<p>and for our members who call those places home.</p>
<p>I’ve seen some threads posted about travel in Europe (and specifically England). I just wanted to let everyone closely affected by the events of the recent days know that they are being thought of—here’s wishing all of you safe travel. Check in if you can, OK? </p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>berurah,
You are always so thoughtful. We, too are always concerned about any new events taking place and with students/families studying/travelling, and now especially, since our two kids are abroad, we will want to be informed. They’re currently in France, but were planning on visiting England at some point during their trip.</p>
<p>Son just left for the airport to travel to Amsterdam with his girlfriend and her family</p>
<p>TH events in England has made DH and I alittle more anxious than we normally would be</p>
<p>My D arrived in London with a group on Friday morning, just as all of this was happening. The kids are OK (knock wood) - it’s the parents who are the nervous wrecks. We had an email from the director of the program - they are obviously keeping a close eye on events over there and will make judgments as to whether any aspect of their program should be modified. We are watching the news closely and playing things by ear ]and hoping that things start to settle down over there. Meanwhile, I really hope that those famous CC vibes can travel across the Atlantic, berurah! Ironically, I think I recently posted to say how I found it’s been possible to book rooms or change reservations over there, even last minute… </p>
<p>But really - thanks so much for your thoughts and wishes, B. They are greatly appreciated!!</p>
<p>roshke~</p>
<p><em>SO</em> glad to hear that your D and her group are doing fine–and that their safety is being closely monitored. I can only imagine how very anxious you must be what with all of this going on while you are so far away. Many {{{{{{{gentle hugs}}}}}}} to you and to your entire family. I’m sure that all will continue to go smoothly for your D and her group. Meanwhile, she will remain in my thoughts and prayers, and I wish her safe travel and a wonderful time in London!</p>
<p>nyumom~</p>
<p>I will also be thinking about your kidlets as they are traveling in Europe. What a truly wonderful experience for them both! I hope they’re keeping in good touch with you and that you will keep us here at CC up to date on how they’re doing! I’m sure you miss them bunches! {{{{{{{sweet hugs!!}}}}}</p>
<p>Momof2sons~</p>
<p>Best wishes for very safe travel to your son and his girlfriend. How cool that they are able to travel together with her family. Wishing safety and a wonderful time for them all! {{{{{hugs to you too!}}}}}</p>
<p>love, ~berurah</p>
<p>My S leaves Wed.(alone) bound for Turkey. I will feel much better once I know he has reached his destination, a guided missile destroyer.</p>
<p>I haven’t spoken to my mother since the latest news developments but I already can picture what she is going to say. She already laments when my child is abroad and then when I am sure she has seen the news, I will never hear the end of it! My D was just in Glasgow and Edinburgh (as well as flew through London) about ten days ago. She is now working in Paris. She has plans to also travel to Frankfort, Prague, and Switzerland on some summer weekends. I was reading one article about some warnings in Germany and Prague but am not real clear on that. Then again, I have a child in New York City. While all the news is certainly stressful and horrible, I just feel like we can’t stop living and doing things. Yes, in my own little world here in rural America, we likely are safer than my kid in Europe and my kid in NYC, but anything can happen to a person anywhere and the likelihood is not too great. There have been times in the past when there were terrorism in Europe that caused some issues with programs my daughter was going on abroad in her HS years but they still went. The only time violence truly impacted the travel decision was this past January when my younger one was going to Rio de Janeiro and literally at the 11th hour, they rearranged the trip to elsewhere in Brazil due to violence that had occurred against tourists and precautions about travel from the State Dept. Right now, there are no warnings against travel and so I think we’ll just keep on doing what we’re doing and not let “them” “win” (as disconcerting as the news happens to be!).</p>
<p>Yes, thoughtful of you, berurah. I would not be a happy camper were my child abroad right now. These are scary times we live in. I certainly hope all our kids return safely.</p>
<p>berurah,
You are the resident angel on this forum.
You always steer us in the right direction. </p>
<p>(Note to moderators: There needs to be a smiley with a halo)</p>
<p>I agree about the “smiley with a halo”. Thank you berurah for your kind wishes, and I wish all of the CC kids safe travels, and all the best to the parents/families who are waiting for their return.</p>
<p>I have a dear friend whos son is in England now. I know he is safe, but I also understand how hard this is for her…prayers are being said!!!</p>
<p>Just like to add that I continue to be very impressed with the UK and it’s ability to keep on top of all these terrorists threats, plots and events. I actually believe the UK is probably a safer place than many (including the States) due to their hard work and continuous efforts.</p>
<p>RE: UK ability to stay on top of incidents…a lot of it is also due the many closed circuit TV’s they use for surveillance. That helps a great deal…and they have lots of evidence since the 2 cars didn’t blow…much to work with to identify the culprits.</p>
<p>“I actually believe the UK is probably a safer place than many (including the States) due to their hard work and continuous efforts.”</p>
<p>Before you sell our own intelligence efforts short:</p>
<p>
<a href=“http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/06/us-warned-of-gl.html[/url]”>http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/06/us-warned-of-gl.html</a></p>
<p>I was supposed to be in England this week… I’m glad I decided not to go.</p>
<p>D will be flying from Italy to Heathrow tomorrow & staying in London one night. Then home to JFK late on July 4th. I REALLY didn’t like the idea of any air travel on the 4th, as terrorists seem to plan attacks on significant dates. She’s been gone 2 weeks & we’ve talked every day, but neither one of us has brought up the bombs. I’m not sure if she knows & didn’t want to get me more anxious than I already am, or if the chaperones decided to keep the girls away form news reports. I just can’t imagine that no news of the terror has been spreading among the girls, though. I really am looking forward to July 5th and having her home safe & in my sight! Last summer we were returning from Ireland at the time of the terror attempts and the security checks were very thorough.</p>
<p>SS…you are right that in some ways, the security will be even BETTER due to the recent threats. Also, I still believe the likelihood of danger coming to someone due to terrorism is very very small. It is far more likely that your child could get into a car accident. It is just that when terrorism is in the news, it heightens concerns, when the risk of terrorism was there right along even when not in the news. The risk in the car daily doesn’t enter one’s mind as much. Safe travels and I am sure you can’t wait to hear about her adventures!</p>
<p>Very true about the likelihood of injury or worse from other things are statistically far worse. I really do subscribe to the philosophy (within reason) that we can’t let these things run our lives.</p>
<p>There was an interesting article about the psychology of risk that was in Time magazine back in December - it was called Why We Worry About the Things We Shouldn’t and Ignore the Things We Should:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1562978,00.html[/url]”>http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1562978,00.html</a></p>
<p>Regardless, yes there are more dangerous things to worry about - but those things are either constants and unavoidable (like driving) or may not be relevant to our specific kid (as the article points out - no use in worrying that hang gliding is more dangerous than exposure to environmental exposure to toxins if you don’t hang glide!). And when it comes down to it, our own kids are the only ones we’ve got and we parents are entitled to worry about them - it goes with the territory!</p>
<p>Safe travels to everyone’s kids.</p>
<p>SS~</p>
<p>I’ll be countin’ down the days with you toward your D’s safe return! I’m sure everything will be just fine! Hang in there…{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}!!!</p>
<p>~berurah</p>
<p>I just flew back from England yesterday after traveling through England, Scotland (including Glasgow), and Wales for a couple of weeks. All the terrorist stuff is disconcerting but they’re still fairly isolated incidents. My biggest concern was getting out of there before something happened that would cause the airport to be closed and stick me there for a few days since yesterday was a pretty high alert level over there.</p>