Dilemmas: Should Mum turn up on a backpacking adventure?

YOUR son of 18 has packed his bags and is currently travelling the world before coming back to college in the autumn. He has been away for three months, backpacking around South America. As his mother you long to go out and pay him a visit. Your plan is to spend a week in Mexico City, where you would give him a break from his rugged trip by putting him up at a nice hotel for a couple of nights. You are just about to book the flight when your ex-husband, your son's father, gets to hear about it. He deplores your idea. He writes you an impassioned letter saying that the boy is carving his own myth from the rockface of adventure and the last thing he needs is his mother fussing around. Your visit, he claims, will ruin his whole experience for him. What do other mothers, fathers - and, most importantly, backpackers - feel is the right move?