Addt'l preparations for if war with Korea breaks out while traveling in Europe?

Current political chatter regarding Korea has lead to unsettling thoughts in my mind. We were in the Veneto area during the 9/11 terrorist attack. We were held up for 1-2 days to fly out of Venice. European security was tighter and visible. The flight was nearly empty from JFK to SLC. Do not recall significant increase in US security in arrival. I hope for the best during our fall trip to Italy.

The USA has been at war for years in the Middle East and it has not affected air traffic between the USA and Europe, nor even other countries closer to the conflicts.

I definitely would not worry about it, nor do anything differently.
If I were traveling to South Korea, Guam or Japan I would feel paranoid, but Italy?

Worst case more security and delays at the airports.

I would start with this

I would rather be in Italy than DC. :) I would have contact information readily available in case you need to change plans quickly. What are the impacts if you can't leave? If you get stuck in a connecting airport? If you can't return (pets and kids school are probably the biggies here)? Think out the scenarios so you can settle your anxiety somewhat and enjoy the trip. Don't apologize. I live in DC and brushed up on my "nuclear blast" awareness this morning with ready.gov.

If the US starts slinging nukes, you will be a lot better off in Italy than in the US. Sometimes you have to just hope for the best. It is always prudent to have your contact information with relatives, duplicates of documents in an online dropbox, duplicates of documents in luggage and to know how to contact embassies.

While I respect the great 'what if', I have discovered that most of the possibilities never come to pass.

Having said that, it is always good travel practice to make sure you have information about location/phone number of the US embassy when traveling in another country. It's also good to have some emergency cash stowed away and a list of emergency numbers. I do this anyway, regardless of where/when I am traveling when I am outside the country.

Otherwise, enjoy the wine in Italy and turn off most of the automatic news updates on your phone. Your blood pressure will thank you! :-)

Thanks everyone, and LOL Roberto:)

Hey Roberto
Lmbo you never cease to amaze me with you fabulous humor!!
Is the "camera" for rent? Just ship it on BART heehee
Aloha princess pupule

Some of our best trips have been when there were not spots in the world.
Back in 1991 with pending war in Iraq, we were the only Americans in the Hofbrahaus one Saturday night. It was great.

I would prepare for the possibility of war with Korea with the same level of preparation for earthquakes in Italy. As you know there has been several severe earthquakes in Italy recently. I make it a point to always have my passport and other critical items with me.

Well, there was a period when I went on fairly regular business trips to Japan, and I was a bit concerned to arrive there just in time for the "big one" leveling out Tokyo. I was there on March 11th, 2011 - when the big earthquake actually stroke, followed by a nuclear frenzy. Tokyo was not leveled but it was bad enough getting out of the country. The concern was founded by the real events went on a different direction.

Christina,
Not to make you even more paranoid, but I just read an article today that there is one theory of some level of risk of North Korea causing a major shut down of electric grids, devices in our country. I think I read that in a Wall Street Journal article, but it could have been our local paper (though they typically don't carry that detail type news these days). If that happens while you are traveling, you might (seriously) just as soon stay in Italy for a MUCH longer period of time. The resulting civil unrest could be highly unpleasant.

If a war of the nuclear type occurs, it would likely be very quick on both ends.

Cash is usually king in a period of unrest, so I would suggest traveling with more cash (deeply stored in a Rick Steves neck wallet). If war (be in on the electrical grid or something landing on our mainland), I would guess (what do I know, though?) that there could potentially be challenges with ATMs under certain circumstances.

I do not think Italy would be a target in the next war (if it happens), and I personally think (but,again, what do I know) a major war would likely not begin that quickly. I think there is all sorts of posturing going on right now. Maybe I am just being naive and too positive, though..

But, it is impossible to plan for every adverse circumstance. I would suggest that you take reasonable precautions, enjoy every ounce of life while we have the lives and lifestyles we do. If gloom and doom happens, have no regrets.

I do plan to pick up a few extra cases of bottled water to stick in the basement, just in case. Let's hope world leaders operate in a sane fashion and not make unwise or irrational decisions, as it would not be a good result for either side of a war.

Safe travels and enjoy time with your family on your trip. One of the delights of traveling is that you (often) get to miss a lot of the day-to-day news reports (typed from someone who is a news hound and read/watches A LOT of news regularly). It is healthy to have news voids every so often in order to totally de-stress :)

I just found the article...it was The Wall Street Journal from a few days ago. We've been out of the country, so I was catching up on lots of back issues.
Here's a link:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/electromagnetic-pulse-north-koreas-latest-threat-against-u-s-1504435000

Roberto you make me LOL!

If war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula, I would be more worried about a large scale nuclear exchange than anything. In which case being in Europe at the time will be the least of your worries, and will probably actually make you safer that being in the U.S.

christina,

I wouldn't be too concerned about it, as there will be a lot more diplomatic activity if it gets close to war and hopefully saner heads will prevail. I think everyone realizes what the consequences will be, especially for the people of South Korea. In any case, I doubt there will be any missiles aimed at Italy. Register your trip with the government so that you'll receive notifications, and then enjoy your holiday (and of course a few glasses of Vino!).

Don't worry.
The North Korean and the American Heads of State just had a meeting of the minds and exchanged ideas....and barbers

You really have a better chance of having a MAJOR issue driving to work or home. If war breaks out with North Korea hug your kids and husband and be with them. Not much more you can do than that, and NOTHING better than that to do! Enjoy your time and DON'T read the news!
John

Roberto,

LOL!!!! How do you find these things?

Roberto, just choked on my coffee...brilliant!

Roberto, just choked on my coffee...brilliant!

I spit mine all over the keyboard. That's hysterical.

And I spit my Friday after work wine!

Roberto, your wonderful (and quick) sense of humor always makes me laugh out loud! My keyboard barely escaped a bit of my nightly red wine "fix"!

I learned thousands of posts ago not to drink anything when reading Roberto's posts!

Ha, Zoe...Good advice I hope I'll remember next time!