Local man’s 21st birthday trip to Mexico is curtailed
Wednesday 29th April 2009, 11:30AM BST.
A SPECIAL birthday celebration in Mexico has been put on hold for one islander because of the swine flu outbreak.
Sam Machon had his heart set on a trip to the country’s east coast, leaving next Wednesday, for his 21st.
With the Foreign Office issuing a warning that only essential travel be made to Mexico, Mr Machon has now been forced to rearrange.
‘I am gutted. I was really looking forward to it,’ he said.
‘I have researched the destination and learnt about the country and now we will have to go somewhere else,’ he said.
Mr Machon (pictured) and a friend had been to Cuba the year before and decided to work their way west, starting with the Riviera Maya near Cancun.
He said he was still happy to be going away on holiday but would feel a lot better if he could confirm the plans.
‘It’s going to be a pain. It will definitely mean a lot of phone calls to get it sorted, a lot of them to people who I wouldn’t necessarily want to be on the phone to for hours.’
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This isn’t a bad thing, but is a shame he might miss out on Mexico/Guatemala etc.
I did a load of travelling all through Central America last year and having everything rigorously planned out is the worst way to travel. He’s better off picking his destination, getting there and winging it. Don’t know what all these phone calls are.
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Happy to hear you’re going somewhere else now, bro :)
Mexico next year I think ;)
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You deserve some compensation. i am sorry to hear of your plight
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Oliver – compensation from whom? the pigs?!
If he has insurance then I assume it will cover this.
Agree with MT, if you have lots of time or don’t mind what you do or see, then travelling without pre-set plans gives you get the best experiences. But if you’re tight for time and have some definite objectives, then it is probably best to lay down some plans.
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Compensation!? Plight!?
He has had to reschedule a holiday most people would love to have (especially during the recession), so what? People have died from this virus, whereas Sam Machon will have to make a few phone calls. I am sorry this has ruined his plans but I think peoples sympathies should be redirected from here.
He will have a good holiday I am sure, and should be pleased that he didn’t leave two weeks ago!
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This young man has been offered an alternative holiday so all is not lost. He is lucky he can afford to go on so many holidays. He has his whole life ahead of him and plenty of time to visit Mexico. No doubt he would have been one of the first to complain if the travel companies had allowed him to travel and then he had become ill!
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Yet another non story. I’m sure if you conducted a survey you would find people in Guernsey having to revise holiday plans every week for one reason or another. For some this will mean downgrading from a, just affordable, holiday in Spain to a holiday at home or in UK.
This lucky young man is very fortunate indeed if this is all he has to be “gutted” about.
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This being my son, i know he has worked very hard to pay for this hoilday, as he did with the others! This was a specail hoilday for his 21st birthday treat to himself. So all the negative comments are unnecessary. Yes there are many more bad things to deal with in life then having to re arrange a holiday, it was just a story in the Press that was relevant to the situation at the time. Spit out your sour grapes and try to live and let live.
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Jude – I think the negative comments are in relation to the story being printed, as opposed to your son going to holiday. As Ted puts it, “Yet another non story”.
Personally I think his holiday plans in comparison to a global pandemic is irrelevant and should not be reported.
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Maybe Dean and Ted should work as editors at the press, that way they can decide what are relevant stories or not? I hope Sam has a fantatic trip.
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Perhaps I could make a suggestion that the Guernsey Press halves it’s number of pages. Not only would this help the environment (less waste – not everyone recycles paper) but it would also mean they don’t have to strive to fill column inches with non-stories.
I agree with Dean and Ted – a shame for the young man involved but hardly a story for our “national” paper.
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Each flu season it is estimated that, on average, approximately 5% to 20% of U.S. residents get the flu, and more than 200,000 persons are hospitalized for flu-related complications each year. About 36,000 Americans die on average per year from the complications of flu.
Yes how many have died of Swine Flu?
If nothting else it sells papers.
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