Getting unlost

Getting (Un)lost 

Ten Tips for Keeping Your Kids Safe While Traveling to Big Cities

By Jennifer Baljko

Ah, San Francisco!  I can see the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge peeking out of the fog as I run along the always-busy main drag of Fisherman's Wharf. I dodge tourists who are milling around souvenir shops, choosing the perfect trinkets and postcards. Snatches of words muttered in French, German, Italian and Russian buzz in my ear. Everything is lost in translation - until a piercing cry breaks my concentration.

"Daddy, where are you? D-A-A-A-D? D-A-A-A-D-D-Y?"

The distress call turns me 180 degrees. A girl about eight years old stands on a street corner gripping a plastic key ring. Tears roll down her cheeks. She frantically looks to her left and right.

A German couple, a French man and I all have the same reaction. We rush over and bombard her with questions. She's nervous, and she can't remember where she last saw her parents. She shakes her head. No. She doesn't know where her hotel is. No. She doesn't know how to reach her parents. Her father's cell phone is at home in New York, she cries. And, no. She doesn't know who else she can call to get a message to her family.

"What are we going to do," I ask myself, simultaneously trying to reassure the lost girl that everything will be okay while quieting the thumping in my chest.

***
Scary moments like this can happen when vacation plans take families to big cities. The constant barrage of lights, noise and urban antics easily grabs your attention, leaves your children wide-eyed with wonder, and paves the way for plenty of disorienting moments.

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