Jerry

It just seemed like yesterday when most of the people on this board were talking about the trip to Europe that they canceled and the thousands of dollars that they lost as a result of their moral decision to stop traveling. Now things are back to normal and no one talks about cancelling their trip. I don't understand this rapid premature change in thinking.<BR><BR>Traveling around Europe like nothing has happened is crazy, airline security is still run by the same set of minimum wage people as before, terror groups are as active as before, the war continues and the leaders have got away, the terroists hate us more than before and the 4000 people are still being mourned. Isn't a bit early for travel and celebration?

Kim

I think there are still people mourning and canceling trips but their posts are being deleted.. I for one think that the safest travel now days is to ones back yard!

Traveler

It is true, many people are still uneasy about boarding a plane for a trip across Atlantic and security do not appear to be any better, it just takes a lot more time to get boarded.<BR>I feel very uncomfortable about a planned trip to France and Italy next summer and I think is going to be Florida instead. Many people I talk to shares the same concerns, but messages like mine are being deleted by the Fodor's Nazi patrol, so read up friends before this message disappears too! So much for freedom of speech, huh!?

kang

I returned from my first wonderful trip to London yesterday. This was my first flight after 9/11. I was a little bit nervous while boarding the plane in Newark 10 days ago but I felt completely at ease yesterday during my fight home. The securities were tighter(even though I don't know how effctive they were) and the services were better. There were not much check in waiting in both airports.<BR><BR>Unless you want to give up traveling completely, which in my view is too much a sacrifice to consider, frankly, I don't think flight today will be any more dangerous than any other time. Terroists seldom attack whilt people are in full alert. Besides, with all those new secutity measures and people's new willingness to fight the terriosts on the plane, I sincerely doubt that airplane hijaking will continue to be the prime weapon for those terroists, mainly due to the much lower successful chances.<BR><BR>Simply put, occational terror attacks here and there will be part of life in this new century and wont't go away anytime soon, for every one. You just cannot allow those things to run your life.

Shani

Other than for family concerns, I can't see why anyone would feel safer in the US than in Europe. After all Sept 11 was in the US . <BR>europeans have lived with the threat for years, so now I guess we have to grow up and face reality for a change. <BR><BR>I flew to Europe in Oct, quiet , calm and business as usual with extra security visible and invisible

Sjoerd

I flew on Sept 11, I flew on Sept 12. I flew transatlantic to Canada on Sept 24, within Canada on Sept 25 and 28, and back to Europe on Oct 2. I flew 4 segments within Europe in October, 4 segments in November and so far 2 segments in December.<BR>It is safer to fly than to drive. Europe is probably a safer destination than the US right now. <BR>If you decide to stay home, that is your choice. But please don't stop other people from enjoying their lifes.

Howard

I don't know of too many, if any, people who made a "moral decision" to stop flying!

BB

Jerry, understand that I respect your viewpoint regarding your decision not to fly. I am sure many former travelers feel the exactly same way. However, I do not share your opinion that it's a bit early for travel, and I'm sure many travelers share my opinion too. It's not about pitting one group against the other; it's about living in a society in which you are free to decide what's best for yourself.

The Way I See It...

I'm not about to give up air travel. The aftermath of Sept. 11 has provided unbelievable values which have enabled me to attain mid-level elite status on my preferred airline. We've used the opportunity to see Asia for the first time and we also booked two trips to Europe. We also booked award seats to domestic destinations to fill some of those empty seats that were available and had a great time. (Will everyone who cancelled a trip or refused to book one -- and who had that decision REALLY PAY OFF for them -- please raise their hands?). <BR><BR>Life goes on. There have always been risks and there will always be some, but often they are much smaller than what we may perceive. You were not "safer" on Sept. 10 than you are today and it is not significantly more dangerous today, either. <BR><BR>For those who choose another response, that is their choice. As for me, I'm not going to miss out on the opportunities that I've always cherished, which have become even MORE feasible in the present environment. If anything, I intend to enjoy them even more!

