If you travel for business, you know all the tricks of the trade for navigating airports. But how much have you taught those same travel tricks? Have you showed your children or younger people in your life how to travel so they could gain the confidence to travel alone? This summer, as my teens dispersed across the country for various college prep programs and summer camps, I had to rely on the lessons they have learned through many years of family vacations, only this time they were traveling alone. Of course, I could allow my children under 14 to travel alone, but the older teens could handle it. Here are the lessons I've taught over the years:
1) Begin when they are young. Instead of reading the arrival and departure board to your children, challenge them to tell you what time your flight leaves and the departing gate. Even if you already know when and where to go in the airport, use the board to practice travel skills.
