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Q: Hi, 17/f, from England

So basically there's a trip to America and I really want to go on it. Its only for three nights/four days, but for me it'd be once in a lifetime.
The only thing stopping me is money. The thing is, my parents can afford it-we have money but its being saved up, same as with my twin sister, for university.
But I realllly want to go on the trip and don't know how to ask them. I've been feeling like this a while now, because:
1)I NEVER ask for anything I don't need,for example I'm stuck with the same phone I had when I was 11.
2) We can afford the trip, but my parent live in the future all the time, so we have been scrimping alot now just to pay uni costs in the future-but in doing so we don't get luxarys like holidays that ironically we can afford.

I'm honestly not a petulant, spoilt child at all, but I don't know how to convince my parents when it's like £800, and I have a twin sister who can't go as she doesn't study the subject?

It's not worth it, especially not for that length of time.

$1600 for three nights? That's insane, even for a family with a reasonable amount of money. You'd spend at least 8 hours on a plane each way, which would kill half your time. You'd be suffering from horrible jet lag while you were there. It would be rushed and you would be left wishing you had more time.

Your parents are right to live in the future. Trust me when I say that you will be far more grateful for the money when you're in university than you would be for the trip. It might not seem like a lot of money to you, but I would have to work 160 hours to make that much, and it would cover half of a term's tuition of college for me. Keep in mind that it's expensive to put a child through university, and your parents get the double whammy with you and your twin sister. They're trying to give you the ultimate gift here. By bypassing a few luxuries along the way, they're giving you a real head start by helping you graduate debt-free.

The best thing you can do right now is to look to the future yourself. Plan an awesome trip to the States for when you graduate university. Take the time to really make the trip worth your while. It's why I haven't been to Europe despite it being a lifelong dream of mine. My parents didn't make it until a few years ago. You want to make sure you do it right when you do it. This isn't a once in a lifetime opportunity. You have your whole life ahead of you to take amazing trips overseas.

Rating: 5

Thanks for this! The bits about jet lag and money really helped me see this from a sensible point of view

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My name is Amanda and I'm 26 years old. I'm currently studying electrical engineering. Armed with a fairly odd sense of humour and a sunny outlook on life, I'll take on just about anything. I'm also cussedly stubborn, which has its ups and downs. Things get tough sometimes, and I've never been one to run from it.

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