Eh?

Errata

Just make sure he has health insurance, lots and lots and lots!
Can't understand why they aren't skyeping, sounds a bit unusual.

victory

can you face time america? or web cam?

Claree__x

lozzy88 wrote: »

Yes!!! I kept thinking it was called crayfish and was getting awfully annoyed with g00gle for not finding what I was looking for :rotfl:

I love that show

Hermia

jaqui59 wrote: »

OH knows it will be quite a big deal for me, as DS has been a stay at home lad for years, quite happy to go to work and spend the rest of the day PC gaming, so he is very naive about travel, and admits he is a little nervous about the adventure that lies ahead.

I hope he is not so naive that he has forgotten about his passport and the visa waiver form. You won't believe how many people book their travel and only remember about these things a week before they go...

ecgirl07

jaqui59 wrote: »

No, they havn't skyped, and apparently she has no web cam facility (sorry im not very technically minded) .. All they have seen of eachother are still images, and spoken through a microphone that I often see on his desk .. Maybe you could explain to me how they do that

a webcam is very cheap, a few pounds these days - alarm bells should be ringing at this point.

buy her one on american amazon and have it delivered to her house before he goes.

Mojisola

jaqui59 wrote: »

My 20 year old son very much surprised me this morning by telling me he is going to America for a week this month to meet a girl he has been chatting to on the internet for a year, and im saying to myself "good for him"

OH knows it will be quite a big deal for me, as DS has been a stay at home lad for years, quite happy to go to work and spend the rest of the day PC gaming, so he is very naive about travel, and admits he is a little nervous about the adventure that lies ahead.

Ames wrote: »

Assuming it's genuine and she's a girl and not a 40 year old gamer bloke.

If he's naive about travel then this is probably the safest way for him to be introduced to it. Being picked up at the airport by her mum takes away the hardest/riskiest/most vulnerable to being ripped of aspect, and the girl will know the area so he wont get lost when he's out and about sightseeing.

jaqui59 wrote: »

No, they havn't skyped, and apparently she has no web cam facility (sorry im not very technically minded) .. All they have seen of eachother are still images, and spoken through a microphone that I often see on his desk ..

I wouldn't be at all happy if this was my son. He might be 20 but he doesn't sound at all street-wise. Does he have any evidence that this girl is who she says she is? Will the "mother" who picks him up at the airport turn out to be the one he's been chatting with?

Webcams are so cheap, it rings alarm bells that they haven't been skyping.

He's going to be a long way from home if things aren't as they seem. What's his plan for coping if it starts to feel dodgy when he gets there?

All the advice for meeting internet friends - first time in a public place, take a friend, try to check them out and have an escape plan is going to be difficult when he's a first time traveller so far from home.

I would be wanting my son to arrange a hotel for the first night and do the initial meet-up there.

Rebecca01

Mojisola wrote: »

I wouldn't be at all happy if this was my son. He might be 20 but he doesn't sound at all street-wise. Does he have any evidence that this girl is who she says she is? Will the "mother" who picks him up at the airport turn out to be the one he's been chatting with?

Webcams are so cheap, it rings alarm bells that they haven't been skyping.

He's going to be a long way from home if things aren't as they seem. What's his plan for coping if it starts to feel dodgy when he gets there?

All the advice for meeting internet friends - first time in a public place, take a friend, try to check them out and have an escape plan is going to be difficult when he's a first time traveller so far from home.

I would be wanting my son to arrange a hotel for the first night and do the initial meet-up there.

I agree and with sending a webcam from US Amazon.

Theres too many horror stories out there.

I do hope it all works out well for your son.

Errata

Webcams have been around in the UK for about 12/13 years, and for much longer than that in the States.
Ask him why she says she hasn't got one.

chewynut

Haha this sounds so similar to what happened to my best friend last year.

He got talking to an American woman on FB last year. Apparently in her 40s. He would've been 22. They got to be good friends and she invited him to stay at her place so he could afford to go to the Comic Convention in San Diego. He still had to take out a small bank loan to pay for his tickets because he spends all his money on toys and owes his parents a fortune.

Anyway. Last I heard, the American woman told him that she'd fallen in love with him and he told her that was creepy. Lost his place to stay. He couldn't get refunds because of the way he'd purchased his tickets. It didn't even register because it came out he'd been having an affair on FB with an Irish girl (well, 36 year old woman). Him and his lassie now fly back and forth in a long distance relationship.

So, to get to the point, OP, it could be worse if your son really wants to go, let him go. Just make sure he can get his money back and knows what he's doing.

FatVonD

Mojisola wrote: »

I wouldn't be at all happy if this was my son. He might be 20 but he doesn't sound at all street-wise. Does he have any evidence that this girl is who she says she is? Will the "mother" who picks him up at the airport turn out to be the one he's been chatting with?

Webcams are so cheap, it rings alarm bells that they haven't been skyping.

He's going to be a long way from home if things aren't as they seem. What's his plan for coping if it starts to feel dodgy when he gets there?

All the advice for meeting internet friends - first time in a public place, take a friend, try to check them out and have an escape plan is going to be difficult when he's a first time traveller so far from home.

I would be wanting my son to arrange a hotel for the first night and do the initial meet-up there.

This. And then some. This all sounds really dodgy.

What if the 'mother' turns up at the airport saying the daughter is waiting at home for some reason and she brought her 'husband' with her too?