50 Year Old Girl Does Europe

When a young backpacker comes to the hostel, you can sometimes expect to have to mother them a bit. Boys and girls of all nationalities needing help in all kinds of situations; how to book a train, where can they find a cheap hostel in Rome, calling the doctor when they're ill, making sure they make it to bed after a heavy night on the town, how to cook pasta properly, arranging to send on their forgotten belongings, how can they get to Venice and back in a day without spending more than €20....the list goes on.

What is not often encountered however is the mother who has travelled across the world alone, yet is seemingly incapable of even the simplest tasks. Compound this problem with a stolen purse and an unsympathetic hubby on the other side of the planet and you get a very interesting result indeed. The 50 year old girl.

This girl does not know how to access her emails. This girl does not know how to use the phone to dial abroad. This girl does not know how to explain her dire situation to those who can help. This girl does not know how she can receive money wired from home, or even in fact that money CAN be wired from home. This girl does not know how she can book her museum tickets. She does not know what she can eat for dinner. This girl seems to be reliant on someone else to take care of her every need. This girl's thought processes seem to jump sporadically from one unrelated thought process to the other, you can even hear them if you listen closely. Shhhhhh....boing, boing, boing!!

All these things we expect from the 18 year old student, never before been out of their own town by themselves let alone to another country. When this species of traveller is encountered we are patient, sympathetic, caring and we want to help. But with this newly found breed we find our patience lacking, our lack of sympathy is astounding, we care for their troubles about as much as we care about the weather in Norway and our desire to help diminished. But why?

I don't think there is any deep reasoning behind this, I suppose we just expect more. And when ones expectations are compromised I guess we feel let down by life. Or maybe we're just so tired of looking after the real kids, that we just can't be arsed! In any case, at least she has one great quality that all mothers have, she's not scared of a bit of poo.