Just after Christmas I am travelling from Australia to Europe alone (I am 16 years old). Although I have travelled that distance before it has never been without my parents. I am fine with the flight itself and being away from home but I am rather worried about the stopover(s). I am scared that I'll get lost, miss my flight, etc. Do you have any tips for me to help make my journey as smooth as possible?

So for the periods that you'll be alone you'll be in an airport? If so I would rely heavily on the airline staff for help. Tell them when you first arrive to check in that you're alone, tell them on the flights, and tell them at all points in between. They should be more than happy to help assist you.

Also, I would recommend NOT telling anyone else that you're travelling alone. In fact if anyone tries to engage you in conversations, etc I would go so far as to say, "sorry, I can't talk, I've got to meet my mom and dad."

I still just go back to relying on the airline staff as much as possible. They DON'T want to lose a teenager travelling alone. That would be a huge liability for them. And I'm sure they're at least somewhat used to people in your situation.

Your parents can discuss this with airline staff prior to getting the ticket. They may be able to arrange some assistance.

My daughter traveled overseas on her own at 16 as well... she had two stopovers... one in Tennessee and one on Amsterdam. We checked out the airports online. You can see which gate your plane will arrive in, and where you will need to go to make your connecting flight. You can also find where places are to get something to eat, shops, toilets, etc.. It helped to have an idea of the layout of the area she would be in at each airport.