Re Questions About Cancelling Trips

Why don't we just post all of the prior discussions referring to European security and safety. Save time and brain damage. Nothing has changed.

Mom called me this morning when she saw the news to ask where we are going in two weeks which is London. I proceeded to assure her that London is pretty safe.

Well, despite my many declarations back in the 1980s and now that "I'd rather be blown up in London than die at home, never having gone anywhere," I am in tears and frightened and considering canceling my fifth trip to London.
Maybe this is just my initial response and I'll feel differently later on.

Todays events are awful, but these things can happen anywhere. I wouldn't give a second thought to heading into Westminster tomorrow and will carry on my normal business in town as i always do. London is still very safe. My heart goes out to all effected by todays events. i'm very sad that the city i call home and love so much has seen such horrible things.

We will be there in about a month, and are also hitting a few other so called 'hot spots' - Paris and Brussels - while there may be a little worm of worry wriggling in my brain, I figure the odds of me being in the wrong place at the wrong time are so slim, I have more chance of winning the lotto. I wouldn't even entertain the thought of changing my plans.

Sandra, give yourself some time on this. For me, it is so shocking because I, like many others here, have walked across that bridge and been where the events took place today. You may have walked there too and that makes it so personal.

Leaving for Paris in 5 weeks and will enjoy Spring in one of my favorite cities. If London were in my plans I'd be going there as well.

Safe travels Mrs EB and sending kindest thoughts to all the forum members who live in UK or who also are traveling there.

Pam wrote:

"Leaving for Paris in 5 weeks and will enjoy Spring in one of my favorite cities."

Pam,

Totally off-topic for this thread, but my wife and I are leaving for Paris in five weeks as well -- how's the weather that time of year? I'm more concerned about getting wet than getting shot.

(Getting run-over is another issue; have you seen how those people DRIVE?!)

Thank you, Pam. Yes, I have been on that bridge, just last year, actually. I will give myself time to calm down. I heard from my friend in London and she is OK, which is a relief.

Sandra, I thought I remembered you stayed in the Waterloo area so thought it might be likely you, too, had been back and forth across that bridge. I'm glad your friend is OK as well.

Mike, laughing at your question because I haven't been this time of year.! I have been in August, Sept and Oct and I always take a rain layer. Well, I take a rain layer everywhere including Seattle and AZ!

If I could be there today (or yesterday), I would be. Love London, love the UK.
Was in Paris 3 wks ago. Nothing could keep me away. Safer there than here.

We too will be heading to London - end of August. I cancelled my trip last year to Brussels after the terrorist attack there but will not cancel again.

There was a murder committed reportedly by an extremist of some sort near my hometown a couple of years ago. My travel agent made a good point when I asked her about traveling overseas. She said, "If it can happen in a small town here, it can happen anywhere." Even staying home in a small town in Oklahoma doesn't make one necessarily safe. Sometimes you have to just live your life or you will not really be living it at all. I'm not saying go head first in to danger, but when we don't know where that danger can crop up at any moment, even in small town America, we become a prisoner and that is no way to live life. Be alert and be cautious, but live your life.

Sharon - that was too bad you cancelled your trip last year. A year today was Brussels bombing and a month later my RS trip Holland/Belgium-2016. We went, along with our 18 fellow group members who had a fantastic time. Husband and I were in Brussels three days prior to our start of tour in Ghent. We totally felt safe. So glad we did not cancel.

Pam - Oh I wish I was headed out with you to Paris. I am headed out to Paris in 9 weeks. Have fun!! I will be floating down the Rhone river! then on to Barcelona and Madrid.

Why don’t you click on this map and then click on one or two cities to see the crime risk!
https://www.numbeo.com/crime/

As the iconic WWII British poster reminds us...

Keep Calm And Carry On.

Remember Ft. Lauderdale? We flew in the week afterward. How do you avoid random??? You greatest risk of an accident is still the drive to your airport.

I'll add my voice to the chorus. We also must have walked across that bridge a half-dozen times or more in 2015, and I'd not hesitate a moment to return to London. We're traveling in May to Italy, which hasn't been a target yet, but you never know. And that's really the point. You absolutely never know when something terrible is going to happen, and that's true every time you leave your own home, get in your car, get on a plane, or for that matter, walk down the stairs to the basement. Bad things happen randomly and tragically, but your chances of being in the wrong place at the wrong time are minute and utterly impossible to predict. To quote the host of this forum: Keep on traveling!

I hope that none of you will cancel any of your trips because of this.
The BBC says that London will be on high alert for many months to come. Police and other law enforcement units--both uniformed men and those not in uniform--will be covering every block in London.

Sandra, that should make you feel a good bit safer. Please don't cancel your trip.
I hope you go to all the places you had on your itinerary, and I know you will have a good trip.

Today's events are terrible, but will not keep me from traveling!

"Leaving for Paris in 5 weeks and will enjoy Spring in one of my favorite cities."

