From how many miles I traveled to how many Snickers I ate and how many times I bawled my eyes out, here are the answers to all the questions you never thought to ask me about my so-called Soviet Sojourn – the 13 months I spent traveling around the former Soviet Union:
Days on the road: 390
Miles traveled: 36, 203 (give or take a few)
Longest train ride: 62 hours from Vladivostok to Ulan Ude
Longest bus ride: 12 hours from Amasya to Trabzon, Turkey
International flights: 7 – Chicago-Helsinki, Tbilisi-Rome, Rome-Istanbul, Tbilisi-Dushanbe, Bishkek-Riga, Riga-Barcelona, Barcelona-Chicago
Domestic flights: 4 – Moscow-Vladivostok, Ashgabat-Turkmenbashi, Bishkek-Osh, Osh-Bishkek
Countries visited: 20 – Finland, Estonia, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia, Armenia, Italy, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Spain
Countries visited for the first time: 18
Visas obtained in advance: 6 – Russia, Belarus, Azerbaijan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan.
Visas on arrival: 4 – Turkey, Armenia (2) & Turkmenistan
Cities visited: 70 – Helsinki, Tallinn, Kuressaare, St Petersburg, Veliky Novgorod, Moscow, Vladivostok, Ulan Ude, Irkutsk, Krasnoyarsk, Yekaterinburg, Kazan, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Minsk, Grodno, Brest, Kiev, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kolomyya, Kamyanets-Podilsky, Chernivtsi, Chisinau, Batumi, Tbilisi, Yerevan, Tandzatap, Rome, Assisi, Todi, Istanbul, Amasya, Trabzon, Erzurum, Kars, Mestia, Telavi, Lekit, Sheki, Baku, Lahic, Gyumri, Dushanbe, Penjikent, Shing, Padrud, Khujand, Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Mary, Ashgabat, Misrian, Nokhur, Khiva, Nukus, Aktau, Aralskoe More, Shymkent, Zhabagly, Taraz, Almaty, Bishkek, Osh, Karakol, Bokonbaevo, Barcelona, Girona
Coldest temperature experienced: -18F (Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine)
Hottest temperature experienced: 110F (Ashgabat, Turkmenistan)
Travel blogging conferences attended: 2
Total spent on phone and internet: $156.03
Places where I could not find free wi-fi: 6 – Olkhon Island, Minsk, Brest, Ashgabat. Mary, Bokonbaevo
Days spent with absolutely no internet access: 22
Pictures saved & edited: 7,890
Packages sent home: 5
New pairs of Gap jeans purchased: 4
ATM cards eaten by machines: 2
ATM cards retrieved: 2
Major crying spells: 8
Boys kissed: 4
Boys I wanted to kiss but didn’t: 3
Shots of vodka consumed in Russia: 0
Shots of vodka consumed in Georgia, Armenia & Kyrgyzstan: Dozens. Or more.
Snickers consumed: probably around 390
Anything else you’re dying to know? Ask below!
