Interesting. I'd be interested in hearing about your trip to Europe, Lauren. I real was the danger around. What kind of plans did you have to change.

Sorry, that message was to Susan.

My husband and I have decided to postpone our October trip to France. We have been planning the trip for a year and were so looking foward to it; but I feel like I want to be close to home now. I worry about something happening that would prevent me from getting home plus I am just not in the frame of mind now to enjoy myself. I wish I didn't feel this way as I would love to be able to say, in person, to the people abroad how much we appreciate their heartfelt responses to our tragedy here in the U.S. Also, right now, with our economy looking like it could go into the toilet, I think I should be spending my money here at home, so will probably just get in the convertible and drive to the coast for a few days when vacation time comes.

StCirq, you have a house in France, two children in private school (the tuition for which you post all over the internet), you go to France once a year for an extended trip and you claim to be, quite frankly, loaded. <BR> <BR>In this time of national emergency, you worry about spending $90 on shots for a trip to Morocco? I cannot fathom this. What is the point? To let us know, once again, that you are loaded and can go to Morocco. <BR> <BR>If you think you are going, get the shots. If you don't know, get the shots. If you are not going, don't get the shots. I really don't think you have to worry about the 90 smackeroos.

We are still planning on going to the Algarve on Oct. 6- but are staying "flexible" in case last-minute cancellation becomes necessary. It will be with sadness for all who are coping with loss, and I intend to travel with cheerful patience and a pleasant attitude towards all, despite delays and/or unpleasant behavior on the part of others - how very petty such things are compared to what thousands and thousands of Americans are going through! (incidentally, for all of those who suffered injuries in the attacks - my prayers and best wishes are with you now and will be with you in the time to come, as you deal with recovery)

We also postponed our trip to Greece next Saturday. Having witnessed the most horrific event of my life here in NYC, I feel it's important to be at home with families and friends. It's hard to enjoy vacation while things are happening in the U.S.. I agree with Fran that I'd rather spend money here in the US rather than overseas. <BR>

It is positively appalling that someone who lives so near the Pentagon, yet whose family was spared, would worry over $450 or so worth of shots. You know, StCirq, you could donate that money to the American Red Cross or UFA, Widows and Children's Fund <BR>Uniformed Firefighters Association in New York City. You could transfer your children to public schools and contribute the savings in tuition to the familys who will never recover their losses from this tragedy. That you are concerned only with your personal safety and upcoming pleasures is horrible. <BR>

Personally, I would not go abroad now for a trip that was not obligatory. First of all, at this time of national emergency, I would not feel comfortable being out of the country. Moreover, if you do across the Atlantic, bring sacks of cash in case you get stranded on the other side of the Atlantic. And, if you do get stuck, you will have been forewarned (unlike the people who got stuck last week). <BR> <BR>If you are somewhere within reasonable driving distance, you will probably have other alternative transportation in case of an airport shut down. <BR> <BR>Now, I don't have any trips planned in the near future but this may be a year when I take my vacation closer to home. We shall see. <BR> <BR>You know, folks, there is no guarantee this is all over.

Way to go Lauren. Fuel the flames of panic. Not necessary, thank you! We know that you are not concerened with any of your trips for the future, as you just returned. Tell me what will happen to the airlines if we all cancel now? We appreciate your concern and advice, but I for one, will continue to travel.

Pardon me, "Margaret" (or whoever you are)? We should continue to travel as though the events of September 11th never occurred? <BR> <BR>I am not fanning the flames of panic. I am being practical, and, if you get stuck overseas without enough money, you will be the one who is panicked. <BR> <BR>Personally, as I have said, I feel overseas vacations right now are unwise--and even the FBI or CIA cannot say whether there will be more attacks. I will not put my life--or finances--at risk because the airlines are suffering. The airlines are suffering? We are all suffering. <BR> <BR>If you want to travel, travel, but know it well: This is war. In war we do have to put up with inconveniences. One of those inconveniences may be to not go overseas. In the circumstances--with over 5,000 people dead in New York alone--changing my vacation plans (or even not taking one) is not a great inconvenience at all. And, if you get stuck, don't come back to this board complaining about it. <BR> <BR>And another thing: When the hostilities actually commence--and they will--the tensions will increase in Europe and may result in more airport shutdowns. Have you thought how much inconvenience it would be for the US Embassies to have to track down all the Americans all over the world? <BR> <BR>Or, are you just thinking of your own personal convenience.

At the moment I am not terribly fond of those who have decided to take away my freedom to roam as I wish. I resent that they may have been successful in scaring others. Exercise your freedom.

