A few months ago I booked a trip to the Bahamas, for the week before Thanksgiving. This morning I called the travel agency and canceled, and now I'm wondering if I did the right thing. On the one hand it would have been great to get away for a few days, but on the other I would hate to be so far from home during this difficult time. (I live in the NY area.)

I'm thinking now it would be better to go somewhere in the States instead, somewhere I can drive, and injecting the money I would have spent in the Bahamas into our own economy instead. The big loser in this is the travel agency and the airline; the winner would be the small businessman (hotel, restaurants, etc.) and the oil companies (gasoline).

What do you think? Did I do the right thing?

You have to do what is right for you.
Since you felt strongly enough about it to actually cancel, then you probably did the right thing.

You left out the biggest loser in your cancellation: YOU!

Don't deprive yourself of your hard-earned vacation because of your fears surrounding the events of the last month. We have to go on living our lives and that includes enjoyable vacations. Knock on wood, nothing has happened to an airplane since Sept 11, (not including random, unrelated incidents) so what are the chances that your flight is dangerous? Those responsible for this would like nothing more than to see our way of life turned upside-down, I think that it is our responsibility as civilians not to let that happen. I'm going on a 2 week Hawaiian honeymoon in 3 weeks and I'll be damned if I let anyone ruin that.

I just returned from Bermuda. My husband surprised me with the trip. I was a little aprehensive at first but let me tell you I'm SO happy we went! We had a great time, great weather and had the added bonus of a big discount! I'm ready to go somewhere else and will book another trip soon if I can get someone to watch the kids again.

If it would have bothered you to be so far from home, you may not have enjoyed yourself. My husbands reasoning was that we were only an hour and a half flight away. You can always investigate a vacation somewhere closer, like the Keys, or Bermuda.

Opinion: The Bahamas are nice but I can't get excited. If you were feeling uncomfortable, as many people are now, you did the right thing. Half the fun of a vacation is the anticipation leading up to the date of departure. If you were going to be concerned and worried through Thanksgiving, what's the point. You can go to the Bahamas another time, it will still be there when you're ready.

You thought of injecting $ into the U.S. economy is a very partriotic thing to do and I commend you for it. Believe me you can find plenty of interesting things to do within a drive of NYC. I wish more people thought like you.

Regards,

youdunrite

P.S.: Pay NO attention to "no"

me again. 2 things:

1) excuse me 'youdunrite' but the author asked for opinions, yes or no, and I gave mine. If the author was going to ignore opinions just because they differ with his or your's, then he wouldn't have asked. I so sorra that I disagreed with you masta, never happen again.

2) when I reread my post I saw that it could be misconstrued as calling the author a loser as some sort of insult. My intent was to point out the fact that he listed the travel agency and the airline as losers when he cancelled his trip, but he forgot to put himself down as a loser also because he won't be going on his Bahama vacation. no offense intended.

no: Your second message is more offensive than your first. As you stated:

"I so sorra that I disagreed with you masta, never happen again."

I don't believe anyone will misconstrue your above reply, but you can feel free to explain it.

I'll explain it 'youdunrite,' of course my second message was offensive, it was directed at you and it was intentional.
As you can plainly see, my apology was in 2), not 1), and it went out to the author because at first glance it might have appeared that I called him a 'loser.'

I'll set things straight here. 'Youdunrite' you're a loser. 'Opinion Please' you're alright, I may disagree with your decision, but you gotta do what you are comfortable with. Sorry that this thread turned into this pissing match.

First off, on first read I did think 'no' was calling me a loser, but on subsequent readings I realize he/she was not.

Personally, I think I made the right decision. By travelling to the Bahamas, or Bermuda, or Europe, I would not be helping our economy, I would be helping their economy. It's not like I've never been there before or can't go again. But for now I think it's best to take care of #1, the USA.

no: Your three replies expose you as:

Opinionated - "You left out the biggest loser in your cancellation: YOU!"

Racist - "I so sorra that I disagreed with you masta, never happen again."

Crude - "Sorry that this thread turned into this pissing match."

I feel sorry for your spouse-to-be.

Opinion, It is possible to spend money both inside AND outside the U.S. In addition to our Bermuda trip I have visits to Boston and Washington planned in the next 2 months. Also we flew American Airlines to Bermuda and the travel agency was American, so we were contributing to the economy and having a great vacation at the same time.

Youdunrite- Funny, I always thought being opinionated was a good thing. My mother always said to speak up and get a discussion going, no one likes a syncophant!

The deed is done. You made your choice. Move on. Plan your next vacation, which obviously you want to have in the US. Florida? Southern Cal? Next question?

What about the economy of the Bahammas?? They depend on tourism a lot more than the US does. Their whole economy is based on tourism. People forget, not traveling affects everyone around the world not just here at home.

Bill: In difficult economic and political times like these, when our President says we are at war, we have to be concerned about our own interests. It's call looking out for number one. When we get our own house in order, then we can begin to worry again about the economic interests of other countries. Spend your dollars here.

Uncle Sam-With all due resprect, if the economy of the Bahammas and other places fail, who do you think is going to bail them out?? The Good Ole USA, that's who and our tax dollars. I have been to the Bahammas and seen the shacks those people live in and it is not pretty. They rely on US tourists to feed their families while the citizens in this country have it pretty darn good compared to them.

Bill: You're right we do have it pretty darn good and we intend to keep it that way, with no apologies. There are outside interests that would like to destroy everything we have built over the past 200 years.

Considering how interested you are about the Bahamas, how come you keep spelling it wrong?