Stories from Leisure Travelers to Russia

We worked with two adventurers from Florida who wanted to travel by motorcycle from Khabarovsk in the Russian Far East (east of Siberia) to Moscow. Though their local travel agent was able to get plane tickets from Miami to Khabarovsk, he could not assist them with a myriad of other details.

We assisted the client in obtaining appropriate visas, finding the information they needed to bring the motorcycle into Russia and leave it at the end of the trip, and checking on routes and road conditions. We also arranged hotel accommodations in some of the more remote areas of the route.

We recently worked with a man who wanted to take his two grown sons to Kiev to locate the birthplace of their ancestors. None of the three spoke Russian and they had no address, just some general information and a description from an older family member. In Kiev, I put them in touch with colleagues of mine who furnished a car, driver and interpreter. With this assistance, they found their home in less than three days even though the "city" in which it is located no longer exists.

When they went to Moscow after this trip, they called me to tell me they had left their passports in Kiev. Again, a colleague retrieved the passports and flew with them to Moscow. Although my clients had to pay the out-of-pocket expenses of the courier, they did not have to spend the rest of their Russian holiday in the American Embassy replacing their passports.

Three art connoisseurs wanted to visit Russia to see outstanding museums. As one of the travelers was a school teacher, they had very defined time periods. We selected the Christmas holiday. It is a time when Russia is at its glorious best, less crowded with tourists and ideal for museum hopping.

In order to heighten the local experience, we housed them in homes rather than hotels. Home stay hosts are required to speak some English and provide two meals per day. The cost ranges from $60 to $75 per person per day. Home stays give an opportunity to meet the people and learn about how they live on a day-to-day basis. We can still arrange for someone to meet you at the airport, as well as individual tours in private cars.