Beautiful, isn't it, this Icelandic volcano whose name looks like someone slammed his head repeatedly against a keyboard. Go on, look at it. Eyjafjallajökull. Now, try to wrap your tongue round it.
I’ve got every reason to hate this thing. I was over in Britain for work last week, and, like millions of others, got trapped when Eyjafjallajökull decided to prove just how small and insignificant we are compared to the planet. Ash, filled with tiny abrasive particles that can stop plane engines, scratch plane windows, even disable electronics, filled the skies over Europe. And not just a little bit of Europe. I’m talking almost the whole continent at some points. Six days of near total airport closures followed.
I should mention right up front that I don’t have a horror story. London is not at all the worst place to be stranded, especially when you’re on expenses. I wasn’t stuck in Moldova (though they do have excellent wine). I wasn’t running out of medication. I didn’t have to pay outrageous prices to try to get back home by car, train or boat.
All of my modern tech lifelines were there: cell phone, Facebook, Twitter, Skype. Yep, I used them all to stay in touch with friends and family, and reconnect with friends in the UK I hadn’t seen in a long time. I had a great steampunk fantasy novel to read.
Plus, there’s Bombardier bitter. Pints and pints of Bombardier bitter.
But here’s the thing: I got stuck just as I was preparing my for an overseas move to Brussels with my family. I was supposed to fly back to Boston, help pack up our lives, and then on to Brussels.
It quickly became clear that wasn’t going to happen. At least not in any way that we had envisioned it happening. Again, technology saved us. Text messages flew back and forth across the Atlantic: “external hard drive, hand carry or ship?” Hand carry, of course. “Saute pan?” Hmmm…oh all right, ship it.
Meanwhile, we waited to see if the skies would open up again.
In London, there was nothing much to do but stay on the phone to the airlines, shoulders slumping each time a flight was cancelled. At the famous Speaker’s Corner in Hyde Park, the orators (often deemed crazy) were talking about the end of the world. Others (who I deem far crazier) wrote in to newspapers calling on scientists to “figure out a way to stop the next eruption.” Pouring water down Eyjafjallajökull’s throat was my favorite suggestion. “It’s Iceland. They must have a lot of water up there anyway, right?”
I suggested killing time with a drinking game. You watch the TV news, and every time you hear the phrase “ash cloud” or “volcano travel chaos,” you drink. Someone pointed out that I must be so despondent about being stuck that I didn’t want to live very long. Point taken, game stopped.
The madness continued to play out over the course of this week, as airlines and government officials and scientists over here traded jibes and theories about “acceptable levels of ash.” Is it safe or not safe to fly planes through ash? Well, no, it isn’t. Except when it is. My favorite quote was someone who said, “there must be some safe limit; we’re just not sure what it is. Frankly, this is the first time the question was deemed important enough to even ask here in Europe.”
Professionally, the volcano was good to me. Because I cover technology for the day job (radio reporter for PRI’s The World), I don’t get to lead the program very often. But, I was stuck in London, and so…I got to report on my own nightmare. Here are samples (Don’t worry, the audio pieces are short, and there’s tech and science in them):
How does my own story end? Did I beat the volcano? Let’s call it a draw.
My wife and daughter did manage to get to Brussels – their flight left Boston as scheduled. I’m currently writing this on the Eurostar train from London to Brussels, rocketing at almost 200 mph through the English countryside on my way to the Chunnel. I’ll meet my family in Brussels.
I realize that I’m slightly annoyed that there’s no wi-fi on the train. And that’s got me thinking again about this long, strange trip of a week. I spend so much time writing about modern tech that I don’t stop to think about how dependent I’ve become on those tools in everyday life. I would have really felt stranded without them.
On the other hand, in the days before planes and cell phones and #ashtags on Twitter, this eruption would hardly have made a difference to travelers.
As for the volcano, well…you can’t really blame it, or get angry at it. Besides, it’s going to make for a hell of a story. How often do you get to say, “Remember that time I got stuck for a week because of a giant volcanic ash cloud from Iceland?”
Not very often. Embrace it. Eyjafjallajökull, FTW!
Photo of volcano: Terje Sorgjerd/Getty Images
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