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Traveling in an age of uncertainty

© Lain Ehmann

Usually I use this space to provide some practical tips on how to make your traveling life easier, once you have as many small children as items of carry-on luggage. But as I pondered this month's column, I thought there was a larger issue - still travel-related - that needed to be addressed. And that is the issue of travel, period.

I know I'm not alone when I say that my attitude towards travel - particularly air travel - has changed substantially in the last year. Gone are the days of jumping aboard a plane, baby in one hand, passport in the other - and settling in without a thought to whether or not we'd actually arrive at our destination in one piece. Now each and every trip is fraught with uncertainty, anxiety, worry, and plain fear.

Even though the odds still say that air travel is by far one of the safest modes of transportation, I can't help but feel that getting on a plane these days is akin with bungee jumping, downloading files from the Internet, and eating from the hot dog vendors at the flea market - a little too risky for my taste. As a result, my frequent flier accounts haven't seen much increase in their balance lately.

We canceled our yearly trip to Hawaii, telling ourselves that we couldn't afford it this year and that our two-year-old is too difficult to take on a 6-hour flight. I've skipped invitations to accompany my husband - without the kids - to some of his more exotic destinations, such as Australia, Singapore, and Japan, telling myself it's just too far to go for only a few days. But in reality, the truth of the matter is I'm scared to get on a plane.

In a way, this lack of jet-setting causes me some guilt. I wonder how I can expect the economy to recover, not to mention the airline industry to survive, if people like me can't trust in the system and keep about their business as usual. But I balance that desire to return to normalcy with the realization that we can't ever go back - we can only go forward. Things won't ever be the same, and there's no use pretending that they will.

There are good sides to my distaste for air travel. Our family has been forced to find other ways to enjoy vacations. We've taken some scenic drives, including a few seven-hour ones, something we'd never done before. We've had the opportunity to explore the areas around our home base more thoroughly. And we've, on occasion, still boarded that plane.

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