a neighbor that did this when she was 15, but she didn’t ask for donations, she started saving about 18 months before the trip. She funded it through babysitting, bake sales, selling some jewelry she had made, and taking on odd jobs for people. She was our favorite babysitter, but once she had the money she stopped coming around much to our disappointment. Her mother was very supportive of her taking the trip and would drive her to babysitting gigs and would even try to drum up new business for her. All the money wes raised by the girl though. That girl (and family) is class all the way and we truly admire her and hold her up as a model for our daughters. Maybe you should convince her to go next summer instead of this summer and have her save for the trip. It would be far more educational for you daughter. Edited to add: By the way, her babysitting rates were exorbitant, $14 per hour for two kids if I remember correctly. We had other babysitters available that we could hire that worked for 5 (or even less, we insisted she take at least 5 and sometimes 10), but we gladly paid the higher rate to fund her trip as we also wanted to support it. There is no way in hell we would have just given her money however. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/31 "2015-03-25T14:58:42Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > She might have more luck if she dropped out of all those extra-curricular activities to work full-time and pay her own way. > > Gotta make choices in life. The OP states that the girl is 14 and by state law not allowed to work more than she already is. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/32 "2015-03-25T15:40:34Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > The OP states that the girl is 14 and by state law not allowed to work more than she already is. I noted that after I made the post, re-reading it (it was rather tl;dr). But look, if you’re 14, and doing all those extra-curricular things her mom laid out in the OP. You can pick up just as many odd jobs like babysitting on top of her part-time job. You’d just have to drop out of those activities. Like I said, if you want to pursue such a luxury vacation at such a young age, well… something’s gotta give. These sorts of things don’t come for free, though certainly it doesn’t stop some from trying. GLWAT. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/33 "2015-03-25T15:49:33Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > **misstee** , you go at lengths in your OP to show that your kid is a nice kid. Which is fine, but unfortunately the world is full of nice kids. Is there any reason that I should give money towards this trip beyond the fact that she is a nice kid and she really wants to go? I am also curious about the answer to this question, and hope that this is a permissible curiosity to share. ---
**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/34 "2015-03-25T17:52:01Z")
Actually if you consider all the things the kid would get to do and see, $4,000 is not that much. I suspect the trip is being underwritten heavily already, and that is why it’s a unique opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/35 "2015-03-25T21:08:20Z")
I got the chance to travel around the U.S. when I was 15 and had the experience of a lifetime as well (and it cost a fraction of a trip to Europe). America is an amazingly diverse and beautiful place with plenty of notable places to visit and experience. I think trips like that are more appropriate for kids in that age group, who live here in the States. The rest of the world will be there waiting when you’re older and can really soak it in. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/36 "2015-03-25T21:26:40Z")
I think that it’s fair to point out that prior to this thread, the OP hadn’t posted here in six months and has made fewer than a dozen posts in the last two years or so. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/37 "2015-03-25T22:10:34Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > I think that it’s fair to point out that prior to this thread, the OP hadn’t posted here in six months and has made fewer than a dozen posts in the last two years or so. So what? Not everyone is a chatty Kathy and most people have lives outside of this message board. It seems like some of the posters on this board posting here is the entirety of their entertainment and should probably not be on here as much as they are. The only reason I post here is when I have down time at work and that is only because it’s one of the few sites not blocked. I think in the 7+ years I’ve been here I’ve posted 2 maybe 3 times outside of being at work. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/38 "2015-03-25T22:54:59Z")
It was clearly stated by a mod in the ATMB thread that it was permissible to post a link to the Pit thread in this thread. So, in case anybody missed it, here it is [A four thousand dollar trip to Europe for a fourteen year old? - The BBQ Pit - Straight Dope Message Board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=752655) ---
**Author:** ![Grotonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c2a13f/32.png) [@Grotonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grotonian)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/39 "2015-03-26T00:31:39Z")
> [@Una\_Persson](#): > > Actually if you consider all the things the kid would get to do and see, $4,000 is not that much. I suspect the trip is being underwritten heavily already, and that is why it’s a unique opportunity. No, that’s the normal price for that trip. Any American can sign up with EF Tours and take the same trip for the same money. (I may be wrong, you may have to be a high school student or traveling with one, but that’s the price of a trip with them.) > **[EF Student Travel Programs - EF Educational Tours for Students](https://www.eftours.com/)** > > EF Educational Tours offers student tours at the lowest prices guaranteed. Learn why teachers and parents choose EF for educational travel. ---
**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, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241/40 "2015-03-26T01:34:13Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#): > > So what? Not everyone is a chatty Kathy and most people have lives outside of this message board. It seems like some of the posters on this board posting here is the entirety of their entertainment and should probably not be on here as much as they are. The only reason I post here is when I have down time at work and that is only because it’s one of the few sites not blocked. I think in the 7+ years I’ve been here I’ve posted 2 maybe 3 times outside of being at work. Because it’s fair to expect that one might have some discourse with a poster prior to funding her kid’s European vacation. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/europe-is-a-cool-place-to-visit-right-donation-request/715241.md?page=3)