What will you do if you are a tourist in Europe right now ?
@wildlittlefan (4680)
Hong Kong
April 20, 2010 11:16am CST
Everybody knows that the ashes from the volcano of Iceland is affecting the whole Europe and the tourists had a hard time to return to their homeland at the moment.If you are a tourist who is forced to stay in some of the European countries and cannot go home at the moment,what will you do to keep you alive and what will you do to go back to your homeland ?Will you keep staying in the hotels and pay more money or will you try to go back to your homeland with other methods ? Share with us.
1 person likes this
9 responses
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
20 Apr 10
It would depend on where I was and how important it was for me to go home fast. If that wasn't difficult and I had money or got the whole thing/parts of it paid by the airline/insurance, I'd stay longer and go back a day or two after the airtraffic opened to avoid the queues that will certainly be over most of Europe tomorrow. (I think they opened most of it tonight, and let the airlines decide more how dangerous it is)
If I needed to go back and was in Europe, I'd probably take a bus or a train. Unless of course I was on Iceland, then I'd have to wait for the ferry to Denmark 'cause it goes only once a week. If I was stranded further away I wouldn't really have a choice. A friend of mine went from Norway to Australia some years ago without taking the plane, but it took him and his friends about 3 weeks so waiting for the flights to start again would probably be a good idea.
@wildlittlefan (4680)
• Hong Kong
21 Apr 10
I wish I know what you are talking about since I have never been to Europe before and I hope I can take a visit to Europe somedays in the futher.I think there are another way that people will probably ignored.That will be rent a submarine and enjoy the trip under the sea and go back to where people came from.it is because anything go by air will have problem at that time.If go by cars 0r bus may take a long times.By sea will be a good idea.But go by submarine will be a quite an enjoyable experience.At least I have never travel with a submarine before.I think it would be fun ^_^
@Torunn (8609)
• Norway
21 Apr 10
*reads own post again* Hmm, don't think you'd need to have been here to understand my post :-) But it's a great place, so I hope you get to see it one day. I guess if I were from the US or Asia and was stranded here I would do more sightseeing, shopping or whatever purpose took me here in the first place.
As for submarines, hmmm, not quite sure :-) Firstly, not many people have their own submarine. Secondly, I don't think they'd be very much faster than ferries. Thirdly, there's not a lot of place so you'd have to leave all the things you've bought in Paris behind. And as for getting out of Europe (you could be stuck in the middle) I don't really think the rivers are deep enough for submarines. It would be best for going to North and South America, I wouldn't try going through the Suez canal with a submarine. That whole area is a bit dangerous ...
But maybe you could go under the North Pole? There's just ice up there, not mountains and land like on the other side. You could do like Jules Verne did for the South Pole and go under the ice. Would be much shorter if you wanted to go back to Canada.
@dorannmwin (36392)
• United States
22 Apr 10
Well, not knowing how long it would be before I would have the opportunity to fly back home. I think I would start by extending my vacation a little bit. There are great ways of travelling throughout Europe that don't require air travel, so I would try to visit some of the places in Europe that I had yet to see. If, after a few weeks, there was still no air travel, I would have to start looking in to ways to get home via ship because I think I would start to be very, very homesick.
@maximax8 (31053)
• United Kingdom
20 Apr 10
At home I have two dogs. I have a disabled son that needs catheter care. If I was on a trip in Europe I would attempt to come back home by train. That would be possible if I was on vacation in Italy or Greece. I would purchase an Inter Rail Pass and travel all the way home by train. It might take me a week to travel from Athens to London for example. I am thankful that I am at home. It would be bad news to be in America, South Africa, Japan or Chile and then be stuck in one of those countries without being able to fly home. All of them would need a journey by ship which would cost wise be out of the question. In that case I would try to get more catheters sent over or from a medical person in that country. Then I would stay longer on my trip.
@jb78000 (15139)
•
20 Apr 10
flights are back on now. however if the flight stop had lasted and you lived close enough (elsewhere in europe, near asia, north africa) you probably could have got home by train. i don't know what else could have been done but i imagine a lot of travel insurance policies might cover emergency accomodation.
@ybong007 (6643)
• Philippines
21 Apr 10
If i'm stuck there, i can always borrow money from relatives and friends until the skies clear up. Tourist are not allowed to work if you are on vacation unless there's an agreement between countries, if that's not an option then you could die from starvation if you dont borrow money.
@libnawilkerson (298)
• Mexico
21 Apr 10
Hello wildlittlefan! To be honest, in that situation I'll go nuts because it is a very difficult situation. For instance, if I was stuccked in London, I think I can afford nothing there, it is a very expensive country, at least compared to mine.
Once I needed to stay a night in Spain because the flight was until next day, we staid in the airport floor at Madrid, and I couldn't afford any food, a friend of mine found a promotion in burger king 2x1 so she bought a 3 euro burger and I could eat, it was a difficult situation, and only for a day. I can't imagine what this people are going through, but definitively I wouldn't stay in hotels! First comes to eat and do all possible to go back to my home country, even in a ship!
What about you, what would you do?
@Porcospino (31366)
• Denmark
20 Apr 10
It depends on my situation, if I didn't have to go back to work right away and if I had enough money I would simply change my plans and stay a little longer than I planned. I would try to get the best out of the situation and spend some more time in the country that I was visiting.
If I had to return because of my job or if I had other things that I needed to do in own country, I would try to find a different kind of transportation. I don't think that would be easy, I have seen the pictures from some the train stations and bus stations and they are extremely crowded at the moment, because a lot of people want to find a different kind of transportation. I don't think that it would be easy to get a ticket, but I would try anyway.
I know that some people who were desperate to go home have to chosen to pay for a taxi. I heard about some people who paid more than $3000 to get from Denmark to Paris. I don't have that kind of money, so I wouldn't consider that option.
@frontvisions101 (16043)
• Philippines
20 Apr 10
If there's another means to escape then i'm gonna try it. But if there isn't then i'm going to stay in the hotel or find some place else that'd cost much less.
@RobtheRock (2433)
• United States
20 Apr 10
I have friends in Romania and Poland. Hopefully, they would help me find a cheaper place to stay when I go to visit them probably by train, bus, or taxi.
