The text above the drop-down read, \u201cSelect your purpose of travel.\u201d There were five options; Leisure, Business, Work, Studies, and Immigration.<\/p>\n
Really? There\u2019s that much immigration going on that it merits its own option? More so than \u201cRepatriating loved one\u2019s remains\u201d or \u201cArranged marriage\u201d or \u201cUsing up soon-to-expire AirMiles\u2122\u201d?<\/p>\n
Okay\u2014so AirMiles\u2122 backed off on the \u201csoon-to-expire\u201d thing (In Canada, anyway), but my point remains valid.<\/p>\n
And what\u2019s with the distinction between \u201cWork\u201d and \u201cBusiness\u201d?<\/p>\n
The option that Mrs. H. was looking for was \u201cVisiting kith and kin in the old country\u201d. Maybe that falls under \u201cWork\u201d, whereas providing consultancy services or sealing a buyout deal counts as \u201cBusiness\u201d. Certainly (and I mean no disrespect whatsoever to our friends and relatives in aforementioned old country) \u201cLeisure\u201d is not an apt selection for a two-week trip that includes visiting kith and kin in three corners of most countries.<\/p>\n
Before I dig my own grave, here\u2019s a caveat. Given that my K&K will almost certainly read this piece, I have to tread carefully lest I wisecrack my way out of free B&B next time I visit. So if you are part of my K&K, please assume that I\u2019m merely exaggerating for humorous effect. If you\u2019re not, then please assume that I\u2019m holding back out of respect for my K&K and my future travel budget.<\/p>\n
Unless you\u2019re a K&K hater, loather and\/or despiser, those of you who live in a different country from your K&K will know that emigration (or immigration, from the receiving country\u2019s perspective) can be harsh. Visiting with your parents\/siblings\/BFFs\/favourite cousins is no longer something you can take for granted.<\/p>\n
And the longer it is since you emigrated, the tougher it gets, for many reasons. I could lament the passing away of loved ones, couples divorcing, or kids growing up, but that\u2019s not my style. (Not on this website anyway!)<\/p>\n
No; it gets tougher because without you as the glue (because, it\u2019s all about you, isn\u2019t it!), your K&K gradually scatter to the four winds. It\u2019s like they\u2019ve thought, \u201cScrew you, emigrants; if you can move away, so can we!\u201d and they bugger off to the Orkneys or Guernsey or somewhere.<\/p>\n
But they still expect you<\/em> to visit them<\/em>!<\/p>\n Meanwhile, back at that \u201cSelect your purpose of travel\u201d drop-down. The case for offering \u201cVisiting kith and kin\u201d as an option is watertight, I think.<\/p>\n What else?<\/p>\n Perhaps airport security could be less stringent if one of the drop-down options was \u201cTyranny-related\u201d. Of course, this would require everyone to provide honest answers, otherwise it would be about as effective as assuming that the terrorists are the passengers who book one-way-only tickets.<\/p>\n What about a \u201cShopping\u201d option? After all, many people travel to take advantage of lower prices in another country. And for most of us (well, males, anyway) shopping doesn\u2019t fall into \u201cLeisure\u201d or \u201cBusiness\u201d or \u201cWork\u201d. If there was a \u201cSado-masochism\u201d option, it might conceivably encompass shopping.<\/p>\n And then there are those who travel in order to obtain affordable medical treatment, for whom a \u201cBody repair\u201d option might be useful. Whether it\u2019s major dental work, or organ surgery, there are bargains to be had, I\u2019m told. But would you have to pay import duty on your pacemaker or dental implants? And would the Border Control agents try to confiscate them if you refused to pay?<\/p>\n For the movers and shakers, what would they select if they were travelling to negotiate an international trade deal? Does that count as business?<\/p>\n Which option would Neville Chamberlain have selected for his 1938 \u201cPeace for our time\u201d trip to Munich? Now there\u2019s a loaded question! But (paraphrasing the Piranha Brothers<\/em> sketch as it appears on Another Monty Python Record<\/em>), the humorous impact of this piece will be somewhat dissipated by the prolongation of this train of thought, so we\u2019ll move on.<\/p>\n Buzz Aldrin\u2019s travel expense claim<\/a> for his 1969 moon landing is reasonably well-known.\u00a0 The Apollo 11 crew members also had to fill in a customs declaration<\/a> for the moon rock that they brought back. What hasn\u2019t been divulged though is what their \u201cPurpose of Travel\u201d was. This prompts the need for a couple more additional options in the drop-down: \u201cClassified\u201d and \u201cExploration\u201d.<\/p>\n I realize that some of these suggested options might not be used very frequently, but if Immigration qualifies for inclusion, why not these?<\/p>\n Perhaps the problem could be solved with an \u201cother; please describe\u201d option. Next time I travel, I\u2019d make use of that, and describe my purpose somewhat wordily, but truthfully, as follows. \u201cTo experience sitting between a person whose seating requirement exceeds the space allotted and a person who doesn\u2019t even know how to spell \u201chighjean\u201d; with an infant with lungs the size of an opera tenor\u2019s sitting in front of me; and with a seven-year-old boy practising his kickboxing moves on my seat back. All of this so I can appreciate my kith and kin all the more when I arrive at my destination.\u201d<\/p>\n Analyze that, Mr.\/Ms. government statistician!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The text above the drop-down read, \u201cSelect your purpose of travel.\u201d There were five options; Leisure, Business, Work, Studies, and Immigration. Really? There\u2019s that much immigration going on that it merits its own option? More so than \u201cRepatriating loved one\u2019s remains\u201d or \u201cArranged marriage\u201d or \u201cUsing up soon-to-expire AirMiles\u2122\u201d? Okay\u2014so AirMiles\u2122 backed off on the \u201csoon-to-expire\u201d thing (In Canada, anyway),… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[181],"tags":[328,331,329,330],"class_list":["post-599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fake","tag-airline-check-in","tag-kith-and-kin","tag-purpose-of-travel","tag-statistics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/reggothard.com\/kelvin\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Relying on the Honour System<\/h2>\n
Consumerism and Monopoly Money<\/h2>\n
Do You Have any Mexican in You? Would You Like Some?<\/h2>\n
Options for the Big Guys<\/h2>\n
Other: Please Describe<\/h2>\n