If you recall, I was sending a 9 years old to Europe for the first time this summer. Well, he has been back (if you were wondering but I think you would have heard it on news if he got lost on the way). In his words, here was our exchange after he landed in Prague:

1. How was it? The flight?  – It was fine, good.
2. Did you sleep? – Yeah, a little bit
3. How was the transfer in Amsterdam? It was good, I was on a golfcart
4. Did you eat, how was the food? It was good

You get the flow…and it kept going in that type of manner. So you probably know as much as I do. Clearly traveling to Europe alone when you are 9 is identical to walking to your friend’s house – just about as eventful. I was getting a bit of stares as to “why do you keep asking those questions, it is not a big deal”. After a few Skype calls, digging for info was a bit more fruitful:

• Grandpa was there to pick him up, luggage got there too
• Had no time through layover to buy anything (!?! big deal, apparently) was stuck in some small kids playroom for 10 minutes
• REALLY enjoyed the 2nd airline from Amsterdam to Prague – lots of food, great seats, drinks – hmmm, suspicious in my view so after a bit more probing – turns out he ended up in first class for the 90 mins flight – and asked if we could fly like that more often (yep and nope, better get used to the other way of flying).
• Got plenty of time on iPad – Dutch neighbor on the plane was very nice and impressed by his Clash of Clan skills (yay, I guess?)
• Dutch much better than French in service – Amsterdam won over Paris
• Didn’t lose anything
• Was a last person to get on a flight with the stewardess which felt like got the last available seat – not really but perception is everything

So something. Besides his increased confidence and certainty that if his brother did this trip, he would end up in Ethiopia – it counts as success. Just waiting to hear when he asks to go see his cousins in Perth 🙂