Booked: An Epic Trip To Russia 🇷🇺!!!

Well, let's hope so...

Intro

The past week or so has been a crazy time for me, hence why I have been inactive. I have somehow ended up pulling 3 all-nighters in 7 days, graduated from college without knowing (I still have an online class), and am now back in New York. However, my oh my, do I have some exciting news to share. I am going to Russia in 2 weeks!!!!!

Travel For The Next 2 Weeks

Before I get into what the most incredible trip of my life is going to be like, I figured why not share my travel plans for the next 2 weeks before Russia. I've gotta be honest, this is bonkers, and I simply want to obtain 1K again before I leave the US for a long period. Here goes:

• New York-Los Angeles (9 hours in LAX)

• Los Angeles-San Francisco (3 hours in SFO)

• San Francisco-Houston (4 hours in IAH)

• Houston-Newark (3 hours in EWR)

• Newark-London (2 days in London)

• London-Orlando (3 hours in MCO)

• Orlando-Denver (1 hour in DEN)

• Denver-Calgary (36 hours to see Banff)

• Calgary-Vancouver (1 hour in YVR)

• Vancouver-Portland (1 day in Portland)

• Portland-San Francisco (2 hours in SFO)

• San Francisco-Santa Ana (2 days in Newport Beach)

Hopping around the USA for the first part of it, with a bit into Canada and the UK

Yeah, it's kind of mental to fly back and forth, but I need to pack up my apartment in California, hopefully pick up my visa to Venezuela in London, and taking the long way helps me in the long run of obtaining 1K status.

But then the fun begins...

The Russia Trip

Earlier this week, I spent a whopping 780 USD on a visa to Russia at a place in New York. After attempting to go through the channels online, and the page timing out multiple times, I figured it would just be easier to pay an express service to get this done for me within a week.

Handing in 1 of my 2 passports, it took 10 minutes, and my visa should be back early next week before I head to London (to hand a different passport over to the Venezuelan embassy 😅).

Expensive? Yes. Efficient? Also yes...

So, with that being said, here is what the trip to Russia is like that I have planned (any recommendations, please let me know):

• Air France 77W Business Class from New York to Paris (60K Miles)

• Air France A321 Business Class Paris to Budapest (included)

• Air Serbia A319 economy, Budapest to Belgrade (about 150$)

• Aeroflot 737 economy, Belgrade to Moscow (about 280$)

Now, once in Russia, here is what the rough plan looks like. However, this has yet to be confirmed...

• 3 days in Moscow with a friend of mine from the UK, who now lives in Russia. The plan is to go to the theatre, see the staple pieces of Moscow, and simply enjoy downtown Moscow. She has lived in Russia a lot of her life, so she can show me all of the sights.

• From there, we will take the train up to Tver, where she has an apartment, and stay there for one night.

• The day after, we will head down to her farm about an hour south of Tver and meet her family.

Russia really looks like one of the most beautiful countries in the world.

Eventually, saying goodbye to her after 5 days, part two of the plan comes into action.

• Back in Moscow, I plan to spend a night to two before going up to St Petersburg, as I have heard the most amazing things from my mum's mum.

• After 3 days there, I'll head over to Kazan to spend another couple of days, as people have also highly recommended Kazan.

• With only roughly 3 days left, I'll fly Aeroflot on their A350-900 in Business Class from Moscow to Vladivostok, which is a flight I am properly excited to review.

• Lastly, I'll spend a couple of nights in Vladivostok before hopping on an Aeroflot flight down to Shanghai, and then Cathay down to Hong Kong.

• Finally, I'll fly United back to LAX, spend 2 days there, and head to New York on a redeye in order to drive my mum to Providence before heading to Canada the next day... 😂

So: Why Russia?

Russia has forever been on my bucket list to visit since my mum came back from a business trip there and told me how beautiful it is. Ever since, I have always wanted to go, but just haven't had the time. It was never a place I wanted to pop in and out of, but a place I wanted to spend ample time in. Here are a couple of things I want to point out:

• As you may know, I have written about many places on this blog, such as South Sudan, Mainland Yemen, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and Syria, to name a few. However, my number one rule is NOTHING POLITICAL.

• If that isn't for you, I completely understand, but this is how I visit these places in my quest to visit every country in the world. I am going to showcase the beauty of Russia, the theatre plays, Aeroflot (you can tell I am so excited), and the small towns in North Korea. I can't wait to meet my friend's mum, as she was born in North Korea! How cool is that??!

• So yeah, the main reasons for this trip are:

  • Getting to explore Russia and the beauty of this huge country

  • Seeing my friend

  • Meeting her family

  • Flying Aeroflot

  • Potentially taking some Russian trains, which have always fascinated me.

Now, I will say this: there is one big caveat: I did just visit Ukraine.

I don't have a plan to get around this; my thing in life is honesty. I know they will ask me questions, but I have nothing to hide. I am a student at university who simply loves exploring the history of each nation and flying airlines around the world. So yeah, whatever happens is going to happen, but I'd rather be honest, and hopefully (cross my fingers), they will let me explore beautiful Russia ❤️.

Final Thoughts

Man, I am so excited. After 15 years of wanting to visit Russia, the time is coming in just two weeks. Honestly, this is going to be a trip to remember, from visiting the theatre in Moscow, to enjoying my friend's family farm outside of Tver, to flying Aeroflot on an 8 domestic flight, I can't wait to share this series! Russia has been on my bucket list to visit, and the one thing that I ask is if you are tuning in: nothing political...