I’m heading out on my next overseas adventure early tomorrow morning. I’m going on an independent journey through the Baltics (Latvia, Estonia, Finland), over to St. Petersburg in Russia, and then on to a couple of other exciting stops that I’ll discuss later.
To get to my starting point, I’m using the second half of a free Delta awards ticket that I originally booked nearly a year ago to get home from Romania. After a lot of phone calls, I was able to get the return portion changed to arrive in Riga, Latvia via Minneapolis and Amsterdam. This wasn’t easy, because it requires Delta to pay a lot more revenue to other airlines, but in the end I got it to work and now have a paper ticket for the trip. Through the Baltics and Russia, I’ll travel overland on a combination of buses, ferries, and trains.
As usual, my essays on Life, Work, and Travel will continue to be posted three times a week, and I hope to provide at least two detailed trip reports along the way.
If you’re interested, you can follow more real-time updates over at Twitter, where I usually post at least once a day no matter where I am.
Thanks for reading! See you from Latvia or somewhere.
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June 28, 2008
Charles
Sounds exciting. I’m eager to follow your journey. Wish I could do that too.
June 28, 2008
Sara
How fun! I’m trying to decide how to work travel into my school schedule.
June 28, 2008
Paul
Hi Chris
You may have heard this before, yet it is a brilliant tip, so I’ll mention it: Odourless Garlic pills ward off Mosquitos.
Basically they can detect the smell in our sweat, even though we cannot and they hate Garlic so they don’t bother biting you!
Well worth considering before your trip
Kind regards
Paul
June 28, 2008
Bill Riddell
Will be a wonderful journey Chris, enjoy.
I was reading just the other day that Finnair has the worlds second best safety record, no major incident since 1963, behind Qantas.
June 28, 2008
Chris
Enjoy yourself. I spent two months in the Baltics (primarily in Estonia) about three years ago, and it was a great experience. Estonia is a beautiful place!
June 29, 2008
Psiplex
Enjoy! Looking forward to see your discoveries and treasures!
June 29, 2008
nature
Are you planning to visit Lithuania as well? We’re Latvia’s neighbors from the south
Good luck!
June 29, 2008
Cinda
You’re going to love St. Petersberg. Granted, my visit was during the Leningrad phase, but oh, was it something to behold. Fell in love with Italian and Dutch Renaissance wandering the halls of the Hermitage.
Try the ice cream too. If it’s half as good as it was then, you’re in for a treat (and a few extra pounds).
Safe travels!
June 30, 2008
Aidas
Hi, it’s a shame that you ignored Lithuania
It’s a beautiful country with really nice capital Vilnius.
http://www.qedata.se/e_js_litauiskt_galleri.htm
I am originally from Lithuania. It’s really worth visiting. If I wouldn’t live in London right now I would be able to be your personal guide back in Lithuania.
Kind regards,
Aidas
June 30, 2008
Chris
@Aidas,
Well, I didn’t ignore Lithuania, it’s just not part of this trip. I’m flying into Riga and heading north, so I’ll have to save Vilnius for later. Maybe you’ll be there then too!