Travel with Katie Butler: Planning first holiday abroad without parents

Planning first girls holiday without parents.

How did that happen? Just like that the school holidays are at an end and so it seems is the British summer!

Katie Butler, Total Travel, writes: Thankfully, the sunshine managed to hold out for our team summer gathering last week. Our teams from Heckmondwike, Ossett and Brighouse met up for brunch and drinks to celebrate a successful first half of the year.

Just as we have seen the weather turn in the UK, many parts of Europe have also experienced turbulent weather with Majorca and Menorca dealing with severe flooding and thunderstorms lasting two days and some areas left without power.

Also, storms across parts of Greece again, with temporary loss of power, as I learnt second-hand from my youngest daughter out in Zante, on her first ‘no-parent’ holiday with friends.

On their way - first girls holiday without parents.

Indeed, it was a sleepless week for me as our ‘baby’ of the family jetted off on her adventures with friends from college. I vaguely remember my first holiday abroad without parents and understand now their worry and concern which at the time seemed ‘over the top’.

Having your son or daughter go on holiday without you for the first time is of course one of the most exciting experiences for your child but possibly one of the most traumatic times for a parent. However, essentially they are now adults and it is going to happen sooner or later.

Do I have any tips? Of course, every child is different on their requirements but we ensured they were booking a fully-protected package holiday. They also booked an ‘all-inclusive’, holiday meaning us parents knew that they would be fed and watered.

As a young adult we assumed they would know what they wanted to take but we did of course run over a check-list ensuring they had not forgotten sun-cream, adaptors and that they had a safe place for their passport whilst travelling.

Total Travel team summer gathering to celebrate a successful first half of the year.

I have asked for a text message every night (or morning as more often has been the case) to let me know when they have safely got back to their hotel and thankfully they have all adhered to this. We also had a pre-holiday chat about looking after their drinks and of course staying together and looking after each other.

Overall, apart from broken sleep due to watching out for ‘that text message’ I can happily say they have had a ball.

A brief update on the European Visa Waiver Scheme which we have now had confirmation ‘should be’ in place by May 2025.

The waiver will cost €7 for people aged 18-70 and will last for three years or until the passport expires, whichever is the soonest.

I will of course keep an eye on this and inform further once we have further details and full confirmation that the system is live.

Once again, September remained the top-selling month of departure for new bookings and accounted for an 18 per cent share of our new sales, with late bookings (travelling within 12 weeks of departure) matching the prior week at 44 per cent.

A big increase in new cruise bookings last week with many returning home and of course the phenomenal programme on TV showcasing the Worlds Biggest Cruise Ship-Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas.