David J. Danto

Travel thoughts in my own, personal opinion

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Worrying - June 2025

Apparently, I’m a serial worrier.

Now, to be honest, I wouldn’t describe myself that way. I prefer “serial check-lister.” But tomato, tomahto – the truth is, I spend a lot of time thinking about what might go wrong. Not because I like to suffer in advance, but because being caught unprepared is a far worse fate to me.

This habit has its perks. Headphones die mid-flight? I’ve got a few spare sets. Forget your charging cable? Which one – USB-C, Lightning, micro-USB? I carry five. Travel-size meds, backup credit card, emergency snacks, universal adapter, travel umbrella, spare socks – all accounted for. Do I have any of my destination’s local currency with me? What a stupid question – of course. It’s basically a rolling go-bag in my carry-on.

But here’s the downside: when something does go wrong that I should have anticipated, it drives me nuts. Like flying to a warm destination and getting hit with a freak cold front you haven’t packed for. Rookie mistake? (Not for me of course – I keep a nylon windbreaker rolled up at the bottom of my briefcase.) But worse is when I bring the right thing and don’t have it with me at the crucial moment – like packing an umbrella, then getting caught in the rain when I left it back in the hotel room. That’s not just frustrating. That’s forehead-meets-wall kind of rage.

Worry is the loyal sidekick of any frequent traveler. I banged my elbow last week moving a bed. The first thought? “Can I still hoist my carry-on into the overhead bin for my flight the following week?” Most people don’t worry about something like that a week in advance. I do. I remember fondly the agonizing lament by the late Terry Jones of Monty Python who worried about the “baggage system retrieval system they’ve got at Heathrow” amongst other things.

Then, of course, there’s the good news – bad news airport roulette. I read recently that Newark’s newly rebuilt runway is opening ahead of schedule. Everyone cheers. Me? I worry. Now they’ll over-schedule arrivals and departures again, and we’ll be right back to the airborne gridlock. What’s worse than a delayed takeoff? A delayed takeoff with smug news headlines saying the runway’s all better now. (Maybe I read the book Fortunately, Unfortunately once too often as a child.)

Whether you call it worrying or prepping, thinking ahead is a helpful curse. It’s good to be prepared – but I do admit that worrying is like paying interest on a purchase you haven’t made yet. It’s exhausting. If I could shut off that part of my brain, I might. But then I wouldn’t be me.

And frankly, I’m not even sure anyone will get the point of this blog…which, of course, is just one more thing to worry about.

This article was written by David Danto and contains solely his own, personal opinions.

All image and links provided above as reference under prevailing fair use statutes.

Copyright 2025 David Danto

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