A friend of mine has a few weeks left to decide whether or not to cancel a trip to Spain. She has a really bad back problem that makes walking difficult for her.
After having spent 3 weeks in France last month, my unsolicited advice to her is to DEFINITELY postpone the trip until about 6-9 months after surgery and even then only if she is capable of doing a lot of walking.
I'm sure you would all agree with me but I think it might help to convince her if she saw more than one person's advice.
Thanks!
Michèle

If she's in that much pain and has difficulty walking, then she should postpone the trip until she feels better. Otherwise she won't be able to enjoy anything and it would only end up being a waste of time and money.

I would agree that given what you've told us cancellation might be the best bet...

my question....WHAT is causing this person to delay that decision?

Is the "bad back" problem not as bad as you think it is OR is she just deluding herself?

Please explain this aspect of things.

I agree with Intrepid you have to explain us a bit more. I just don't understand it. I have a disability and I'm not able to do lots of walking..never. I live in Spain and travel as much as I can..so, if she is not in big pain...I can't get the point.

I believe one of the spinal conditions she has is Spinal Stenosis: a narrowing of spaces in the spine that results in pressure on the spinal cord and/or nerve roots. She has already had one surgery but there might have been a complication which resulted in the surgery not being successful. So to some extent I can understand her apprehension with regards to undergoing a 2nd surgery.
I think it would be more helpful and encouraging for her if I could share replies similar to the one posted by Robert2533.
Many thanks!
Michèle

Well, I am very sorry to say that it sounds as if you are trying to sway her to do something she may not feel she is ready to do..i would think if you had her best interests at heart you would share EVERYONE'S opinion with her and ALLOW her to make her own decision.

I have problems with my knees and feet that make walking difficult for me also. I am traveling as much as I can while it is enjoyable. I take taxis much more than I used to and the nature of my traveling has changed, but that's life. If it gets better, so much the better, I'll enjoy the "after" trips that much more.

I don't know anything about your friend's condition, so I am not speaking for her, just for my own situation. It may or may not be comparable.

You're right. Your opinion was unsolicited. Why don't you let her decide by her own?

Whoa, Intrepid1, Intrepid1!
On the contrary, I am trying to sway her to postpone her trip. Naturally, whether or not she has the surgery is her business.
Perhaps it is my fault that I didn't communicate clearly.
Michèle

Michèle- My parents had a trip planned to visit Spain in 2000 and my father dropped out at the very last minute because of his bad back (which was operated on a few months later). Well, we had spent months trying to get him to back out and he kept saying "No, I can do it". . . he said that so long that we ended up having to pay for hotel rooms that were too big (too late to change the reservations), eating tickets to attractions, not being able to get anything back on a few tickets. . . an expensive lesson, indeed. And, the entire trip as my mother and I went up and down stairs, ran to catch trains, spent hours on our feet in museums, etc, we would say "good thing dad isn't here."

The good news: he came in 2001 and we had a wonderful daddy/daughter trip. The only downside to it was that as it was just him and me, people kept thinking it was a much older man dating a very young woman and we got dirty looks.

Tell her to postpone. And tell her to start doing Pilates.

I know what the condition is but I don't know is she's in pain right now (I know the pain comes and go with similar conditions). If she is , or fears to be..then it's better to postpone. You shouldn't have fears or pain, that doesn't let you enjoy the trip. If all the problem is that she cannot walk as much as she would like to do..then there's no point on delaying. I suppose she has to take her own decision, she's the only one that knows truly how her body reacts