Nope, not staying home either. I wholeheartedly agree - You can't stay home. If you do - they win.

No, not at all.

I'm going to Switzerland end of summer. There are some places I would not go.

Nope - not staying home

I didn't see much difference in Darmstadt Germany compared to December 2012, when I was there last. But it sure is way different from OKC. Lots more people on the pavement downtown compared to here, LOTS and LOTS!

No. I lived out of the US for the last three years (in South America) and I was more afraid to travel back to the US.

True, newgardenelf. It was such a *shock* to me, to move back to the States. I had a hard time readjusting to the way things are here. :( I've lived in Europe off-and-on over the past 25ish years, and I definitely see the benefits to staying there instead of here.

We tried to cancel our May 2016 trip to London and Paris, but air/hotel were nonrefundable. I'm glad that we ended up going, because we had a great time and crowds were a bit thinner than the last time we had gone. This evening DH reminded me that we had been in the area where the London attacks took place. We are traveling overseas again in a few months and I have no qualms about doing so.

No, not at all. We have plans to visit Sweden and Poland this fall and are going back to SE Asia for the third time this winter.

Terror attacks, can happen here in the US or Canada just as easily as they can overseas. In fact they have. Besides 911, there have been the Boston bombing, Oklahoma federal building, San Bernardino attack, Quebec mosque attack and the Orlando nightclub. Besides terrorist activities, there have also been attacks by mentally unbalanced individuals such as the Aurora movie theater shooting, Sandy Hook Elementary, Columbine and too many more to name.

If we let these events keep us from doing things, we'd never leave our homes, not even to buy groceries.

I do not plan on any overseas travel in the foreseeable future, but if it were to happen, I'd be very careful about what cards were in my bill-fold. This advice came from a security expert our company hired to advise our international travelers. He said that one should remove all religious references off one's person because hijackers look for such items on your person to decide who they wish to abuse or kill, especially if your religion upsets them. He suggested that if you must carry religious ID materials, to put those in the checked luggage. However, it would be better if you could arrange some other way to transport such materials.

The terrorist on the bridge didn't take the time to check for religious references before driving over people. If one believes he or she must remove their beliefs or values before traveling, they are surrendering to terrorism.

We will be going to Paris and Croatia in September/October and I have to say I am a little anxious. Not too anxious, just a little. Not to visit Croatia, but Paris. But I visit Chicago (suburbs and city) frequently and if you listen to the news media people are dying right and left there. Not true, it is mostly black on black crime in black neighborhoods.

I would never hide my religious beliefs from anyone. If they choose to target me for them, so be it.

We're hoping to go to Europe one of these years but no immediate plans.

Not really, but we did get a little skittish after the Paris airport attacks and changed our plans last year. I've been to London many, many times on business since the attacks over there several years ago. We stay very vigilant, especially around public transportation.

I happened to be over there when the shoe bomber was caught and was flying home a couple of days after when the airport started requiring clear plastic bags. Heathrow made everyone pare down to only an ID/passport, glasses, prescription medications, and babies milk (with great scrutiny). Everything else had to go in checked bags. You wouldn't believe the amount of liquor and other stuff that was piled in boxes as people were going through security that day. I forgot a small lip balm that was in my jeans pocket. Out it went when I passed through the 2nd security, and I was flying first. Nothing escaped those folks.

No. We are going to Germany and Austria in September and I have no plans to change our plans. IF someone gave me a ticket to London tomorrow I would go.

Even back in he day it was never perfectly "safe". We had a guy with a gun walking the deck all night to prevent pirates from boarding us in Belize. Years ago we stayed in an armed compound/resort in Honduras, they locked our passports in a safe, there was a civil war brewing. We dove Australia 2 weeks before Steve Irwin died....from a stingray barb. (there are lots of ways to die, terrorists are only one)

No. We had a trip cancelled due to 9-11 (no fly days,) and as soon as our tickets were refunded we bought new ones (for a fraction of what we had paid for the original tickets,) and went as soon as we could. It was an incredible trip- so glad we went!

