Travel is . . .

. . . Whatever gets you there

I wrote, the other day, about my love affair with cruising. I truly enjoy nothing more than being on a ship - not necessarily calling at port after port - but at sea. Maybe having breakfast on my terrace, doing laps around the deck, sitting outside with a good book, taking part in an enrichment lecture. It is my kind of travel.

But for hundreds of thousands of people air travel is the way to go. I saw a story in the Orlando Sentinel on Sunday about people who'd used that Jet Blue air pass to travel hundreds of thousands of miles. For about $600-700 per person these folks purchased the option of unlimited flights wherever the airline goes. An imposed time limit still permitted travel all across the country and to Bermuda. I don't remember all the details, but those who had utilized the program loved it. And even though television gurus are telling us holiday air travel prices are up some 40% from last year, I am sure people will fill air fleets for Thanksgiving and Christmas trips. (I am paying almost twice what I normally pay to fly to Houston for the holiday.)

I knew a writer who only enjoyed train travel. He'd taken trains all over the U.S. but was especially fond of the European train system and had written several books about it. He'd fly to Europe than travel from country to country by rail. That's a concept that makes sense, because unlike airports, train stations in Europe are situated in the center of cities. European train stations usually double as shopping malls where you can pick up a lipstick, a pair of panty hose or a heavy jacket when cold air awaits. The trains are usually clean and on time and it is a sensible mode of travel.

Other people enjoy bus travel, a concept I've never really understood, but it's what turns them on.

You pay your money and you take your choice. The choices are many. But staying home? That's not one of them.