Traveling Solo as an Eighteen Year Old

 

Yet again, I have run into something that I hope no other parent has to go through...

Now that Brendan is traveling solo for various Competitions around the State of Colorado, he has discovered that turning 18 is less cool than he thought. 

I called a hotel to ask if he could check in alone as an 18-year-old and I was assured he could. Then they directed me to their reservations line, and I asked the same question. Again, I was assured this would be no problem.

Well, guess what? It was...this hotel actually turned him away. He called me. I told them that since they took our money without telling us that each hotel is independently operated and can make their own policies regarding 18-year-old solo travelers, they needed to help my son. I demanded a full refund and their assistance in finding my son a place to stay since I am 3,000 miles away. Next time, I will be getting the name of every person I talk to as well as asking to speak to a manager to verify.

Ultimately, they did find him a place.  But I can't help but be disappointed. I will never use this Hotel chain again and promptly sent a letter to their corporate customer service. The possibility of influencing his preparation for the next day cannot be understated, not to mention that he might not have had a place to stay for the night is something no parent wants to think about.

The advice I can give is to check, check again, and triple-check when making reservations for your solo traveling 18-year-old. Now Brendan knows, as an 18-year-old, he can vote, and die for his country, but cannot check into a hotel of his choosing or rent a car. Moving on...

SOLUTION FOUND! AirBnBs! Don't know why I hadn't thought of this sooner! It is super easy: all the app requires is one adult older than 13.  I am still going to check each property though.

2nd SOLUTION FOUND! Zipcars. Most universities have Zipcars on their campus. It is the only rental car an 18-year-old is able to rent on their own. A year's membership was about $35. Find it at www.zipcar.com

    CLIMB ON!

Sponsorships and how get them...

 

Photo Credit: @qb.photo.ak

I hesitated to write this post since Brendan is not yet stacked with sponsorships. But hey, I figure inquiring minds want to know...

Despite all of the expenses that come with climbing, it could be worse. It’s not like hockey or skiing…But even so, I got tired of paying for the litany of things he needed. So I said to Brendan, “you need to find someone to help pay for all this.” Well, Brendan and I were in full scholarship-seeking mode and started to do the same thing for finding sponsorships. Basically, all one has to do is ask.

Brendan started finding companies with a 'Become An Ambassador' page or a 'Our Athletes' page. Some of them had a link to apply to be considered. Since Brendan really liked his Gomi Butora shoes, that was the first one he applied to. It just so happened that his coach is also a Butora athlete, so a good recommendation always helps. 

The main thing, as with any endeavor, is to network. It's all about who you know. Brendan has started meeting a lot of people as we have been traveling around the country. So encourage your climber to climb hard, get people's attention, and ask to be sponsored. 

Hey, you never know. 🤷

    CLIMB ON!

Instagram: brendan______w

Spectating from afar

 

I have to say, a tough part of the parent's adjustment to the Collegiate Climbing Circuit is not being able to see my kid climb anymore. I prided myself on never missing Brendan climb. But now with him in Colorado, that just isn't possible anymore. Plus, he has a competition almost every Saturday now! He is thriving, but my husband and I are left to mull about the house thirsty for information.

I have gotten really good at finding internet sources to tell me what is going on. The first question is: Did he make it to the comp? Colorado is having a huge snowstorm right now, with road closures all over the state (Really? I guess I am just a jaded Alaskan...). Okay, so I have Find Your iPhone for that answer. Yes, he made it to the gym. Pro Tip: if your climber is flying and you want to track their flight, Flight Aware is a great app. Or, if you have an iPhone, text the flight number to yourself. It will appear underlined; long press the flight number and a flight preview with a map of where the plane's flight time/arrival in real-time will appear.

The next question is: How comp savvy is the gym he is at? Some local comps will periodically (maybe) post updates to their Instagram stories, video clips, or still photos. I scour the posts to see if I see Brendan. ("There he is!" and a celebration ensues while running to tell hubby.) 

The third question is: What is his score??? Well if it is a USA Climbing event, there is a results page that is updated in real time. So I get out the official manuals to understand the scoring and imagine the rest. This is as close as I can get to being there! We were super lucky to have one gym livestream the Qualification round and the Finals round. We didn't have good camera luck but did get to see Brendan a couple of times on the wall. But we were so grateful to have that!

Sometimes we get lucky and a friend from home visits Brendan. Here he is (below) with a fellow Alaskans at the Battle for the Fort 2024 at Ascent Studios in Fort Collins. This is a massive comp with Olympians showing up every year. What a great experience to be there for! But still, some gyms take days to post the results from a competition (Hey! Don't forget about us little people far away, please!)

Well, here I sit passing the time with this post waiting for scores to come in at his first Collegiate Qualifying Event combined with a local competition called Longtucky Showdown. Stay strong Climbing moms and

    CLIMB ON!

Battle for the Fort at Ascent Climbing Studio. 

Back to today: The wait was long but worth it!

And he came in 3rd in the Finals round overall at Longtucky!!