I’m actually quite surprise the school isn’t offering some sort of scholarship for this trip.
Seriously? Not long ago I was checking out two-week trips to places like Italy and Germany and was coming up with prices over 5K for just two weeks or even 10 days, and that was just for flights and hotels.
If you are leaving from the East Coast, it doesn’t need to be nearly that expensive. Here are some typical breakdowns when I go:
Flight - $500
Accomodations - even in Paris, there are some decent hotels in the $130 night range and they are big enough for 3 people.
Food, drink, touring $100 - $150 a day per person.
That isn’t sparing all that much and it should come to about $3000 per person for two weeks staying in actual hotels and eating at real restaraunts. Eastern Europe should be cheaper.
Eastern Europe is much cheaper than other parts of Europe. Like a half to a third the price of France. Hungary is the most expensive of the lot, and it’s amazingly cheap.
I note a lot of US-ians getting ripped off on transatlantic fares. I’ve had a look at Expedia and some of the flight prices look outrageous. Better to use small independent travel agents, or go direct to the airline if they don’t consolidate. Also, while sites like Expedia might give a good deal on the hotels, they - and travel companies - rip you if you buy an all-in.
It’s much cheaper to slap your itinerary and accommodation together independently. It’s more fun, too.
Well, I guess I have to admit I haven’t actually looked at hotels in Paris much since I live in Paris right now, but I figure you take 1000 for a flight, and it leaves you with 5000. With a 30 day trip, you have about 170 left to spend a day. Even if half a hotel room is 120 a night, that’s still fifty bucks a day for food and attractions.
These kids will be living in dorms though, and in a part of Europe where you could drink a beer in a bar for 50 cents not too long ago. (Though I’m sure prices have increased of late) Just seems pretty steep for what you’re getting.
I am almost hesitant to bring this up, because I don’t want to let my own interests influence the OP and I don’t know anything about the organization. However, are you actually interested in European government? This sounds like something a government major in college or a law student would do. If you are, that’s fantastic, I just know when I was a sophomore in high school visiting the Hungarian Parliament wasn’t real high on my list. (And still isn’t, frankly)
I guess my point is you could look a little more for an adventurous summer trip that might be more affordable, a better deal, and tailored to your specific interests, whilst you still learn plenty. Have you considered a service type trip to Latin America or Africa? Not sure about the options for a young high schooler, but I think you should consider some other trips for comparison purposes.
Then she should cough up some/most of the dough. 
Hellloooooo! You’re a Young Leader! Can’t you think up a legit way to earn $6K? Lead, fercrissakes! Lead!
Are you serious? Wow, you must be used to some high-end places! I cannot imagine how a “regular person” would need to spend $5,000+ on a 10-day trip to Italy - not including food. Of course it’s possible to spend that and more - but geez, there are decent package deals all over the place for way less than that, and they usually include more than just air/hotel/food. It’s not the norm IME to have to spend anywhere near that much; and certainly not for a kid staying in a dorm room.
If you can stand lower standards (and they’re not really that low), hostelz.com has fantastic deals on cheap accommodation.
(Bolding mine)
I have no idea if $6k is high or how you’re going to get it, but the word is “sophomore.”
(Note that I would never take the time to correct a typo, but this looks more lilke a misunderstanding than a typo.)
Accually it is pretty high on my list of things I want to do. I dont get to travel much, and this is the only way my mom would let me go to Europe with “all the conflict in the area these days” (like there isnt always). Plus I am intersted in things like this (okay im a nerd).
Yes I have considered service trips. Im accually going to Ethopia next summer with Cross Cultural Solutions, and doing some service work there. Which I see as quite odd…in my eyes Ethopia is a far more dangerous place than anywhere in Europe.
Yes I have sent out letters to many buissnesses in my town (which by the way is Midland TX) but so far no responce. and thanks for the offer its much appreciated, ill get on it.
thanks for the help so far
~kaci 
Ah yes, I remember reading about Cross Cultural Solutions when I was looking at the Peace Corps.
For one to twelve weeks, YOU TOO can go overseas and charitably help people and learn all about how people live in Russia/China/etc. And because they’re a charitable organization, in order to take part in this wonderful opportunity to volunteer your time and effort, you pay somewhere in the realm of $3000.
Or, you could wait until you’ve graduated high school and join the Peace Corps, go to one of the most in-need places in the world, and volunteer your time and NOT (unless I really misunderstand the Corps) have to pay for the privilege.
I’m sure it’s quite possible that CCS is completely legit and doing Good Works For The Disadvantaged. I just think it’s more likely that a lot of that $3k is going to pay for very expensive office furniture.
