As much as he wanted to be by her bedside during the operation, her father couldn't get a visa to travel to Spain in time, another problem for Colombians who are routinely eyed with suspicion by immigration officers across the world.

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The clock typically doesn't start or stop on travel time between the station and a fire until someone in the truck pushes a button.

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The trip is expected to take 12 to 15 days and has suffered multiple false starts as the Thompsons try to line up the logistics of visas, border crossings and travel time timetables in a part of the world where buses and ferries don't tend to conform to strict schedules.

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While he lets Berrard run Swisher's day-to-day operations, Huizenga is still on the go constantly, to and from homes in Florida, North Carolina and Tennessee and taking commuter hops around Florida. ("You don't make any money sitting in traffic, " he explains.) He swears by private travel, having put in his time on the tarmac at commercial airports during the Blockbuster years.

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