Going out with gusto

Merrill Newman, age 85, signed up for a tourist trip to North Korea.  Right away, you know this story's going to have a bad ending, right?

As we all know, of course, it almost did have a bad ending.  They grabbed Mr. Newman as he was about to return home and charged him with all those odd offenses that countries like North Korea charge folks with.  After all, the dude fought against them in 1953, the scoundrel.  Luckily, cooler heads eventually prevailed -- I suppose that's what happened -- and a stilted and bogus apology later, Newman is relaxing in Santa Cruz with stories no doubt to tell.

While Newman was being held by the Democratic People's Republic, on-line comments here at home to reports of his capture and detention, while fairly sympathetic, were also laced with strong strains of sarcasm and exasperation.  Why would anyone travel to North Korea, they groused, and especially why would an 85-year-old do so? 

Why indeed?  Well, sixty years is a long time for grudges to be held; Vietnam veterans return routinely to the scenes of their battles in Vietnam.  And Newman, a retired financial officer, has always had a more adventuresome streak than his occupation might suggest.  He and his wife have spent a lifetime traveling around the world -- and that doesn't mean to resort areas.

One of the trekking companies I've used frequently has offered "adventure" travel to North Korea for several years.  While I wouldn't have anticipated an "adventure" such as that granted to Merrill Newman, I did seriously consider such a trip.  I suppose I wouldn't have been much of a target for North Korean paranoia.  Any aggression toward North Korea in the past could only have been in a game or two of Risk. 

I don't rule out such a trip in the future, if the itinerary appears sufficiently interesting.

What would be the downside?  No one was threatening Newman with execution -- the primary risk to his life came from his lack of medication -- but I suppose ten years of hard labor would be an unpleasant way to spend your waning years.  (As the New York Times points out, Kenneth Bae is serving 15 years of hard labor in North Korea because of his alleged Christian proselytizing -- he was a missionary.)

But when I'm 85, if I have to die I'd love knowing that ninety percent of Americans thought I had my death coming for being such a foolishly foolhardy old codger -- for not staying prudently and safely at home practicing origami at the senior center. And it would cheer me onward on my existential voyage to have the other ten percent saying -- aloud or to themselves -- "Right on, dude! If you gotta go, that's the way to go!" 

If given only the two choices, in other words, I'd choose a fall off a mountain or facing a DPRK firing squad to spending my final six months going quietly psychotic while hooked up to machines in an intensive care ward in Seattle.