The Big Trip

As promised, I am trying to go back and catch up on all of the time I missed on my blog. Most people are also friends with me on Facebook, so you already know I took a long journey this past summer. However, in this post I'm going to focus on the bigger picture as opposed to the brief glimpses I gave during my actual travels.

When I first moved to my permanent site way back in June of 2017 (that feels like it was about 10 years ago), I didn't have a whole lot of work right away. In some of my spare time, I started toying around with trip-planning websites and seeing what I might try to do for my "Big Trip". From that month until I was actually on the trip, the planning never stopped. I created a detailed itinerary with transportation, lodging, attractions, optional activities, costs, corresponding websites, food options, and more for every city I was going to pass through. I knew I wanted all of my options easily accessible so I could very quickly pick and choose what I would do along the way. I also had very meager savings, so I wanted to know this was going to be possible on an extreme budget.

During my trip I ended up seeing 10 countries and 15 cities in 34 days before making my way back to my permanent site in Armenia. It included 2 flights, 2 overnight trains, 1 ferry ride, 1 group tour van trip, 9 bus rides (mostly overnight), and 1 shared taxi. I stayed in 9 hostels, 1 couch surfing apartment, 2 airbnb's, and 1 tent on very hard, poorly-advertised ground. This was my route.

Yerevan to
Moscow, Russia, St. Petersburg, Russia
Helsinki, Finland
Tallinn, Estonia
Riga, Latvia
Kaunas then Vilnius, Lithuania
Krakow, Poland
Prague, Czech Republic
Budapest, Hungary
Zagreb, Plitvice Lakes National Park, Split, and Dubrovnik, Croatia
Tbilisi, Georgia
then back to site in Armenia.

This is what it looked like on a map.

As anticipated, I was thoroughly exhausted by the end and ready to get back to my cozy Armenian apartment. I was even more ready to not be living out of a backpack or have to sleep on any more buses or hostel beds. My enthusiasm lasted longer than I thought it would though, and it wasn't until the second half of Croatia that the burn-out was feeling real. 

I experienced so many new things on that trip. Throughout my planning process, I never stopped to think "Can I actually do this?" or "Will I be too scared?" I planned as if it was all hypothetical, all a dream. I didn't think about how I would actually feel during any of it. Needless to say, my first night in Moscow (unfortunately, also my worst hostel choice) was terrifying. I made it through. I just kept moving forward, and I was rewarded. I saw uncountable sites, both of the nature and man-made variety. I met some really interesting humans. But my biggest takeaways from the whole thing were all experiential. Here's the best highlights of things I did.

Learned how to take a selfie with cool background things (only half joking)

Meandered through a legend-ridden ravine

Managed to be the sober life of the party with 9 complete strangers

Saw a ballet in St. Petersburg

Became friends with 14 hilarious middle-aged English women

Went swimming naked in the ocean on a nude beach

Got invited and attended a party on a boat

Rode a bike throughout almost the entire metropolitan area of Helsinki

Ate solo at a very fancy restaurant

Spent an entire day in self-reflection on a beach

Got over any fear of doing literally anything alone

Tried caviar, raw salmon, smoked reindeer, kalamari, and pig belly, in addition to ethnic dishes in every country I stopped in

Mentored a 15 year old girl from Greece

Got a tattoo

Got massages in 3 different countries

Took in, on a much more real level the horrors of the Holocaust at Auschwitz and Birkenau

Climbed straight uphill for an hour with a 60 pound pack (among walking a lot of miles)

Sat on the top of cliffs and in unbelievably clear waters

Snuck into a closed pharmaceutical garden (shhhh)

Sang and danced in the middle of the street with no music, and didn't care when people stared

Danced in the rain after getting caught in it

Asked someone out on a date

Went to a cat cafe...twice

Watched the sun set while swimming in the Adriatic sea

Got just a bit lost in a stunning forest

Actually, got just a bit lost in about 15 different cities

This trip was more than I thought it would be. I did more than I ever thought I could do, just by not limiting myself and continuing to move forward. There were plenty of plans I made that I later decided to just skip. There were a few choices that felt just a little too risky and I backed away. But if something was physically safe to do, I just went for it and I didn't second guess myself.

I discovered I like traveling alone, and I can handle it when everything is going wrong. My trip to Helsinki from St. Petersburg ended up being an adventure due to an unforeseeable internet malfunction. I was ushered along by three men who only spoke Russian but who were clearly trying to help, and even though I wasn't supposed to leave for another 2 hours, everything started moving very quickly when my name wasn't on their passenger list. I got into one of the guy's car (I know, maybe not the best), rushed halfway across St. Petersburg where I was practically tossed into a waiting tour van. Had a drunk guy passed out next to me the entire ride. Thought I lost the van at a rest stop. Got to Helsinki at 5 am. Everything was closed. I had no internet. 5% phone battery. No jacket, and it was cold. No idea where I was or where my hostel was in relation. I used my instincts, remaining phone battery, and a pretty solid direction sense to find my hostel. Everything ended up okay. 

I made plenty of mistakes on my trip, but as cheesy as it sounds, I don't regret any of them. It was all an unforgettable experience, and I know how fortunate I am that I was able to do it. When I got back to Armenia, it took some time to readjust. There were some unforeseen problems with my apartment, so it wasn't quite the cozy homecoming I was craving. Still, feeling settled again in Armenia happened faster than I expected. In some ways, doing all of those incredible new things helped me worry less about the things that make me uncomfortable here, too.

I was also genuinely happy to see many people in Armenia that I had been missing. My time away helped me to more thoroughly appreciate the friendships and connections I have made here. One Armenian friendship in particular became so much closer than I had anticipated, allowing me to be my most true and authentic self with at least one person, and I think it took my absence for that to happen. I couldn't be more grateful. 

I realize I should add more pictures, but with my internet speed, it tends to be a very time consuming process. So, sorry for the brief, unillustrated, and possible uninteresting post.

I'll try to post again soon with some more cultural stuff next. The excitement of First Bell (school starting) and other insights to come.

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