[honeychile]

You're not going to like this, but yes, you needed to let your parents (I assume that they're your next of kin?) know that you were leaving the country. Put yourself in their shoes - what if they had gotten a call that their son's plane was hijacked? Do you want to be responsible for their emotional distress?

And yes, I took off once without telling anyone - to a job interview in another state. The person interviewing me scolded me for not telling my next of kin! Granted, I had worked there before, so I knew the interviewer, but he did have a point.