Not at all. I went to Europe a week after 9/11 and wore an American flag pin. So many people stopped to offer their condolences on the horrific event. It felt good.

I don't have plans to travel abroad, but were I to do so, wouldn't let current conditions make a difference to my plans.

How many travel in and through London, Paris, or other places in a day ... or a year ... and how many have been inconvenienced, let alone killed or injured by the troublemakers, whether just troubled people, or religious fundamentalists as a proportion of that number?

Were I to carry religiously-related identification, that'd have no influence at all on my choice of whether to do so - similar proportionality.

Some people fear flying ... for air crashes get widely publicized (often with substantial numbers of casualties) ...

... but have no qualms about riding to the airport in a car (driverless, were there such [yet] or driver-operated) ...

... but FAR fewer people become casualties per individual person travelling 100,000 miles by plane than by car.

There were a few less than 3,000 people who became casualties at the time of the fall of the twin towers on 9-11 ... but I think that the number killed, mainly by gunfire, in Chicago alone would match that number in about ... what - four years?

If we're going to worry ... and worry doesn't accomplish much ... let's confine our worrying to situations where we may be even slightly at risk!

(Anyone you know have an inclination to smoke in bed - even occasionally?)

Let's not get our panties tied in knots over inconsequential levels of real risk, O.K.?

ole joyful

I have a trip to Ireland planned for August and no way am I cancelling....But, you know, we can't let "these" people rule our lives, we do have to be more alert but can't fall into their mind set....I was traveling during the 9/11 tragedy and thought maybe I wouldn't be able to get a flight home...So many people told me, there was no way they would fly, just no way....But, you know, that probably was the safest time in history to be flying...I do remember, the plane was almost empty, everything at the connecting airport was closed and then landing in Pittsburgh was like coming into a ghost town...It was really eerie but never felt safer....

Immediately after such an even is probably one of the safest times to travel. The London attacker/nutcase is dead, and security is on high alert.

I wish they'd hurry up inventing that Transporter Room so I could more easily travel abroad again.

We don't travel much but if we did, I wouldn't be scared per say, I would just dread the ordeal of getting to our destination. Flying is a PIA to begin with but when you add all the additional security and cranky people, it's just not worth it to us. On the flip side, my daughter and her husband enjoy traveling often and her philosphy is that you can't stop living "just because". I know she's right but that doesn't mean I wasn't happy when they decided to stay on this side of the pond for their vacation last year.

DS says he and children are still on for London in 2 wks; whether I go will depend on how I feel.

We flew to London right after the ground invasion in the Gulf War - Jan 1991. Our daughter was in boarding school there and we were visiting. We did decide to fly on separate flights each way - no orphans. I also avoided the Tube that trip.

I'm not sure I'd be comfortable going to Paris right now - they have some very serious immigration problems and I don't want to get caught it in them.

No, not fearful here. This summer we are flying to Canada from NY but it is still of course international. But we have traveled overseas many times and even by car within the states from NJ to NY right after 9/11 when we had a search and a long delay in a van with a group of girls going through the Lincoln Tunnel into NYC for a Broadway matinee, guess the van in the tunnel could have been suspicious.

As ElizabethA said - I will live as long as I am alive, what a lovely statement!

I would still travel. As you know terror attacks just don't happen overseas. If anything it might be safer to travel. Years ago when I flew to Germany it was just a day after the terror attack at the airport in Frankfurt. We travelled throughout Europe and at our last stop in Amsterdam our car was broken into and a some of our luggage was stolen so when we left there we drove back to the airport in Frankfurt and spent the night sleeping in chairs while machine gun armed soldiers walked throughout the airport. I never felt safer

Well, we just found another stupid-cheap roundtrip airfare to London in May, so we're going. :)

I don't travel much and never overseas. I think there's so much in this country to see and do that I don't have to leave it to be entertained.

