Mammoth journey over land and sea

“TRAINS all booked. Now trying for a bus from Fredericia to London.

Then praying for train or ferry to get me home.”

University of Limerick economics lecturer Stephen Kinsella left Denmark two days ago – and still isn’t home.

His odyssey has taken him through five countries by train, bus and any other means available, and this morning he left London on the final leg of his journey back to Limerick.

Stephen is just one of the thousands using the power of social networking sites to chart a course home.

Facebook group, Carpool Europe, where people can hitch a lift or offer one, has more than 2,000 members. Another Facebook group: When Volcanoes Erupt: A Survival Guide for Stranded Travellers, already has almost 1,000 members and dozens of discussion threads, one of which is simply called: Someone tell the Irish to set up more ferries.

But it’s Twitter, the most instant social media site of them all, where the real-time action takes place.

Yes, it can only provide updates of 140 characters, but in a world of information overload and short attention spans, it really works.

Stephen’s first appeal to Twitterland for help came late on Thursday evening: “A volcano ate my plane home from Denmark. Bah. Any ideas on how to get home folks?”

On Friday, he mused: “Having lovely time talking to fishermen. They reckon Sunday flights are a non starter. We shall see.”

The next day, he updated his 1,000-odd followers: “Fishermen were correct. Flight is toast. Stuck here in Denmark until at least Tuesday.”

By Sunday he realised things were not improving: “Irish airspace closed until Monday. My flight Tuesday morning looks like its toast. Buses/Trains Denmark to London anyone?”

And so his plan to get home overland began.

On Sunday, he found a Danish website and tweeted: “Anyone else stranded in DK, these guys will get you to London for €250: www.busudlejning.dk/ Now to sort London-Dublin.”

Stephen got a train to Fredericia, in the eastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark, and then a bus to Calais.

“About 12hrs into trip on our volcano bus. Everyone in good form,” he tweeted, before finally arriving at the French coast yesterday morning.

“Calais. Buses everywhere,” he said before later tweeting a beautiful picture of the white cliffs of Dover reminding us he had been travelling continuously since 1pm on Sunday, crossing through five countries.

Stephen was last night in London, with phase two of his mammoth journey home recommencing today.

But whatever about the hassle of it all, as one of his “followers” put it: “Stevo, it could be worse, you could be stuck in Limerick.”