Pam, wishing you a great trip!

Traveled to London last August, and I'll travel there again this August. Yesterday's events will have no impact on my plans or enjoyment of such a wonderful city.

And as frightening the thought of a terror attack can be for some, I think it is important to remember that in the historical context, these events are rather few today, especially when we remember the terror attacks in western Europe in the 1970s and 1980s.
https://qz.com/558597/charted-terror-attacks-in-western-europe-from-the-1970s-to-now/

Frank, I just had to laugh about "the riskiest part of any trip," since the person driving us to the airport 2 weeks ago rear-ended the car in front of us on the freeway in construction and totaled her car, airbags and all. Fortunately no one was hurt and we called Uber to get us the rest of the way. Yes, the riskiest part of our travel for sure. :)

People who want to visit London are forgetting that terrorist attacks have been going on since the 1970's:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents_in_Great_Britain

The IRA (I could think of another more descriptive word for them) thought it was a good idea to try and kill innocent people in the past, anyone thinking of visiting London or England in general should not be put off by such cowardly acts.

Thanks for posting this. I am going to France and Germany in May, and wouldn't think of cancelling. I will be solo for the first 9 days of this trip, and a lot of my family and friends are worried. I look for things to tell them to point out the low risk involved in travel. The greater risk of being injured in a car accident on the way to the airport is something I frequently use when telling people why I'm not concerned.

My travel plans don't change because of attacks or crime spikes (disclaimer: I lived in Miami during the cocaine cowboys wars).

We are heading to Europe for 2 months next month and the thought never crossed my mind to cancel the trip or the parts in London or Brussels as terrorist can strike anywhere and staying home living in fear is just what they want. We will head to London, Wales, Scotland, Hastings with our friends who grew up there, The Cotswolds, Baltics, Florence, Brussels and enjoy everything that makes us keep coming back time after time to Europe. I'd rather enjoy life than live in fear of it!

I would only cancel a trip if there was full blown Armaggedon. Unless, of course, I had a non-refundable ticket.

We too will be returning to London soon, exactly as planned.

Have to keep perspective. At the same time of the London situation and an officer and four other people were killed in Wisc over what appears to be a domestic dispute. Anyone not going to Wisc?

We will be in Germany, Austria, and London this fall. No change to our plans! We were in France last year and enjoyed a beautiful trip! If we had cancelled we would have missed an amazing experience. Thoughts and prayers with London.

I'll be spending 7 weeks in Europe starting in about a month.
I live in the SF Bay Area where there are gun battles on the local freeway between, the police say, rival gangs in which innocent drivers and passengers also are injured or killed.
I was in Paris the day after the London Tube bombing and the City was crawling with police and national guard, every sort of security you could imagine.
I was in Paris in November with squads of heavily armed soldiers in every neighborhood.
Increased security might help one feel more comfortable.
I not only love to travel but I love to live my life to its fullest. And I am not the only one on this Forum to feel this way.
I am deeply saddened by the attack on London (and all the other horrific things occurring around the world.)
And I remember when my parents were old, living in Phoenix, they would stay home at night listening to the police scanner and saying to each other "It's a dangerous world out there!"
But I can't stay home with my head under a blanket ...

Steve,
I'm going to London for a week mid-Sept. after the RS Heart of Ireland tour. Can't wait, London is one of my all-time favorite cities!
Violence happens in the US everyday - I refuse to be frightened into staying home...whether here in the US or Europe.
Keep on travelin',
Judy B

This columnist for The Economist has an informative chart of terrorism deaths in western Europe since 1970. Much safer now than back in "the good old days" -
https://twitter.com/econbuttonwood/status/844928131756670977/photo/1

https://www.yahoo.com/news/london-mayor-sadiq-khan-dismisses-trump-jr-s-twitter-jab-following-attack-160140757.html

Well said, Mayor Kahn:

“We’ve got a thriving democracy in London. We’ve got a situation where
Parliament is returning to normal today, City Hall is returning to
normal today, tourists are returning to London today, businesses are
returning to normal today — just the thing that the terrorists hate,”
Khan said. “And I’m not going to allow terrorists to divide London, to
destroy our way of life. And we haven’t in the past. We’re not
currently, and we’re not in the future.”

After being really scared for a couple of days, I've decided to forge ahead with my trip in late May. Counting the days!

Sandra, so happy to hear that you are going!

Have a great trip Sandra!

Well put Andrew Neil:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HjtGlx_nIaY

Never thought for a minute to cancel our 5 day trip to London in June. We can't let them win. It will be my husband's first trip there and my second, after many years. We are excited to see all this great city has to offer.

no plans to cancel here.. But I am adding a selfie from the Westminster Bridge.. Just to show we are not afraid

I will be in London and surrounding in August/Sept, and will hit Oslo, Copenhagen, Rotterdam and Hamburg via cruise. Not worried one bit. Was probably more worried in Vegas last week. (Left just before the robbery at the Belagio)