Keep your fingers crossed!
Today we are heading to Russia.
I vacillate (..don’t you think the word ‘vacillate’ sounds a little Russian, like a combination of Vladikavkaz (where we are going) and Vladivostok (where we are not going)
…anyway, I vacillate between thinking crossing the border will be a formality, an easy trip, bored border guards who check and stamp our passports, I mean we are on a local bus after all, and everything is going to be fine…all the way through to – long queues, difficult questions, full searches of our rucksacks and confiscation of personal items, to my worst case scenario: refusal, a point blank refusal to let us in.
…and I don’t know which one scares me the most.
The idea of being in Russia where our insurance isn’t valid and we have no idea of what to expect – we have been told the Russian people might not be very warm or welcoming towards the British … how would we treat Russian people travelling through Britain right now, would we be welcoming?
Then being held on the border, the bus leaves, the border guards hold us for hours and then confiscate a whole load of our stuff – finally allowing us into Russia late at night…on the border?!
…and how will I feel if they won’t let us in at all? The transit visa cost us £559.60 – largely because the Russian women at the Visa Service Centre added on £46 each for her ‘personal service’ (she made one phone call) and £29 each for a courier charge, even though we were picking the passports up ourselves. When I questioned the fee she pointed out that ‘we literally had no other choice!’ Which I have to say I admired her for – it was true and we both new it.
On balance the one I’m most afraid of, is us not getting in. I believe there will be Russian people kind and prepared to help us, people are kind everywhere…and if they confiscate things then we can express our feelings about whatever it is we lost and then decide if we really needed them…
If we don’t get in as a family I suspect we will feel a bit like the slogan, ‘there is no Planet B!’
I actually don’t know what we will do, we have known all along that there are three places where we might have to face flying, due to border restrictions or logistical impossibilities, and this is the first…
Right now I know that we made this decision because we are trying to do something different. No way to travel around the planet is perfect, and we are aware of the contradictions inherent in some of our decisions, and of going at all…but I love my sister and my nephew and I’ve never even seen their home or walked down the street with them…stroked their dogs, met my sisters fiancé and his kids, and they are getting married when we are there! Of course we want to go!
When I look back seven years to the beginning of all this I had already made the decision I wouldn’t fly, was it possible to get to Australia without flying? …and the answer back then was a quite straightforward ‘yes’ but Covid changed all that.
…and why not fly? It’s a lot cheaper and easier after all…and tbh there have already been moments on this trip when I have questioned our sanity but in 2002 our band did a gig at the Centre for Alternative Technology in Machynlleth and while we were there we did a full analysis of our carbon footprint.
The band had toured India that spring and that one flight consumed 4.5 tonnes of CO2 each…when I looked into it more a few years later I discovered that as individuals we need to be using between one and two and a half tonnes a year per person for our planet to stand a chance of staying a safe place for all of us to live.
I haven’t flown since that day in Machynlleth because I have always tried to bring campaigning about something on a global level, home – I try to live by those principals on a personal level as well and that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t get on a plane in a heart beat if my sister needed me in Australia …and I gave my Nan the choice when she was dying in LA – ‘do you want me to come and visit before you die to say goodbye? …or after you die to honour your life and help my aunty – or, shall I just send you the money for the air fare?!’ My ever practical money conscious Nan, went for the last option.
…and how do I feel about friends that fly for holidays and to visit loved ones, my sister coming to UK to visit me? The truth is I totally get it, we love our families, we want to see them (most of the time :)) and we need a break. Some of us have work commitments that mean we have to fly…In all the contradiction of it I regularly cheer people I love getting on a plane to get that warmth and rest they need! Our lives are hard a lot of the time and full of contradictions and compromises. but me? I got to see the stark facts full in the face and my stupid annoying conscience hasn’t let up since 🙂
We know we will be spending all our savings, and we think this journey is worth it for us. We get to see the world from the ground…try something a bit different, face the tough times and notice the stunningly beautiful ones. We will make the choices we make and live with them…
It’s the lioness, the tin man and the scarecrow – trying to figure some things out and see the world through our blinkered eyes and hope that the blinkers are a little wider by the time we get home.
Fingers crossed for Russia 🙂 x
I will keep everything crossed that it’s a routine transit for all of you. It’s an awesome, epic adventure you are on and I really respect the reasons behind your choices. I fully expect the Russian people to be kind and helpful…. Most of us (general population) around the planet are friendly and want to help others.
I hope the ‘first day of school’ dream made you reflect on how much hard work, love and energy you gave to your school over the years. You are someone who always gives the most of themselves. Sending love to all of you xxxx
Every finger is crossed for you, and not just here, but at the coming borders. I think you’re very brave. If I had to go to Oz I would have put my feet up in a berth on a cargo ship. But you’re facing the challenges. Take your time, don’t rush. Make sure you meet the people, taste their food, their culture. You won’t ever forget it. Oh, and tell them why you’re not flying.
Every finger crossed that your expensive, magic piece of paper gets you across the border. Looking forward to drinking a celebratory vodka on your behalf! xxx
All the Russians I meet outside is Russia are lovely, sending lots of magical meetings your way .
Love you , thank you for living and being and writing
A great and honest read – thank you. Russia will, I am sure, amaze you…and an amazing time to be heading there, walking in the opposite direction to the headlines. Also great to read about the flying dilemma. We cycled to Aus, but then have flown since then, particularly when family were sick. We also had my mumma pass in the UK and I had a great discussion with her beforehand when I got her blessing not to come back for the funeral but to send a video tribute instead….but then still have fingers crossed that other members of the family come out for a visit. It makes no practical sense. I guess that it the path of being human – full of contradictions and mental confusion.
Look forward to the next post, and safe travels x
Thinking of you all ~ Love, Light & protection <3 xxx
Been thinking of you 3 today and sending you all the “getting into Russia easily with friendly border police” vibes I can muster xxxx hoping you’re in and settled somewhere ❤️❤️❤️
Still crossing everything and hoping you made it! Love you xxxx
Good luck lovely ones
Best of luck and wishing you all safe travels. I hope you’re settled in somewhere and it was an easy border crossing. I am enjoying reading this fantastically written blog – thanks for sharing your wonderful adventure. Sending love ❤
I’m sure that there could be even worse case scenarios to imagine than that Shannon – what about being sent to a Gulag for hard labour for 20 years or worse still, having to watch nothing but Russian pop music for 20 years!
Re the Russian people – a wise Bedouin man once said to me (when I asked him what the difference was between when the Israelis & the Egyptians were in control of the Sinai desert where his people had lived for thousands of years) “Well people are like the fingers & thumb on your hand – they all come from the same hand but they are different”!
Enjoy the many different (& no doubt lovely) people & your time there 😉
p.s. Russians are generally more friendly after they have consumed some vodka!
xox