When I traveled to London in 2002, Mel Jordan, Janis, Elvira and others(I can no longer remember the names of the many, many posters that gave me invaluable information) helped make my first trip to London so memmorable and a wonderful experience. I was wondering, however, where is Mel Jordan? I check the UK board all the time (plan on returning to London in September for the second time)for helpful info but have noticed she no longer posts. Also, where is Ben Haines? Anyone have any info?

Mr. Haines has actually posted fairly recently.

There was a thread earlier this year asking where some of our old posters are. I have not seen Elvira on this forum in at least a year....
I miss some of those posters...

When registration started in January 2003, there had already been a period of at least two months with no posts from elvira.

Someone else registered the name in July 2003, and posted one single question.

It has long surprised me that the leader of the "Loons" left so unceremoniously, and never came back.

Best wishes,

Rex

Mel's still here. Ben's still here. Elvira decided she's had enough abuse and bailed

I miss Elvira quite a bit -- sorry she left. I think registration helped and the New Regime has been usually pretty prompt about bouncing total twits. Wish she'd consider coming back -- loved the Loons.

There are several others I miss.

In the very early days and much before registration, I was traveling to Europe frequently and posted about once a week or so under another screen name.

Then I just didn't for a period of three years or more- and when I returned after registration as JJ5, I was so sorry to see so many missing.

Neal Sanders' reports and business travel escapades always entertained me, as did Elvira's and others. But the abuse was and IMHO can still be pretty brutal. Kind of like, "no good deed goes unpunished".

I do know that Neal does post very infrequently, but had back then, got toasted by a couple of posters who ripped his style, his job, his every personal choice etc. And possibly rightly so, he thought it too counter-productive to give his time and great expertise. Just my opinion, but I thought it was the worst thread I myself witnessed on Fodors for malice and pure nastiness. And sorry, there have been more than just a handful of those all told. I left for years just because of the name calling. And it wasn't against me either. (Just don't like to be around or witness it.)

Neal could really write as well. Many of us can't write as well as he can, but I extremely appreciate all trip reports, even more than reccommendations etc, and I think that feature especially is much less evident on Fodors now than it was 5 years ago.

Coincidentally I have just been reading an article on group dynamics, and in particular noted the section on 'self fulfilling prophecy'. If we expect bad behaviour, and in particular imply that the present group is of less worth than those who came forward in the Good Ol' Days, we are conveying very low expectations indeed.

As much as nasty remarks are deemed, well, nasty, it is an inescapable reality that they create drama. Just witness how many pleasant but innocuous threads get barely noticed, while those threads that 'stir the pot' have only too many of us jumping in, feeding the frenzy that would otherwise die a quiet death.

Meanwhile I too miss Elvira et al, but I'm not about to fall into the trap of demeaning either her or the present population by drawing comparisons that are meaningless. Besides, as any gardener knows, from time to time fondly loved plants do not, for whatever reason, come back in the spring. A good gardener, therefore, spends less time on nostalgia, and more on coaxing along new shoots.

In short, we get the 'garden' we ask for.

I'm here, redhat! Not checking in very frequently but still always happy to help!

Are you spending any time outside of London at all during your September trip? Last November we hit the south (Devon area) for the first time and absolutely fell in love!

By the way, I miss the adventures of Elvira and the loons, too.

Regardless of the philosophy, Sue xx yy, today's Fodors has a different crowd.

And I am not judging this on a better/worse scale or trying to put it into the language of value comparison. It is just different- and especially on the Europe board.

Some of you probably don't remember the big "fights" over registration for one thing. But many of the more less traveled/newbie posters back then would get basic answers about 2 star ways of traveling without anyone suggesting that they do it differently. Can't say I've seen that happen lately.

Also there was no holds barred on language back then. Don't forget that it is SO different when there is no record of source. It's fairly civilized now by comparison. Not always, but much of the time.

Just checked in today. It was really nice to see how many people responded to my question.

Mel, my brother and I are just planning on London, hopefully the K&K again or the Rembrandt, and possibly an overnight in Oxford. Can't wait to go back (we plan on a number of walking tours), but will miss not taking my son along this time. He loved it and plans on going back with his friends (not as much fun when you're in London with your mother and uncle).

Nice to see you're still here.

I also remember Tony who gave us some great info when we were planning a Scotland trip back in 99!! He and Sheila would go at it pretty good! ;-)

We still do Ginny, tho' now he's in Cincinnati, we have less to argue about

I miss Elvira too! She was so funny and informative without being pretentious. When my trip report was compared to her's, I took it as the ultimate compliment. Come back, little loon, come back.

Sheila...nice to know you two still keep in touch! And, Im glad you're still around!! This message board has been a real source of *entertainment* over the years, as well as helpful....thank-you!!!! BTW...we are planning another trip to Scotland for May 2006...have our cottage confirmed already!!!!

And I really miss Maribel. Of course, her notes can be obtained at maribelsguides.com, but she had so much fantastic information to offer, especially for Spain. She came back for a few weeks this Spring, but has disappeared again. I hope she's fine and will come back again someday.

"New shoots" or not, I will always miss Neal Sanders great reports, which, to me, were the highlight of the US board.