Now that air transportation is slowly getting back to normal in the wake of that ash cloud from the Iceland volcano, stories have been streaming in from User Forum attendees about their adventures in returning home from the conference site in central Sweden.

To collect them all in one place, GridCast is encouraging travelogue blogposts on its site.

To get the ball rolling, here’s our adventure tale:

iSGTW and company had some . . . colorful . . . moments on the way home to Geneva, such as the incident with the bus tickets we didn’t need, gave away, and then realized we did need — and then found in the trash at the ticket counter.

Or the all-night bus on Sunday between Stockholm and Copenhagen with the broken toilet, in which a stream of clear water ran steadily down the aisle for the duration of the 8-hour trip. (It was kind of peaceful, actually, listening to the trickle of water as it wended its way down from the bathroom in the back of the bus to the driver in the front. Sort of like a babbling brook in the Alps.)

The topper was probably getting off at the wrong train stop in Basel to make a split-second train transfer. (Who knew there were two stops in one city?)

Realizing the mistake, our 5-person group raced to get to the correct station in time by taking a pair of cabs — involving a hair-raising ride during which the driver of our cab strongly encouraged us to hire him to take us all the way from Basel to Geneva instead. (“You’ll never make it to the train on time. Only 1,000 euros for my taxicab. For you, special price.”) Miraculously, all five of us got to the station in the nick of time, but we got split up in the crowd, with some of us getting on the wrong platform.

Long story short: two out of five of us climbed aboard the correct train . . . but the others didn’t.

And the others had the tickets.

’Twas fun for English-speaking natives to explain the situation to the conductor, toute en Français. (“We were in Sweden, where we bought these tickets on a German website for a Swiss train, but the guy who bought them was left behind on the platform at the last station, and he still has the tickets in his pocket . . . ”)

Luckily, the conductor took pity upon us, and we succeeded in getting home to Geneva, 27 hours of non-stop travel after departing Stockholm. At last count, transport included 1 bus, 2 cabs, 1 ferry, and 5 trains.

As we travelled, we felt sympathy for everyone else on the road, trying to get back to homes in far-flung places. We’d love to hear your own tales of travel and derring-do on the road from Scandinavia.

To sweeten the pot, iSGTW is offering a free T-shirt, mug or hat to those we think have the best — or is that worst? — travelogues or most complicated routes.

So send in your post to GridCast!

—Dan Drollette, iSGTW

You can post to the blog by clicking on the GridCast link above and adding it as a comment, or send an email to the GridCast coordinator so they can post on your behalf.