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By Marnie Hunter
edition.cnn.com
April 21, 2010
(CNN) -- Joey Cummins' uncle, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, became very ill
while his parents were on a cruise that sailed from Barcelona, Spain.
"They did get to go on their cruise, but he took a turn roughly halfway through, and
[they] have been fighting a losing battle to get home ever since," Cummins, 28, a
landscaper in Dublin, Ireland, wrote in an e-mail.
When his parents' flight to Ireland was canceled because of the volcanic ash cloud
drifting over Europe, Cummins started trying to organize transportation for them and
their friends. He posted a message online looking for enough travelers to fill a
chartered bus.
Elizabeth Varley linked up with Cummins on Twitter. She has been trying for three
days to get her parents to London to meet her husband-to-be. The volcanic ash caused
them to miss her engagement party this weekend.
Varley hasn't seen her parents, who live in Australia, for two years.
"They've never met my fiancé. So I'm desperate to get them here before they have to
turn around and try to get back to Australia," Varley, 33, wrote in an e-mail.
Strangers and travelers across the web have been finding and helping each other get
where they need to go since a volcanic ash cloud arrived from Iceland last week,
closing airspace across much of the continent.
Varley's parents are about to get one leg closer to their daughter, who worked with
Cummins and another person to arrange the buses from Barcelona -- where her parents
ended up after canceled flights within Europe -- to ports in France.
Video: Social networking their way home
Video: Travelers turn to social media
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The third organizer, Sarah Bill, a student teacher in Dublin, Ireland, connected
with Varley on Facebook. One of the passengers on the buses leaving Barcelona on
Tuesday will be her 20-year-old brother, Andrew, who made his way to Barcelona when
he couldn't get home from his vacation in Portugal.
Facebook, Twitter, web forums and word of mouth connected more bus passengers with
the ride to France, Bill said. "We found people all trying to do the same thing and
work together."
More than 100 passengers were originally scheduled to take the buses, but many
dropped off at the last minute with news of airports resuming operations, Cummins
said.
Some travelers are linking up to carpool between European countries.
Florence, Italy-based website RoadSharing.com, where travelers can arrange share
rides for free, has seen a huge spike in traffic from travelers trying to get to
destinations all over Europe.
The site usually has 2,500 to 3,500 unique visitors each day, according to a
spokeswoman. On Monday, the site had 17,000 unique visitors in a few hours, and
travelers entered even more ride information on Tuesday than on Monday.
Fadela Seddini, who was in Italy for a furniture exhibition, posted a ride offer for
travelers trying to get from Milan to London. Her fiancé is sending a car from
London to pick her up after her British Airways flight was canceled Monday.
More than 30 people contacted her via RoadSharing, Facebook, e-mail and phone about
space in the car for five or six passengers, she said. The ride will cost 250 to 300
pounds per person, the RoadSharing post said.
For many travelers and their loved ones, getting to their destinations has been
quite an odyssey.
Varley's parents were scheduled to fly from Istanbul, Turkey, to Munich, Germany,
and on to London. Instead, they made their way to Spain, and when the bus from
Barcelona arrives in Calais, France, they'll try to catch a ferry across the English
Channel.
From the port, Varley has arranged shared transportation to get them to London.
"I can't wait to see them. ... A shame they missed our engagement party, but I can't
wait for them to meet my wonderful fiancé. I know they'll all love each other."
http://edition.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/04/20/stranded.traveler.help/index.htm
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