What volcano?

[peteyoung]

Plan A

14th April - Go home to Hua Hin from London with suitcase full of kids' clothes and toys. Stay one night in Bangkok before taking bus to Hua Hin the next day. Stay a week, return to Bangkok on the 23rd, then scrounge a lift back to London on a standby ticket with an empty suitcase (at 00:20 on 24th) as that day's flight still has plenty of

Comments

[pennski]

I have been wondering how it all affected you. I'm glad it was the suitcase and not you that was stuck in the wrong location!

[peteyoung]

Thanks. I'm not denying it was a hassle, but I was actually keeping an eye more on what's going on with Bangkok's Red Shirt barmy army. That's another volcano set to blow, but Bangkok is still 95% perfectly safe.

[alexmc]

glad you are safe...

[peteyoung]

Cheers.

[peteyoung]

I had two extra days in Tokyo in January, courtesy of Heathrow's mini-snowpocalypse; even better was that Benji and Miles had come up from Bangkok to meet me there, on JAL just before they officially went bust.

Glad you've both had a good time there, despite all the hassles and occasional stress spikes.

[ang_grrr]

Moral of the story: travel is either an adventure, or it isn't. The choice is yours. Before leaving make alternative arrangements that keep your options open, and when things do go wrong, anticipate, do your research, be resourceful and keep your sense of humour and a cool head, no matter what.

As Foerag said, easier with access to emergency funds. When we had our minor, snow-related flight and baggage disaster we remained polite and cheerful right through to the point where I phoned my insurance company. That was depressing.

We had a number of people in work who had to make alternative arrangements getting home from places like China and Uganda. The Uganda field trip did quite well, having cut their losses early on Thursday they'd booked a coach and ferry from Schipol and were back within 24 hours. The manager stuck in China then became stuck in Rome and trapped away from her family.

[peteyoung]

The manager stuck in China then became stuck in Rome and trapped away from her family.

Ouch, that sounds like a double dose of stress. I'm full of admiration for the resourcefulness of people who journeyed back on container ships and so on, and also for those who tried alternate routes less successfully. But a long-distance journey that only gets you half-way home, then gives you a new but identical problem to deal with when you get to that point, seems to me like a journey not altogether worth taking.

[ang_grrr]

Well, exactly. The Independent had an article by Simon Calder who had travelled back on a container ship. Which, you know, was interesting but not an option available to your typical family on an easter break. Particularly as I doubt that they'd have had a lift from the MD of the package company (although they might, he sounded like a nice chap).

One good thing to come from it, I guess, is renewed respect for package firms who were getting a hammering from DIY holidays. The major reason that we are still on our way to Florida, admittedly with a delay, is that we are booked all in with Virgin.

[fjm]

Good to hear all is fine.

I opted to stay in Ireland and have been "working from home".