MERCY TOURS

                                             Your Catholic pilgrimage resource

                                             A Spiritual and Cultural experience

 

                What about those Travel Advisories?

                     

                                    

          

           

 

                    

                                      Mercy Tours Inc.                    6504 28th Street S.E.  Suite Q              Grand Rapids, Michigan  49546

                                                                             Tel:       1-877-404-4240        616-942-4773          fax 616-808-3794

Our intelligence community has intercepted chatter that terrorists are planning to unleash some kind of retaliation against “soft targets” in Europe.  So, the State Department has issued a “Travel Alert,” warning citizens to be “vigilant” in Europe.  A “Travel Warning,” which is much more serious, is not under consideration. The alert says little beyond the world is a dangerous place.  Most of us already know that.  It advises people to stay away from unattended packages--something most of us already know.  In fact, most of it is just plain common sense.

When asked, the government officials who issued the warning stressed, “We are not saying to defer travel plans to Europe. Absolutely not.”

Of course we don't want to belittle the threat. But, as always, we urge our travelers to keep things in perspective. Each year 12 million Americans travel to Europe and 12 million return home safely.

We can't remember the last time an American tourist in Europe was hurt by a terrorist.

What about Mexico?

So far in the first 9 months of 2010, almost 5  million Americans and close to 2 million Canadians have traveled to Mexico.  There has been an upsurge in drug violence along the Mexican border with Texas in some other areas of the country.  And yet millions of Americans safely visit Mexico each year.  I would rather walk around Puebla after dark than any major U.S. city.  We are a bit more cautious in Mexico City, as we would be in any large city, yet we have never had any problems there either.  And, of course, group travel is even safer than individual travel since you are never really alone, we use our own private buses and our guides are experts at avoiding problems.

What about Israel?

Well, what more can we say.  It remains one of the safest--and most popular--pilgrimage destinations in the world.  But you would never know it by watching the TV news.

On the other hand, every year another 30,000 die in the USA — victims of gun violence.   Should we warn others not to come to the U.S.?

You will always encounter nay-sayers who will advise you not to travel now for one reason or another.  For them, there is never a good time.  We can remember the war in Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1992-1995 when the State Department warned of "roving gangs of bandits" for those traveling there (to the shrine of Medjugorje).  So while friends and relatives back home feared for your safety there you were sitting in a sidewalk cafe and drinking cappuccino. Again this is not to minimize the horrors of the war there, but just to point out that of the millions of pilgrims who went to Medjugorje during those years not even one person was the victim of violence.

It is a shame when we see people put off their lifetime dreams of travel due to unwarranted fears--usually by well-meaning friends or relatives. 

                      So if you feel that urge to travel, as the commercial says, "Just Do It".