You say you are not the “fund-raiser type of person”. And I can understand that. But if it’s international government you’re really interested in and this is very important to you, it might be worth your time to work hard at getting this $6000 in just that way. Now, it’s a buttload-and-a-half of money, absolutely, but it seems likely to me that the conference leaders have some suggestions for raising it. They have scholarships, too, but you may be too wealthy to receive consideration (at least, if you’re seriously considering the CCS trip).
One resaon to go on trips like this is for an impressive college resume. Undoubtedly this trip will shine like a happy star if you’re applying to the Ivy League, or really anywhere else. But admissions people are also suckers for hard workers, because no matter how smart you are college IS hard work. You may have to suck it up, lose your free time for a few months, and do a lot of campaigning and grunt work for that 6k. A weekend job isn’t going to cut it – you’re going to have to do some serious fundraising, and corporate sponsorship and the cafepress.com idea are ways to do that.
People make all kinds of money on the internet, which seems odd to me in an age when we keep hearing about fraudulent charities. It’s even EASIER to lie on the 'net. But with sufficient advertising – perhaps linking to appropriate blogs and the like – you might be able to pull it off.
I will humbly submit, however, that in order to drum up some real sympathy and get those wallets opening, you may want to spell- and grammar-check your letters and requests very thoroughly. This is not me being snarky (well, it’s not JUST me being snarky 
), I’m just saying that you will have a great deal more luck with a well-spelled, well-punctuated, well-thought-out begging letter of intent.
The more I look at these two paragraphs together, the more my brain starts to hurt. Precisely how interested are you in European affairs if you think there “always” is conflict in Vienna and Prague? Is the Vienna Philharmonic engaged in ethnic cleansing, perhaps?
And Ethopia seems to me to be far out of the range of possibility for you. Do you know anything about landmines, the conflicts with Eritrea and Kenya and so on? It just seems far too dangerous and unusual for a 16-year-old who hasn’t travelled much.
I was getting seriously disturbed as well from that.
To the OP: I am from rural Louisiana and I have family that lives in Midland and Odessa although I live in the Boston area now. I never travelled out of North America until I was out of college and I know what a naive outlook can mean. I married a wife that need to travel internationally for her career and I do it pretty frequently.
Don’t take this the wrong way because most people in your position are and I definitely was worse than you. You sound very, very clueless about the whole international travel thing so much that it is disturbing people in this thread.
You don’t know enough about European government to go to a very focused conference like that, it is way overpriced, and there is way more experience and value from doing it other ways. Europe is not a war-zone at this point and your mother sounds like a serious flake for saying something like that. It is something that jumps out in somebody’s face as the “ignorant quote of the day” and you did not seem to know that before you posted it. OTOH, Ethiopia and that part of Africa can be truly dangerous and it seems absurd not to make a hard distinction.
Let me tell you the best way to do it and ignore it at your own peril:
Europe has a huge youth hostel network and tons of people your age travelling on their own. It also has a train system called the Eurail that you can buy a pass for and basically just move between countries as you choose. Western Europe is only half the size of the continental U.S. and the largest country, France, is a little smaller than your home state of Texas. You can use a Eurail pass to visit London, Paris, Venice, Barcelona, Madrid and whatever floats your fancy in two weeks and I will absolutely guarantee you that it will be less than half the price of this conference and you will learn more than 5 years in Midland.
Europe is not like the U.S. in that teens can travel without fear and just take a train wherever they want without worrying about finding expensive accomodations. It is very common and my wife did it 3 times in high school. Everyone that you would need to talk to in Western Europe speaks English. I do not speak french and I have probably spent 20 days walking wound Paris by myself without a problem. People can and will speak English to you if you are polite about it.
All you have to do is grab a friend and go. Please, I have taken personal concern over this whole thing as a consultant. I believe you would have a good time at the conference but your cluelessness concerns me and it is way too expensive.
DO me a favor and go to a bookstore and look in the travel section. Read about all the places you could go on a Eurail pass in two weeks for much more experience and much less money.
Your need to format your parental unit… The system is obviously unstable.
Here’s what you do.
See, we’ve got this illegal immigration discussion going on now around the country, and one of its basic tenets is “they do what Americans won’t.”
So, go to your local farm where illegals are frequently employed. You’ll probably have to show up early in the day, as it gets too hot later in the day. Say, around 4 AM.
You’ll have to work hard, but probably only for four or five hours. You can make about $150/day. That’s $1050/week, tax-free. Sorry, you won’t get medical benefits or anything, but hey, you’re young & healthy, right? You can make $4200/month, if you work hard everyday. In a month & a half, you’ll have your money. It’ll be a good experience.
Since you’re working early in the day, you’ll still have time for classes. I assume you’re a student.
Of course, if you live in Minnesota and there’s snow everywhere right now, this plan won’t work.
I traveled for two months in the UK and Western Europe during my soph year in college, and spent under 6000 US dollars - and both places are much more expensive than Eastern Europe. Traveling alone is an enriching experience and it’s perfectly safe as long as you’re careful.
