“Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees all the others.” Winston Churchill
I never thought courage would be required to take a vacation. Where is it safe to travel?
My sister invited me to London and Paris last summer, and my first thought was: does she not follow the news? Is she not aware that ISIS has declared death to Americans, and many ISIS sympathizers are in Britain and France? Why would we travel overseas now?
Perhaps I am paranoid. After all, the last time I was in Paris was after September 11, 2001 when we took the first flight available out of Italy to take refuge with a friend living on the Left Bank. No flights were outbound to the United States. Billboards everywhere warned Americans to keep a low profile and the first terrorists arrested were in Paris. I needed no reminders to keep a low profile.
The time before that was the summer of 1995 when the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) was bombing the Paris Metro. Walking is great exercise anyway, and we got a lot of it on that trip.
And then there is London. My summer there was quite an adventure in July of 1982. The Hyde Park and Regent’s Park bombings on July 20 were one of the worst IRA atrocities on the British mainland, killing 11 soldiers and seven horses and leaving dozens injured. The bombs were detonated just a couple of hours apart and timed to cause maximum casualties. We missed the Hyde Park bombing by moments.
I was doing field work then for a sociology class entitled “A Comparative Analysis of British and American Social Thought”. The British people I interviewed on the streets and in the pubs were warm and inviting and willingly answered my multitude of survey questions, none of which I can remember now. What I may never forget is one gentlemen asking me “Do you realize a bomb could explode on us or near us at any moment? As an American, you cannot imagine that, can you?” Actually, I could imagine it very well with the bombings that had just occurred, but I understood his point.
As Americans, even today after September 11, 2001 and al Qaeda and ISIS and others calling for lone wolf terror attacks; many truly cannot believe that a bomb could or would explode near us as we go about living our lives (at the Boston Marathon, for example).
Refusing to give in to fear, I did go to London and Paris with my sister last summer. We had a fabulous time. I took notice of the security sweeps for bombs after every person exited each car on the London Eye. The cameras recording us seemingly everywhere would certainly come in handy after an incident occurred. The threat level was raised the day we left as ISIS trainees and fighters were returning to England. Pro-Palestinian/anti-Israeli propaganda was everywhere in both London and Paris in consideration of the conflict in Gaza.
The police presence in Paris was strong. My sister commented on how police seemed to be everywhere. I did not point out that there had been pro-Palestinian riots before we had arrived, and perhaps this was the reason (or maybe it was the ISIS returnees or sympathizers). Nor did I remind her that there was also a strong police presence when we were there in 1995, and we never rode the Metro because of the bombings then. I also did not need to tell her that I had identified an escape route everywhere we went in case it became necessary. This was not stressful; I actually took it in stride because it has become the new normal.
Even missionary organizations are not conducting business as usual in consideration of this “new normal” and the need to be more security conscious when traveling. Fort Sherman Academy out of Idaho educates missionaries and other travelers on this need. Its president, David Dose, is a former Department of Defense consultant and instructor who has helped train government, corporate and faith-based groups how to handle travel risks for the past 17 years. The group is one of the largest — if not the largest — providers in the United States of travel security courses, crime survival training and crisis management. Business is booming.
It is not truly safe to travel anywhere. However, we must live our lives, take reasonable measures to be safe, and enjoy life regardless. Anyone who has lingered at the Café de Flore in Paris would understand that it is worth overcoming any fear to be there.
