Travel is one of life’s great adventures. I’ve experienced a 675-mile yard sale, slept in the top of a castle in Germany, ridden a prop plane through a tornado in North Dakota, accidentally taken my family to a topless beach in Mexico, stood on a mountain in Vermont that inspired The Sound of Music, and stayed in a creepy abandoned hospital overlooking the “Hollywood” sign.
When travel involves flying, the adventure escalates. My prosthetic left arm sets off all kinds of alarms going through security checkpoints. I get wanded and patted just like on Law and Order. And since 9/11, I even get swabbed for explosives. The officers swab the shoulder and hand of my prosthetic arm and then test the swab using an ETD (Explosive Trace Detection) machine.
But I must say my greatest travel adventure was a fire at sea. My family of four was in a small cabin on the Carnival cruise ship Fantasy. I was in the shower while the kids were getting dressed for dinner. My husband Tim needed to iron his shirt so he unplugged the TV from the 220-volt outlet and plugged the 110-volt iron into it. A few seconds later he tapped on the bathroom door and said, “Beck, I think we’ve got a problem.” I stuck my head out the door into a smoke-filled room.
“Get the kids out!” I screamed. I grabbed the only piece of clothing in sight, a jacket, and pulled it on as I ran into the hall calling for the cabin steward. He appeared immediately. He took one look at the smoke rolling out of our cabin and raced for help. Within seconds, white uniforms were everywhere; they were running up and down the hall and in and out of our cabin. The four of us stood in shock in the hallway watching. Then suddenly I gasped—I was totally naked except for a very short jacket! I backed up against the wall and stood statue still for the next hour.
The crew eventually got the problem resolved and we were allowed to return to our cabin. The fire didn’t kill my husband, but I wanted to.
My next travel adventure is scheduled for June. Tim and I are going on a Hawaii cruise to Honolulu, Maui, Hilo, Kona, and Kauai on the ship Pride of America. You better believe I’ve already checked—the outlets are 110.
I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). John 10:10 (AMP)
1999
One Smile, One Arm 