What a pleasant topic to start the day with. I have traveled pretty extensively in pre-transplant days. My first big trip post- is coming this September when several friends and I will fly to Boston, bus up to Montreal and sail down the St. Lawrence seaway around the Maritimes and back to Boston. I am so looking forward to this trip; I feel a good deal of the pleasure of travel is in the anticipation. I think all of the tips and cautions which have been discussed are valuable. In the end, it appears to come down to weighing risk vs. reward. I am of the opinion that JK is correct about being covered with good travel insurance and I would add the importance of booking with a reputable and international travel company. I have to believe that years of experience will have faced them with enough emergent situations that a big, well connected international company will be able to handle whatever we transplants can throw at them.