Why Russia?

I did an exercise in thinking about my personal priorities and then using those things that are important to me to future plan.  The area that I have the most yearning in is in the arena of travel.  That wasn’t exactly news to me, but what was a revelation is that there are a number of places that I have not been that I definitely want to visit that are places that I want to go to before I get much older.  I am not one of those people who think that I will age slowly.  I don’t think that 70 is the new 50.  I am pretty clear that when I am 70 I will feel 70.  So I do not want to wait to pursue my dreams until I retire.

One of the places on my “must see” list was Russia.  It has not been a good year for Russia in its international relationship with the western countries.  Their support of the invasion of Ukraine has landed them in some sanctions, and that combined with the world-wide drop in gas and oil prices has caused a devaluation of the ruble and a concomitant drop in tourism.  The good news is that makes travel to Russia quite affordable, and a good value trip.   So off I went, living in the moment  and I am so glad that I did.