You know...I kind of have to agree with Lauren. We have a trip to Rome planed for early November...& while we still have some time before our departure, I question whether or not we should even go. The truth of the matter is that we ARE at war...we don't know what is going to happen...we don't even know who the enemy is or where the enemy is & which countries will be affected. So how can we rest assured that we'll be safe on any trip. Is that just a false sense of security??? <BR> <BR>My husband feels that we shouldn't let the terrorists get the better of us & that we should do as we planned...but I feel that we can always take our trip later. We have two small kids (3 & 1 yrs) and what if something happened & we couldn't get back...for a long time! It is a matter of being practical & using common sense...emotions aside. I still don't know what to do but I am thinking about it all as we all should be doing.

Vita <BR>The plans we had to change were to do with the Danube River. We had planned to travel the entire length but we were warned not to go any further than Budapest as the bridges had been damaged further along (near Belgrade) but we enjoyed the river in Germany and then did a cruise from Passau to Budapest and back with many very interesting stops along the way. We also changed our plans to cross the Adriatic by ferry and flew instead.

Margaret: <BR>Hate to tell you but none of us are even guaranteed tomorrow. Doesn't matter where you are.,

For those of you with contingency plans in case you get stranded (and lots of money to cover added expenses, if necessary)--and not a care in the world about what happened on September 11, 2001--please resume your normal global wanderings without a thought. What the hell, thousands died in New York and we are looking at a war of uncertain duration, we might as well just ignore the situation and have a bottle of fine wine in Paris. <BR> <BR>Perhaps all you ostriches ought to remove your heads from their holes in the ground and listen to the news.

I am not one to normally get overly angry, for those of you who know me, but to Sammy and others, I will say this (and may speak for others): I have had it with the self-righteous people who feel this way. What in the hell would you have us do? Does life not go on, regardless? Can we never be happy again? Do we walk around paralyzed and not doing anything but crying? Believe me, I have done this for the past week, and I won't live the rest of my life this way. If I had planned a trip for last week, I would have postponed it, but in a month I want to travel. If you don't want to do anything but watch tv and cry forever, then go ahead. I am not trying to be mean here, but we all make our own choices. I consider myself a very sensitive, caring person, and my heart has bled severely this week and will continue to do so for the people who are yet to die. If you don't believe this about me or others, I no longer care what you think. I owe it to myself and my family to go on and make the best of life I can. We all just got another reminder this week of how quickly it can end. Now, having said that, I feel better. You can come back with any response you want, but you won't get one from me.

Thanks, Dan....you summed it up quite nicely! In fact, I've printed out your response for future reference when people grill me left and right on why I still want to go.

I can see things one way (staying at home) as well as the other way (continue with my trip plans). I've planned my November Italy trip for at least 6-8 months now and hopefully I can make a good decision in a month and that is to go to Italy. I feel that I need to continue my life as best as possible and not let these terrorists "win." If we don't move on to our normal ways of life, then they've won. Yes, it might be dangerous, yes, maybe we should take extra money, and yes, we need to accept the fact that we’ve chosen to take the risk. I’m at risk right now working at Fort Detrick. I am at risk driving my car home. I hope that in the next 1.5 months I can have my life back and feel the same excitement about going on this trip as I did before 11 September 2001.

Well, it seems to me that a great deal of this depends upon how your quickly you process events etc. I know that had we a trip planned last week, even if we could have gone I wouldn't have. This week, though I'd be scared out of my wits I would. <BR>Next month.. or in March... unless something happens to prevent me from going I will go (will most likely purchase trip insurance for the first time ever though). <BR>But just as an example...Tuesday and Wednesday, I was angry of people who were walking around as though nothing had happened... frankly I wanted to slap there smiling faces..(I didn't of course ;)). By Thursday and Friday I was downright exhausted and depressed... laughing, kind of annoyed me but I didn't get angry anymore. <BR>On Sunday... my husband did the most inane thing and we both broke out in sort of desperate, but honest laughter. <BR>I went out and bought a frothy romance novel to take my mind off everything. <BR>That was MY timeline..that is NOT Dan's timeline, or Joe Blows timeline... or anyone elses. <BR>We all should be understanding of all the formerly simple choices we had that now are much MUCH more difficult. <BR>I certainly don't fault anyone for not going, nor for going. <BR>It's so personal.. the way people react to grief and fear... given our diversity as a species there certainly is no Right way or wrong way to do handle any of these things.

We leave Oct. 6 from SF to Italy. We are still going as long as they airplane will take us! I've planned this for a long time, and although I feel for those in NYC and Washington DC, putting my life on hold will not help the situation, it only means the horrible people who are responsible for this are getting what they want. <BR> <BR>I'm not afraid to fly, especially now with the new security they are imposing. If I have to get to the airport 3 hours early, fine by me.