It appears I have a different take on the situation. I feel to much focus is placed on the individual aspect of Laura's journey.

First, can Laura do it ? Well, young persons have done more challenging things in times of war or over the past ages. Some even made it to the position of leading massive armies into battle at a very young age like Joan of Arc. Alexander conquered the known world at 16 I believe. But this is simply not the point in my opinion.

I also believe that "She can learn more on the trip then in school" is BS also. I don't share the view that the world is one big playground that is designed for us human beings to have a good time. Or that having kids grow up in well defined structures (school) instead of wandering about freely is a bad thing. School is just as much about learning to live inside a human society (laws, regulations, etc) as it is about gaining knowlegde.

I also think Laura is learning a valuable lesson right now and that is that it is smart not pick a public fight with authorities. This lesson appears to be overdue with respect to the father.

Fact of the matter is that our current societies are simply not designed to allow persons of such a young age to make journeys like that solo. There are little obstacles like "not being regarded as legally capable", "not being allowed to leave school before you are 16" and the fact that they sought publicity too soon and tried to give the finger to the authorities (of multiple nations I might add).

At this point the authorities can simply not let her go anymore as then they will be faced with 1000's of inner city kids with questionable futures that all believe they can make it to the top of the basketball league and want to train 24/7 for it (meaning skip school). Of course when they fail it will be societies responsibility to care of them or they'll smash up bus cabins out of fustration or become criminals. Laura is threatening to create a precedent that will make enforcing the law alot harder in the future. Maybe this is unfair to Laura, but hey life is unfair ! That is lesson number two that she (or they) is learning right now.

Another aspect is what happens when she causes an accident instead of being involved in a accident herself. She is legally not regarded as being capable of handling on her own (even if in reality she may be). Nobody is looking forward to untangling such a legal mess that may indeed fall on anybodies doorstep. What if the other party sues the Dutch government for knowingly letting her go and pay for the costs/fine ? This is also the reason why New Zealand has release the press communique that they are expecting to treat her the same way as the Dutch government is. They too are not looking forward to handling this hot case with ample potential for legal problems and damaged public prestige. New Zealand doesn't want to be on record as being a safe-haven for kids looking to get out of school.

Potential for Record-breaking ? Nations simply do not care when responsibilities and legality of it all aren't well defined. That is one of the more important lessons in your life that you won't we learning by wandering alone over the oceans.

People think they are totally free entities but nobody really is. We are social animals and ever since we existed we have lived in social structures that limit our freedoms. Lets not pretent that this has changes in the last 50 years because it really didn't.

Personally, I believe a trip around the world can be very educational but I don't really see why it needs to happen at 13. The worlds will still be there at 18 and even at that age Laura will be very capable at learning about it. So I don't share the sense of urgency to letting her go now. I feel she shold just finish her secondary education and only then leave on this solo trip. Of course, she won't be in the race for the record then but I really don't understand why a nation should be breakig its own laws for acquiring such a questionable symbol of prestige. The damage of (publically) handling two standards is just too large in relation to the (symbolic) benefit.

I predict that Laura will not leave shore legally and that she won't be moving to New Zealand either. When sailing in UK waters she will be arrested (because of that little incident when she crossed the north sea last time) and I'm sure the pirates of Somalia, Niger, Sumatra or whatever can't wait to capture her and ask the Dutch government for rantsom or sell her off to the harem of same obscure sultan requiring several million bucks to send in the marines. I'm not sure how safe a flotilla is in this respect. Hell we can't even protect large ocean cruisers at this moment.

Wouter