Bee Travel
Travel interruption may be worthwhile
CHRISTINE HICKS- USTA Travel
Iread about the German astronaut who missed a spacewalk owing to illness. It's sort of like (in a smaller sense, of course) taking a cruise and weather forcing the ship to skip a port. You go all that way. Then you can't get there.

In October, I witnessed the space shuttle hurtling from Cape Canaveral heading for the space station. My group of about 20 herded into the hotel parking lot at the launch moment, breaking from the seminar for what might be a once-in-a-lifetime sight for us. We wondered where to look in the sky, and what it ought to look like. After several false sightings - jetliners, mostly, with straight jet trails disappearing virtually instantly in the crystal blue skies - we saw with naked eye an unmistakable trail of squirrely, white plume from the propulsion module. It's like Gillette Foamy shooting out of the can, billowing in ways no jet trail does.

So, this got me to thinking - not so much about illness, the space shuttle or Gillette Foamy - more about the way travel tosses in our path things we don't expect. When planning my Florida trip, I hadn't given a thought to the space shuttle. The first time I ever took a cruise, we were forced to skip the St. Maarten port call owing to an errant hurricane. I would never have been able to say I'd driven a fire road unless an accident had blocked the main highway between Denver and Gunnison, and (in July) we detoured on the unpaved, hazardous alternative we were clueless enough to take.

My friend Sheila traveled with her husband to Istanbul several years ago, where he was presenting at a university or something. No sooner had they landed and checked into the city hotel when Ray became suddenly and seriously ill, unable to leave his hotel room. Naturally, concern for his health overrode any ideas of touring the city, despite the very long journey to get there, not to

mention the anticipation that accompanies preparation for such a trip. This unanticipated curve might have soured her on the destination. Instead, of all she could recall, what stood out for her in all of this was the earnest and attentive care the hotel staff exhibited to obtain quality medical care for her husband.

Our lives are the compilation of our experiences. Travel interrupted is like experience on steroids. It's the lottery; you never know. It tests our patience, ingenuity and tolerance. I've been detoured, robbed, taken hostage, lost, afraid and alone when traveling. Those experiences are more than just stories to tell. Without them, I would have learned so much less. Without them, I would never have the confidence I own. Without such experiences, you're not just missing the port call. You've missed the boat, altogether.

So, be the German astronaut. Get on the space shuttle, the airplane, the ship or the train. Be sick, lost or at the mercy of strangers. You'll never have a better time.

(Christine Hicks-Usta has enjoyed more than 30 years of globe-trotting as a member of the travel industry in various capacities. Direct questions to her at Bee Group Newspapers, P.O. Box 150, Buffalo, NY 14231-0150.)