"Hey, I was wanting to vacation there someday."
"Oh man, I was just there for vacation X weeks/months/years ago."
How many of us thought or made these statements during Hurricanes Harvey and Irma? Matter of fact, how many people who'd intended to travel to the destinations affected by recent natural disasters thought about their ruined vacations and trips first and foremost, as they saw images of what normally are gleaming white-sand beaches, aqua/turquoise/deep-blue water and swaying palm trees to be enjoyed while gripping drinks with little umbrellas?
It's been all too many times I've caught myself in the midst of some less than noble thoughts, words and deeds under the heading of Taking Care Of/Thinking About Number One. Sad to say, those moments came even in the midst of worry and prayers for hurricane victims.
Vacation was heavy on my mind this year -- mainly, the lack of one, due to financial constraints. And on my mind vacation remained as reports came in of damage and destruction to past and hoped-for future vacation destinations by a string of epic natural disasters. Disasters of, as some would say, Biblical-prophecy proportions. According to Huffington Post: "Irma is the first storm in recorded history that has maintained top winds of 185 miles per hour for 37 straight hours ... Irma is the strongest storm on record to exist in the Atlantic, outside of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico ... Irma is tied with the 1932 Cuba hurricane for the longest time spent as a Category 5 hurricane." Meanwhile, trumpets a DailyCaller.com headline "Hurricane Harvey Broke So Many Rainfall Records Even the State Climatologist Called It 'Ridiculous.'"
Florida is the go-to state for have and have-not vacations; like most Arkies, I've enjoyed multiple trips to the Panhandle area throughout the years as well as Orlando and Daytona Beach, Clearwater Beach and St. Augustine. We spent our eighth wedding anniversary in Key West during a cruise that stopped there and at a couple points in the Bahamas. Meanwhile, I harbored a longing to visit just about all of the Caribbean islands affected by Irma, including Cuba. Irma paid Florida and the Caribbean a most unwelcome visit.
While Irma was wreaking havoc, there was an 8.1 earthquake in Mexico that hit places like Oaxaca, a name that pops up as one of the country's tourist destinations, and Chiapas. The wildfires in the western United States has had a worse-than-usual run in some of our most scenic states. And Irma came too close after Harvey, which messed with some prime real estate in Texas.
I'm sure vacations have weighed heavy on the minds of those working in the tourism industries in the devastated areas, especially those who have been temporarily or perhaps permanently laid off because right now there's no job to go to. If anybody would give me a pass for thinking, "Darn, I wanted to vacation there," it might be them.
But my vacation memories and wishes are certainly not what they need most in the here and the now.
I've written in this space before that it's a bit depressing to have to compare yourself to somebody less fortunate in order to jump-start yourself into counting your blessings, but the sheer numbers of the less fortunate in this case mandate a blessings-counting, as well as a dominant desire to spread some blessings.
I am donating to a relief organization and I encourage others to do so.
Speaking of regaining a sense of normalcy, "normalcy" for residents of many of the areas hits far below even "broke-folk" U.S. standards. I have a friend who, upon realizing the scope of the poverty in Jamaica (which wasn't affected by the recent hurricanes), said she couldn't in good conscience just vacation there without helping the people. I had the pleasure of going on a mission trip there with her.
Remembering her words in the wake of disaster, I've come to the conclusion that, although vacations benefit us and they're nice to take in pretty places, they should not always be our top priority.
Email:
hwilliams@arkansasonline.com
Style on 09/17/2017