The History of WITFAWN Travel and the USC Train’s Relationship
It began accidentally in 1995. Three couples, who had been traveling together to USC away games for over 30 years, decided to take the train to the Washington game. Ken Cotler, who was “president” of the group of six, called AMTRAK and asked to see the train. He was told that the train had a 30 minute turnaround in Los Angeles, and no one was allowed aboard. He called back the next day, identified himself as President of WITFAWN Tours, and was told they would bring the train in 30 minutes early and invited him for a tour. Ken did have WITFAWN business cards, which had been provided by the group of six many years earlier. As part of the train tour, Ken saw that the parlor cars had VCRs and thought it would be fun to watch USC football classics on the trip north. He was told WITFAWN could use the VCRs only if they provided a group of at least 30 which would afford them exclusive use of a parlor car. The group of six were then chartered to invite others to join us on the train. The group went from 6 to 72, and a wonderful time was had by all. The WITFAWN rooter train to the Northwest game is now an annual event. The following year, the new WITFAWNers wanted us to arrange transportation to all the USC away games. They then requested that we organize spring and summer trips, so they could travel with their newfound friends. This is how WITFAWN was born.
It continues to grow as WITFAWNers add friends to the group. We travel to all away games, and take advantage of our numbers to save on cruises. To date, we have sailed New Zealand/Australia (Silver Seas), Tahiti (Windstar), Alaska and South America (Holland America), Mediterranean (SeaBourn), Panama Canal (Crystal), Mexican Riviera (Radisson), Baltic (Celebrity), Danube River (Peter Deilmann).
WITFAWN is about fun people getting together to save money and have a great time. Don’t ever confuse it with a business. WITFAWN is a state of mind. By the way, if you are a first timer, you need to ask a veteran what the acronym WITFAWN means. Once you know, you will understand what WITFAWN is all about.
