Eyjafjallajökull is Not Your Friend

You know a problem has reached epic proportions when updating Facebook statuses and Tweeting is no longer enough-it has now merited a blog of its own. While chatting with a friend on Facebook and joking that I'd write a book about this someday, it occured to me today that after having a flight for which I held a ticket cancelled for the second time and then waiting on hold for 2 hours with the emergency service travel agency (well, 2 hours so far--on hold as I type this) that this mess has reached that level. So, here it is, a place for me to write my rants, ravings, and observations on this whole situation without making all of my Facebook friends hate me.

So what's my story? Compared to most, frankly, I have pretty little reason to complain. I went to Brussels on corporate travel on the Sunday 4/11-Monday 4/12 redeye with plans to return home on Friday morning, 4/16. On Thursday morning, while in the middle of a major presentation to some senior business partners that was the principal reason for my trip to Brussels in the first place, I get an email from my Dad saying that it looked like I might not get home to the Philly area in time for a round of golf we'd planned for Sunday due to a volcano erupting in Iceland. We were planning on golfing with my father-in-law, who was travelling in from Phoenix to spend a few days with my wife and I. When I got that email, my jaw just hit the floor. Volcano? Seriously?

Not really understanding the severity of the situation, I just went back to business with the meeting, figuring that I'd deal with it later. Not that I could have done anything at that point. By then, the airports were already shutting down, and I was stuck in Brussels whether I knew it or not.

Now, I said my situation isn't so bad, and that's true. I'm on corporate travel, so I can pretty much expense everything major. I can continue staying at a very nice hotel as long as they keep having rooms available for me to extend my stay. The hotel has good food, comfortable beds, good service, a decent breakfast, and generally pleasant staff. And my company has a travel agency with 24 hour emergency service to help me with getting home. But I am just not a good traveller even under optimal circumstances, so this is all a giant pain for me.

Anyway, more to come later detailing some of my travel-related struggles so far, my unplanned adventures, and everything else...but I skipped out on lunch due to being on hold since, well, lunchtime, and my room service just arrived. Bon appetit!

P.S. Still on hold with the emergency service travel agency. Almost 3 hours now.