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!

As much as I was excited about visiting a new place like Phoenix, I was also somewhat reluctant, especially after spending the last five days in Las Vegas. From Vegas’ wild night life of neons and alcohol to the sandy plains of the wild-west; or at least that is how I pictured it to be.

For the most part I was right, but I have enjoyed it here none the less. Sitting at a higher altitude, with the desert heat of 100ish degrees (30ish Celsius for the metric folk) Phoenix has been a nice relaxing stop on the way to Russia.

Although a great time of Phoenix was spent either at our motel recuperating from Vegas or at a engraving company I visited I did see enough of Phoenix to begin forming some opinions of the Arizona people and Americans all together.

The people are FRIENDLY. Never have I seen so many smiles and friendly gestures, which is a shame because I have always thought Australia would be one up on the US on this one. From continual gestures from drivers to walk out in front of them crossing the road, to a friendly smile and service of the waitress’s at the local bar and grill – Phoenix has been a very welcoming place.

On our first night there Michelle took me out around the neighborhood – since she had the opportunity to scout out food spots during the day while I was with Vision Engravers seeing how their production line worked. Being in the engraving industry I found the tour of their facilities particularly interesting, as I am already very familiar with their product from a customer receiving perspective, it was great to see it from the construction and engineering perspective. Anyway, I digress; Michelle and I stopped in at a bar and grill for dinner, the bar itself was very ‘yankee’ with wooden floors and walls, men wearing their truck-driver caps at the bar sipping a pint of (by Australian standards pathetically WEAK) beer, while those with families and tourists alike took up the tables and seating along the parameter which were serviced by the friendly waiter staff.

Being a huge fan of Potato Skins, something to which I owe to my Aunt and Cuz for introducing me to at the Queens back home we ordered an entrée size serving for starters. For those who have not had the pleasure, and I mean that as they are simply divine, a ‘potato skin’ is simply a potato, halved, with the potato contents scooped out and replaced by an assortment of cheese and bacon and lightly grilled n’ served with sour cream.. YUM… hmm I digressed yet again… anyway, this was followed up by a cheeseburger (an American favourite) where the waitress asked would I prefer fries or mashed potato (Michelle jokingly thinks she was just asking to strike up conversation with me) of course I ordered the fries, who has mashed potato with their burger?! The evening also involved several rounds of Budweiser which got cheaper as the night progressed between our waitresses fudging up the bill and that we were now well into ‘happy hour’.

Although being at a grill there was a pretty good assortment of beer to choose from our choice of Budweiser came easy since it was the only beer not labeled ‘Lite’ – since when did the yanks drink lite beer? Australia may be now the fattest nation (which if you come over to America you may find hard to believe) but we sure as hell can drink ‘em under the table! – Even their Strawberry Daiquiri uses Lite Rum!

So although the Phoenix stopover has gone in a blink of an eye, it has left a strong impression; very friendly locals who won’t ask for a tip to smile, desert heat with zero humidity which agreed with me, and the realization that our Australian accent is alluring to the locals!

Next stop Denver ahoy!

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!