Patrick

I posted something about this in early October, but since then more details became available:<BR>Good friends of mine had just arrived in France for a month on 9/11. They decided a few days after the terrorist attack that they should return home to Florida. They cut short their trip and returned to the "safety" of their own home. Just a couple of days after they got home, Joan was walking across the street near her house when she was hit by a car and killed instantly. Joan and Ray lived to travel, spending up to six months a year traveling all over the world. If they had continued with their plans, she would be alive today.<BR>I for one am not going to barricade myself in my home while there is a whole wonderful world out there waiting to be discovered. I will continue to travel.<BR>If I want to sit and spend the rest of my life worrying, I guess I could fear that I am just as likely to die of anthrax sitting in my own home as I am to be killed in an airplane. And I know that I am just as likely to be killed in a car accident near my home as I am to be wiped out while traveling.<BR>But no thanks, I don't want to spend the rest of my life sitting around worrying about how I will meet my end.<BR>

Ted

People who are traveling so soon after 9/11 should be ashamed of themselves. It is an insult to the people who died!

beth anderson

Patrick, well said!<BR><BR>Beth

Patrick

Ted, how horribly funny. Can you explain how people getting on with their lives insults those who were killed? In my opinion, it honors them. Otherwise we would be honoring the success of the terrorists who killed them!!!

Dottie

Sjoerd<BR>If all those flights were pleasure I can only imagine the great places they took you to and I am soooooooo very jealous!

shani

Well said Patrick.<BR><BR>I noticed that 600 survivors and rescue workers took advantage of free trips to Hawaii

Susan

Ted's message got my dander up. You couldn't have said it better, Patrick. Ted and others may want to sit around and honor those terrorists by letting them win, and that is their business. But I, for one, refuse to honor those horrible people. It is an honor to those who died for the rest of us to go on with our lives.

Capo

First of all, I never thought "most" people on this board were talking about canceling their European trips after 9/11. There were a number of posts about that, yes, but I think the response they generated overshadowed the fact that they were, numerically, in the minority. <BR><BR>Second, recall that while Europe has had terrorist attacks in the past, the tragic attack of 9/11 happened in the U.S., and it happened to people sitting at their desks in offices, not to people who were traveling. Furthermore, I'd wager that any future terrorist attacks from Islamic fundamentalists and their ilk would be more likely to happen in the U.S. (After all, if you want to terrorize "infidels", why not terrorize them where they live?")<BR><BR>Finally, there's mourning, and then there's getting on with your life. What is considered an appropriate period of mourning varies from person to person. I don't recall an offically declared period of mourning, during which time Americans were supposed to show their respect to the dead and injured by refraining from traveling. In fact, if anything, Bush and other folks were urging exactly the opposite, urging people to travel, to demonstrate that, while we may have suffered a great national tragedy, we weren't cowed or terrorized into fear and submission. <BR><BR>If I was a terrorist, what I'd want would be to terrorize people, to make them fearful every day, to disrupt their travel plans, and their lives.

Capo

P.S. I meant "not to people who were traveling *in Europe*". There were people, of course, who died in the tragedy of 9/11 who were traveling on planes within the U.S.

Joanne

Thanks for the post Jerry and dredging up an unnecessary repeat of those days and weeks following 9/11. It angered me then and I was absolutely thrilled to see we can now go over it all again!<BR><BR>j

Rex

I was not afraid of traveling before September 11, and I was not afraid of traveling on September 19, when the fall Fodorites' trip went ahead, virtually unchanged from our original plans.<BR><BR>But I am uneasy over the inconveniences "we" have agreed to subject ourselves to, and the prospect that inconsequential actions of innocent people (like someone going backwards up an escalator, trying to retrieve a misplaced camera) could result in an entire day getting frittered away. I never have as much time to travel as I would like, and I hate the possibility that 10% of a trip might get lost to steps taken in the silly notion that it is better to be "safe" than uncertain.<BR><BR>I am pessimistic about being able to plan trips with others in the upcoming year. I do not want to put anyone into an uncomfortable position when it comes to sticking with, or withdrawing from plans for travel with a group. So I anticipate less travel to Europe in the next 12-24 months. I think that economic constraints are as likely to influence prospective Europe travelers as concerns over security OR inconvenience.<BR><BR>I look forward to planning another Fodorites' trip, as well as one or more trips with family in the near future. But I am resigned to the possibility that either might occur later, rather than sooner.<BR><BR>Back to normal? I fear not.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>