When I was 19, determined not to spend my last teenage year stuck in a suburb in Buckingham, I 1 with an Australian friend and we traveled around Europe for months As budget travellers, we stayed in the 2 accommodation we could find and live on bread, cheese and the 3 bottle of red bull
This was 1990, a time before mobile phones and the 4 , when the primary contact with home was the collection of mail from the general post office.
Before I left, Mom had made me a money pouch(荷包) to wear around my neck. She'd also made me a sleeping sheet so I could 5 unclean bedding. While she didn't want me to go, these gifts were her way of telling me to have a wonderful time.
It's only now, as my 18 year old daughter is preparing to leave on her own 6 year trip, that I have more sympathy for what Mom felt.
Working 7 jobs and saving money, my daughter has researched where to stay, how to get around and what to do when she arrives She 8 asks for my opinion and I find myself desperately 9 of whether I should wade in(介入) or back off I want to be 10 but not too involved. I want to be cool but not aloof(漠不关心的) I want to be like the perfect guide.
When she first mentioned gap year travel, I was encouraging, wanting her to have her own experiences that 11 her As I had mine, I didn't let myself dwell too long on the idea of her not being here. Our house has already got smaller in size and soon it will just be me, my son and the cat. And I'm not quite 12 for that
But this trip is about her.
This is not 1990 and I am not 13 at home waiting for a letter I have promised not to 14 her with messages, but 15 I know she can contact me when she wants to
