The day finally arrived for my daughter to leave. It really didn't seem possible, and I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something we were forgetting. However, she got on the plane (with a bad cold) in good spirits.
Youth For Understanding (YFU) arranged for students to leave from several departure cities - in our case, Chicago. We had to arrange for our daughter to get to Chicago's O'Hare airport on August 10. As we are about 5.5 hours from Chicago, we chose to drive her down and stay in the city for a few days after her departure. If driving to the departure city is not an option, and you are concerned about your child flying alone, I would contact the organization and ask if any other student near you is traveling at the same time from the same airport. At the very least, you could arrange with another family for the two students to travel together.
Our one concern about O'Hare airport was how she would navigate the airport on her own (with too much carry-on luggage no less). She had traveled in airports before but never without a parent, and O'Hare just seemed too overwhelming. Since she was 16, we were able to request a gate pass for me. The ticket agent asked us several questions, and we had to explain that, yes, she was traveling with a group, but the group was meeting at the gate. Also, we said she was anxious to find the gate on her own (anxious being an operative word). I simply needed a government issued ID and the gate pass, and I was able to go through security with her.
I firmly believe in fostering independence for my child, but there are times when a little hand-holding is okay. She was taking a big step by leaving for a year; if she was nervous about the airport, then I could do something to make that better.
Once we arrived at the gate, there were two YFU volunteers and many other YFU students (including students who my daughter had met at orientation). They were all supposed to be wearing a YFU t-shirt to help identify themselves, but most of the students had not received the t-shirt before departing.
Once we got to the gate (and there were no other parents there), my daughter said I could go. In my mind, I had pictured her walking away from me down the boarding ramp, so leaving her "by herself" at the gate was one of the hardest things I have ever done as a parent. However, she was so excited, it was impossible not to be excited for her.
She then flew to Frankfurt, where she went through customs, and caught a connecting flight to Bremen with several other YFU students. There was a YFU representative in the airport at Frankfurt to help them, and she was able to send me a message that she had arrived safely. The students were all given emergency numbers to carry with them while traveling, so if they had any problems, help was just a phone call away.
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