I also second the opinion that the conference you plan to attend is obscenely expensive. I attended the International Student Festival in Trondheim, which is held every two years and had forums and cultural events for nearly two weeks, and all I had to pay for was my plane ticket - meals and accomodations were provided for. I had the best time of my life and learned more about international affairs during those two weeks than in my entire 3 years of high school. You might want to look into this - I daresay you’d get more out of ISFiT than you would CYLC. CYLC seems rather focused on what it offers, and unless you already have some knowledge of the issues they will deal with I doubt it’ll be worth the money.
I looked at the schedule, and except if they rented exceptionnal places to hold their events (I noticed a dinner in the town hall of Vienna being mentionned) and pay high-level officials or scholars for the conferences, the price is just insane.
Besides I think that this site is sorely lacking in details about the goals, the content, the organization, the events,… and even the schedule. I would expect way more informations for a serious, high-end programm.
Seems like a major rip-off to me. How did you “qualify” for this scheme, anyway?
$6000 is a lot for a kid to raise. But here’s my advice anyway.
In addition to getting a job, solicit donations from my family members. Any aunts, uncles (including “greats”), adult cousins, grandparents, close friends-of-the-family. Write them personally (no form letter) and tell them what you want to do and why. Tell them you’d appreciate any kind of assistance. Do this even if you aren’t close to them. Relatives always feel guilty for not keeping in touch, but giving you money might assuage some of that.
I know it sounds creepy. But when I was a sophomore in high school trying to raise money for a trip to Europe, that’s what I did. I got a menial job over the summer at Six Flags and raised a lot of the money (which, to be honest, wasn’t anything close to $6000). In addition, I think I raised about two hundred dollars in familial contributions. I know this doesn’t sound like much, but my relatives also donated money to my twin sister. If I had been soliciting all by myself, I would have doubled my money. (Also, my relatives are pretty much working class folk. Your yield may be even greater if you come from a well-to-do background).
So, get a job (which I know you’re trying to do). Write a bunch of letters (and don’t forget to write thank-you notes…postcards are a nice touch). Can you do some odd jobs around the neighborhood too?
I’d also ask your mother for help, since she thinks you should go for this. Ask if she’d be willing to pick up the slack if you raise a heap of cash.
I would follow Shagnasty’s advice. Find a way to do this thing as cheaply as possible. $6000 in Eastern Europe sounds like a huge rip-off. I would do the homework and try to figure out what’s the bare minimum necessary for participating in this conference. If the conference organizers are requiring $6000, don’t do it. It would indicate that they are taking advantage of deep-pocketed, upper-middle class youngsters seeking to get a leg-up in college admissions. It’s not worth it.
OK, former GYLC delegate checking in :).
In answer to the OP (and the naysayers): I went to one of these conferences five years ago, but the other way round, as in I’m from the UK and the conference was in the US. Firstly, I can say that yes it was a fantastic experience on many levels, including: the oportunity to go further afield than I had ever done before (I’ve visited a few European countries on various occasions, but this remains my one and only trip outside Europe); planned tours of various iconic sights such as the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State, the United Nations, WTC site (which reminds me, it must have been four years ago :(), the Washington and Lincoln Monuments (and others in that area), the Washington Holocaust Museum, and many more; meeting a number of great, like-minded people from many different countries, with the opportunity to set up lasting friendships; much discussion and debate on many diverse issues, which is great training for, well, life I guess; and many other things besides. I had a lot of fun on that trip.
However, I should point out that the cost was $2,200, not including flights, but including pretty much everything else, i.e. US College accomodation, food, transport, entrance fees, tuition, insurance etc. I think I received the information about the trip you are going on, and decided not to attend because, as others have pointed out, it didn’t seem such good value. However, even if it had been $2000 I would probably still have declined, since even raising that isn’t easy, I have other commitments, I’ve already done it once etc.
So, my assessment is that if you really want to go, and have a genuine interest in any or all of: politics, international issues, debating, meeting people, having fun, seeing new places - then perhaps it is worth it. Others have already come up with good suggestions for raising money, but I’ll just mention a little bit about my own experiences.
My main sponsors were my parents and grandparents, to whom I am of course eternally grateful. I had a busy life with many commitments and interests at the time (as I do now) which made it impossible for me to raise the money solely through part-time work. Yes, I know, if I had really wanted to I could have dropped everything and worked for it, but I was lucky not to have to. I did, however (in conjunction with a few others from my school who were also going) organise some fundraising events, including a raffle, a school disco, and a sponsored walk. Despite the hard work we all put into these projects, they “only” resulted in about $200 profit each. We could have done more, but be aware that this is quite a hard way to get funds and a job is probably a better bet.