The engine room fire on the Oceania Insignia that claimed three lives this month should serve as a sober reminder that as we approach the end of a generally successful year in the travel business, we owe enormous debts of gratitude to unsung heroes who make big things move, who keep things clean, who keep us safe on our journeys.
There is glamour and fun in travel but also hard work and risk. Airline pilots and captains of ships get the glory and prestige, but what we owe to them we also owe to bus drivers and busboys, maids and mechanics, clerks and cooks.
We don't always honor them as well as we might, and that should form the basis of a wish and resolution for 2015: May we all prosper, and may we also pause to appreciate all the teams of quiet colleagues who toil behind the scenes.