I had just finished editing an article on Tunis last month for one of my outside clients when reports of the uprising in Tunisia began. The piece was to appear in a cruise line’s onboard magazine, and the editor and I exchanged emails about the likelihood that, in light of the unrest and future political uncertaintly, the company would exclude calls to Tunisia and pull the article. We knew that the magazine would not actually be in place on ships for some months, and the entire situation by then could have completely cooled down — or not. And those ports of call might be scheduled for as late as autumn of 2012; who knows what might be going on then? Such are the questions which arise for publishers and travel industry executives when disruptive world events — natural or man-made — occur. And less than two weeks after that email exchange, we at Global Traveler were preparing the March issue and asking similar questions, this time about Egypt. If you look at the 2011 Editorial Calendar presented on the Global Traveler website, you will note that an article on that country was scheduled for a Kicking Back feature. (As an aside, check this page out periodically to see what’s on deck for future issues and what may have changed, as it is updated periodically.) The protests had only just begun in Cairo and the scope and outcome were still unpredictable, but it certainly didn’t seem like the right time to be running a piece on leisurely activities in Egypt. Fortunately, editor in chief Lisa Matte had a piece on Queensland waiting in the wings. Writer Richard Newton had already confirmed with his contacts there that the Gold Coast area which his article features had been essentially unaffected by the month of flooding devastating the northern part of the state. We all breathed a sigh of relief . . . until stories about the approaching Cyclone Yasi, a Category 5 storm, began circulating. We held our collective breath (and wondered what Plan C might be) until we learned that the southern Gold Coast was again spared (except for a wave of cancellations by travelers assuming all of Queensland was affected). That’s just one example why, when you go to that editorial calendar on our website, you’ll note this disclaimer at the top: “Calendar is subject to change at the editor’s discretion.” — Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor