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A Writer's Web Corner    John Achor

© 2001

Several months ago, in anticipation of a ten-day tour, I queried travel magazines. I was looking for an assignment to write about an upcoming trip. I told them I could direct the viewpoint of the article to suit their needs. Here's how I worded it, " ... several ideas come to mind: this is our first package tour, it is a senior's tour. And though I don't anticipate problems, if it should become the package trip from hell, the slant could be how-not-to ... "

It did become the trip from hell. Not the trip itself, but the atmosphere surrounding it. We were scheduled to depart on the weekend following September 11th.

During the days following that terrible Tuesday, my wife and I would look at one another and say, "there's no way it will go--the tour will be cancelled." On Friday we got the word, the trip is on.

We crawled out of bed at Oh-dark-early and climbed aboard a tour bus for the one-hour ride to the Little Rock airport. We wrestled our bags into the terminal along with a couple dozen other tour members. Inside, we were greeted with: Cancelled. Not really a big surprise, considering the hundreds of planes diverted all over the country by the FAA.

Being an old retired Air Force multi-engine pilot, I volunteered to fly at least the first leg to the Dallas-Ft. Worth airport. Neither the airline nor the other passengers seemed inclined to accept my offer.

For the next hour, a tour manager and the airlines scrambled to salvage something. No luck. We trudged back to the bus for another hour's ride home. Though it still wasn't daylight, we persuaded the bus driver that a stop at a fast food restaurant for breakfast was an absolute necessity. The folks behind the McDonald's counter looked surprised to see a busload of seniors descend on them at 6 a.m. We'd been on the road over three hours and we were back in the parking lot where we left our cars.

Saturday passed, no word. Over that weekend, Pat and I discussed the trip several times. Did we want to go or did we want to cancel? It would have been easy to call the tour manager and announce that we would not go. The financial loss would have been minimal, so that was no stumbling block. Our conversations centered on, do we feel like traveling and what sort of risks would we face?

Most of Sunday was behind us when the call came. The trip is a "go" for Monday. I sent out the fourth or fifth email to our children, the last in a series of it's on--it's off--it's on again messages.

Up early again. Anticipating long lines, we boarded the bus forty-five minutes earlier than we had the previous Saturday morning. Bus to Little Rock, unload bags, stand in line--did I mention that this was a trip through the Canadian Rockies. Yep, passports and customs as well as security screenings.

Our group was down to a dozen and a half. We lost ten or so between the 11th and the first scheduled departure. Then another seven or eight dropped out over the weekend. So who were these intrepid eighteen who boarded the first of two flights to Vancouver, British Columbia? Brave and fearless souls? People who would ignore the events of the week and travel anyway?

For the most part, they felt the same as Pat and I did. During the trip, we stayed abreast of the news via CNN. We spoke of the tragedy. We grieved for the victims and their families. We cheered silently for the heroes who worked tirelessly in New York City, at the Pentagon and in Pennsylvania.

I think we were an ordinary group of folks who were not going to hunker down in the basement--fearful of what was going on in the world. In fact, I wish our leaders would stop saying many of us are afraid. There is a huge difference between having a healthy respect for our surroundings and cowering behind locked doors with a bunker mentality. No one will ever say it better than Franklin D. Roosevelt: we have nothing to fear but fear itself.

More attacks will undoubtedly be launched at the United States. Though I hope I won't be at ground-zero for the next one, I will not allow a terrorist dictate my actions. I will not let terrorism keep us locked away in our home.

We all returned safely to Little Rock. I am still out there spending and traveling. I intend to live my life as I decide it should be lived, not as others might try to dictate to me.

© 2003 John Achor