Saorrento

Six weeks, seven countries and twelve cities later, our tour to Russia the long way round has finally drawn to a close. It has been the most incredible experience and I am very glad to say there isn’t any one thing that stands out well beyond the others, there were so many magical moments of our trip: seeing snow and wild Elk in Golden Colorado and dining out with Jon and Julie who we both had a fantastic time with; the neon extravaganza of both Las Vegas and Times Square in New York City; the climb to the observation deck of the Empire State Building; seeing Phantom of the Opera on Broadway; my first rail trip in England going out to Bristol and the Eurostar voyage to Belgium; pub crawls and luxury dining in Belgium; hiking through the snow in St Petersburg to various World War II monuments; getting up close to Soviet and German war machines and other various relics of the Cold War at a number of Museum exhibits; travelling from St Petersburg to Moscow by second class rail, with snowy landscapes out the window; cruising down the Rhine river in Frankfurt past the many vineyards, medieval styled castles and villages. These are just a few of the highlights, simply put; ‘The Long Way to Russia’ has been an EPIC adventure!

What’s next? Well this trip has wet our appetites for so much more travel; I personally would love to see a great deal more of Colorado during the ski season as well as re-visit Frankfurt and spend time touring about Germany. Things like a Route 66 road trip in the United States, a month long stay in Germany and other Euro Road trips are just some of the ideas buzzing through my head for the near future.

Of course then there are also new exotic locations such as the likes of Egypt, Antarctica and Dubai which are pretty high up on the list of new places too. So if nothing else, WATCH THIS SPACE!

Or at least that is the way to get to Golden on the road, which in retrospect would of probably been more relaxing and enjoyable rather than having to put up with our second flight delay in the United States. Similar to the flight from San Francisco to Las Vegas, our United Airlines flight to Denver has been delayed by two hours due to extended maintenance required for the aircraft.

I don’t know which comforts me more, the fact that United Airlines are thorough with their maintenance and thus happily taking more time to get it right, or the fact that the aircraft in question requires the extra attention. Perhaps they ran out of duct tape and need more?

It is a shame, we are both looking forward to checking out Colorado, it sounds amazing and we have such precious time as it is; now we have lost an extra two hours.

The epic tale of this journey started just over seven months ago, and like all good tales involves a girl. During an initial meeting [December 30th at the Broken Hill Pub] (some might call it a first date) after all the small talk and flirting banter had subsided hypothetical plans for a trip to Russia were being sketched.

Russia was an adventure both of us had wanted to do for quite some time, although given the political nature of the country it wasn’t exactly a destination either of us felt comfortable doing alone. So year after year, trip after trip, Russia was left undiscovered, until that very night. That night I had found a traveling buddy, and although I didn’t realize it at the time, I had also found love.

Over the coming months the Russian adventure was shaped and molded; like a kid playing with play doh unsure of what to make… we knew we wanted Russia in the trip, but we didn’t know where to start or what the journey would involve. The adventure transformed from a Trans Siberian journey across Russia, mainly due to financial constraint, to just visiting St Petersburg and Moscow, to including Las Vegas, New York and London. A round the world fare was then determined.

It was at this point in time that we were getting serious with our travel plans; the next obvious step was to establish dates and look into flight availability. The trip in its entirety was about six weeks long, it then occurred to us that that’s a long time to be traveling with someone you have never traveled with before. Not wanting to compromise our Russian experience with the wrong companion we decided upon doing a smaller scale trip to ‘test the waters on first’ before committing ourselves to Russia later in the year. So in the month of May we tested out those waters in Vietnam.

In many ways Vietnam was a mutual grounds for both of us, namely because it was a place neither of us had been to, whilst offering a nice balance of relaxing atmosphere and exciting things to see and do. We both took particular interest in the Vietnam War, which lead us to a number of war related museums and tours including the Chu Chi Tunnels network that ultimately lead to the demoralization of the US forces invading at the time.

Our two week tour of Vietnam was a conglomeration of one fantastic experience after the other; having stayed at Ho Chi Minh city and then traveling up to the Old Quarter of Hanoi, visiting the various museums of war and history, getting into the thick hustle and bustle of street activity through to enjoying a relaxing cruise on a junket in Ho Long Bay. There was no question upon our return from Vietnam, it was time to get serious about Russia.

It was around this time that we both approached our employment for time off. I was a bit skeptical at this point as to how easy it would be for me to get time off, given that I was requesting six weeks and that it would mean I wouldn’t be available to go to Sydney for the annual Visual Impact Image Expo that the company participates in every year. To my complete surprise, my boss asked if I would mind calling in to visit our main distributors in Phoenix Arizona; Golden Colorado and Antwerp in Belgium. My leave was green-lit and with three new exciting destinations added to our list.

Three months later, with little more than 42 days to go, the adventure ahead is becoming seemingly more real. All flight and accommodation reservations have been booked and paid for.

This is actually my third international trip for the year; the first of these being Vietnam in May, the second, just around the corner being Singapore for 4 days in August to celebrate my girlfriends birthday, and the last of these being the epic round the world adventure setting off 11 of September for six weeks.

I really don’t quite know how I have managed to pull it all together; to save the money required whilst doing one trip after the other, with no prior savings, in the middle of a recession no less! I am consciously aware that I am living life very tightly financially to make these three trips work out, and truth be told it has become far too tight for comfort, but it will be all worth it. (special thanks to Mum and Dad advancing me some travel money for the trip) In a way this trip is rather symbolic; my last harrah before knuckling down, repaying debt and saving for the future; for future adventures and investments alike.

2009 is definitely the year of travel for me.

I am hoping that this upcoming round-the-world experience provides the much needed inspiration that I am desperately in search for. I want 2010 to be a new chapter in my life, a new beginning. Up to this point I have been living a life of dreams and recklessness, and although it has served me well and I have numerous stories to my name, I feel I have somewhat out grown that spir-of-the-moment lifestyle. I am now in search of something more definitive, complying to a plan… I am ready to start growing up and begin shaping my future.

To the dreams that I haven’t yet made happen, watch out – you’re next!