Entertained is one thing - enlightened is another. ;)

I agree with Cynic I'm just not interested in that

cynic and lisa, as I used to say to my kids concerning eating new foods (when they were young), you can't tell me you don't like or want something if you haven't tried it. For foreign travel, it's often the processes and experiences of discovery in different places that are really the most important things, not the actual discoveries themselves. Who you learn most about is yourself. Domestic travel just isn't the same in that regard.

If you can't afford it, different story.

Elmer, for YOU, it may well be the processes and experiences of discovery in different places that are really the most important things to YOU. But my (or others) enjoyment of things in the community, state or country can hardly be compared to a youngster not wanting to eat Lunch Lady Doris' world famous poached oyster au gratin casserole. We don't need your preferences dictated to us as our only option. We simply have different likes, interests, preferences and dislikes.

I certainly have interest in other countries. I would like to go to parts of Japan, Australia, Germany and the Scandinavian countries to name a few. But they are simply not a priority for me. I will take issue with your suggestion that if you can afford it, somehow there's an obligation to travel overseas and become "enlightened". I've lived a lot of years and have discovered that some people are beyond enlightenment! And to suggest that you can't have experiences or discoveries in this country is simply wrong.

I truly have to chuckle when I see people post bemoaning lost jobs and how you can't buy ____ that's made in the US anymore or similar comments and I wonder if those people realize the contribution they make to those lost jobs. Fortunately, there's plenty of telemarketing scammer positions to make up for the manufacturing, tech, support, sales jobs, etc that have left.

I used to travel for work. While I enjoyed the job and enjoyed the travel itself, I disliked being away from home for weeks at a time. Yes I had discoveries and experiences but it seemed quite a waste to make house payments when I also paid hotel and other fees. I like my home. I enjoy being in it. And I don't find that as being inflexible, I call it my preference.

I make no apologies to anyone for enjoying my community, state and country. I stand by what I said.

Of course you can enjoy your community, state, and country, Cynic. We do the same, and we road trip across the States every summer, plus we also enjoy overseas travel.

However, I will say that I infer your attitude about overseas travel to be typical of the "ugly American" as observed by non-Americans. :(

Nope, went to the Dominican Republic in November, never even thought about it. Trying to decide where to go this year.

cynic, I often find myself agreeing with your comments. But certainly not this time.

My little parable-like story was to illustrate the trap many fall into when making rigid decisions while lacking adequate information. Doing that leads to uninformed decisions. You've stopped too soon. How can you decide you prefer one thing over another, when you have no information on "the other".

I'm not dictating my taste, not at all. But I've never met anyone who's experienced (let's say) two touristic trips to foreign countries (also exclude Canada) who didn't love the experience and want to do it more. No one. Not one.

But you've decided it's not worth doing. That's fine, you're missing out.

no....the fact that I won't step into an airplane takes care of that...! 8)

Has the recent information about terrorists using laptops to hide detonators changed anybody's mind?

My answer for this is also no.

Are you looking for reassurance that it's okay to take a trip or a reason (an excuse) why it's not?

Millions (it's really tens of millions) of people fly every day and visit major tourist locations outside the US. Let's assume there will be two terrorist incidents in the next few months, which there won't be. You'll be safer in an airplane and visiting overseas locations than you would be driving in your car near your home and/or spending time in any US city, because US crime rates are very significantly higher than foreign ones (in industrialized countries).

The US has had more deaths from terrorist incidents in the last 25 years than any developed country in the world. If you want to be safest, it's best to leave here.

^^^What Elmer said.

"Are you looking for reassurance that it's okay to take a trip or a reason (an excuse) why it's not?"

Yep. Pretty much. Feeling very nervous although you all have presented compelling arguments for me to dive in and try to overcome this anxiety. Thank you for taking the time to respond Elmer and Chloecat and everyone else!

No Anne, in answer to your last question about laptops. I bring out my old Catholic education and say some Hail Marys and will add another one or two during the flight :) Hasn't failed me yet!

I wear my scapular but feel like I needed some extra reassurance. I thank you.