Hi!
I've been putting off writing this page for a while now, but here it finally goes.
I got the travel bug around 2005 when I had my first trip abroad, precisely to Germany. The world outside of Russia shook me to the core and made me question and re-evaluate quite a few things in my life. Since then I've been on the road at least twice per year in between first studying, then working. In the beginning of November 2010 I quit my job and dove into the world of freelance translation, interpreting and writing.
2010 was also the year when I had most trips so far, namely I was in
Prague and Dresden in April
Kiev and Lviv in May
Vienna, Bratislava, Amsterdam, Brussels and again Prague in July
Moscow in September
Istanbul in November
Milan, Cologne, Munich, Karlsruhe in December (this trip ended in March, 9 countries later)
My means and ways of traveling have undergone immense improvement and change since my first trip. Namely my first to trip abroad were by bus. From Russia. Which means the longest trip from point A (Krasnodar, Russia) to point B (Karlsruhe, Germany) was 72 hours including 10 hours at night on the Ukrainian - Polish border. It was pure fun, as I'm sure you understand. However recently I've been able to fly from Berlin to Oslo/Stockholm and back for 16EUR. The bus tickets cost me about 250EUR.
Also I used to be obsessive about planning and seeing so much sights per day and crossing them off on my list and other similar unimportant things. But travel has changed me and made me way more relaxed about many things, sometimes I don't even read guides, I just take a flight or a ride to a certain destination and discover it, it has made my life easier. I do not any longer have a necessity to see everything and tick something off my list, I am quite content with the thought of not visiting all of the world's countries, but if I visit a few more and be delighted with my experiences and the people that come across my way, I will be quite content with that.
February 2011: As of right now, slow travel has all the right ingredients of trip success for me. Since early January I've been based in Berlin in an inexpensive flatshare which allows me to bring accommodation costs to a minimum and also take trips from Berlin to nearby or sort of nearby countries. Namely, I have already made my way to Stockholm, Oslo, Paris, Barcelona, Porto and I will be stopping by Kaunas and Riga in the middle of March.(March Update: well, let's see how that worked out --> I stayed in Berlin to have a mind-blowing weekend instead of exploring the two Baltic states, no regrets here, had a fantastic time out and about!)
As I am on tourist visa (don't get me started on this...), I will have to leave Berlin and thus the European Union some time before my 90 days expire and that makes it some time in late March. However, I already have a new idea. I will make a stop home for a couple of weeks and then I will move on to live in Istanbul for two months. The thought of it makes me quite happy!
March 2011: Currently I am home in Krasnodar, Russia and I am about to set off on the aforementioned trip to Istanbul. Very excited to find out how it goes and looking forward to discovering more of the culture in Turkey and meeting locals and expats currently living in Istanbul.
May 2011: Enjoying Istanbul and embracing the numerous cultural differences here. Traffic is impossible here. Had a nice trip to Izmir, Cesme, Selcuk and Ephesus. Finally the weather is good. Phew.
August 2011. After having spend June at home, I set off for the world's best city (Berlin) again. Two months into the trip, I still love this even though the weather has not been perfect. As a side trip, I've been to Milan, Turin in Italy and Nice, France.
December 2011. Well, it's been a tremendous year travel-wise. The places I've seen, the people I've met, the experiences I've gathered. Incredible. I left Berlin on September 30 and came back to Russia for an indefinite period of time, took a job with a company organizing education abroad trips and am currently learning to look at Russia from a different perspective. Still, planning to travel though. It's Moscow for a week starting with New Year's Eve and hopefully a couple of business trips to Europe in a couple of months after that.
May 2012. Still in Russia. Working. Living. Doing some traveling, so far this year I've been to Moscow, Rome, Athens, Sochi and twice to Istanbul. This year has been a bit different from the last one. A few challenges on my way, but also some happy times.
January 2013. 2012 ended up being an odd year. Lots of ups and lots of downs. Very uneven. I did a lot of travelling as usual (and that with a full-time job, so some of it was for work, too) and I can openly say I am a bit tired. I'm ready to stay home for a while and see where that takes me, work- and relationship-wise. I'm sure happy times are just ahead.
March 2011: Currently I am home in Krasnodar, Russia and I am about to set off on the aforementioned trip to Istanbul. Very excited to find out how it goes and looking forward to discovering more of the culture in Turkey and meeting locals and expats currently living in Istanbul.
May 2011: Enjoying Istanbul and embracing the numerous cultural differences here. Traffic is impossible here. Had a nice trip to Izmir, Cesme, Selcuk and Ephesus. Finally the weather is good. Phew.
August 2011. After having spend June at home, I set off for the world's best city (Berlin) again. Two months into the trip, I still love this even though the weather has not been perfect. As a side trip, I've been to Milan, Turin in Italy and Nice, France.
December 2011. Well, it's been a tremendous year travel-wise. The places I've seen, the people I've met, the experiences I've gathered. Incredible. I left Berlin on September 30 and came back to Russia for an indefinite period of time, took a job with a company organizing education abroad trips and am currently learning to look at Russia from a different perspective. Still, planning to travel though. It's Moscow for a week starting with New Year's Eve and hopefully a couple of business trips to Europe in a couple of months after that.
May 2012. Still in Russia. Working. Living. Doing some traveling, so far this year I've been to Moscow, Rome, Athens, Sochi and twice to Istanbul. This year has been a bit different from the last one. A few challenges on my way, but also some happy times.
January 2013. 2012 ended up being an odd year. Lots of ups and lots of downs. Very uneven. I did a lot of travelling as usual (and that with a full-time job, so some of it was for work, too) and I can openly say I am a bit tired. I'm ready to stay home for a while and see where that takes me, work- and relationship-wise. I'm sure happy times are just ahead.
P.S. And just for the sake of record-keeping, here are all countries I've been to thus far:
Greece
Switzerland
Portugal
Spain
Italy
France
The Netherlands
Belgium
Germany
Czech Republic
Austria
Slovakia
Sweden
Norway
Turkey
USA
Ukraine
Greece
Switzerland
Portugal
Spain
Italy
France
The Netherlands
Belgium
Germany
Czech Republic
Austria
Slovakia
Sweden
Norway
Turkey
USA
Ukraine
Happy travels, eh?
