Trans-Mongolian Railway : T minus ONE MONTH!

One month today, we depart DIA around midnight for New York City.

You'd think there is not much yet to organize, but it turns out our lives are not as simple as first thought. On the bright side, that means when we finally do take off for vacation, the gap between life here and life on the road, will be HUGE. After a mandatory period of anxiety about being so out of touch, this is going to prove to be a very meaningful break from "normal" life and one that I'm really looking forward to.

In Marks world:

He is on the home stretch of finishing his airplane upgrades and annual inspection. After almost 3 years of down time, N303B will once again take to the skies and feel the wind beneath her wings. Of course, that is likely to become possible only about 2 hours prior to vacation!  LOL

At work, Mark has 5 different people covering his duties. A regular vacation (American style) would result in his work simply being pushed out so that he had to deal with it when he returned the following week. Our vacation being 4 weeks long means "kicking the can down the road" is not a viable option and all his responsibilities will need to be parceled out to those other employees who can add a bit more to their plates between mid September and mid October. You are right in thinking that this is not without stress for Mark. But oh, it will be worth it!

In my world: 

I have 4 closings at the end of this month and saw myself legitimately tying up all those loose client ends before I fled too. Alas, that is not how real estate works. As of this week I have 2 buyers hot to trot and a new listing. Thank goodness the colleagues that lend me their time and energy while I'm gone, are simply awesome people... competent, kind and available. It doesn't get any better than that.

(Maybe I'll even have a closing and get paid while I travel!!!?)

At home, I'm busy organizing temporary lawn maintenance and a house keeper. Ofelia is my new go-to lady in the house. She is going to clean house and prep the guest room for each new Airbnb guest (3 parties) while we are gone.

So all I need to do is:

- Clean thoroughly

- Make sure I have 4 sets of freshly laundered bed sheets and towels laid out

- Write a manual for the things in the house I know - and other people don't

- Put a lock box on the door

- Notify Donnie that she will be the Emergency Contact for Airbnb guests with issues!

Why do I feel like I'm missing something?!

Oh yeah... a rather large acknowledgement of gratitude to this guy;

Without Mark this overland trip would probably never happen and certainly would not be so much fun. From the planning to the packing, eating new and different things, sleeping in strange places, enduring the challenges and riding the highs together... He is always a trooper. By my side with an open mind, kind heart and hand to hold.

Not everyone would say yes to this sort of travel adventure, but I'm super happy that Mark did!

Did I mention it was going to be life changing?

Trans-Mongolian Railway : Swan Lake at the Bolshoi

I might have mentioned in our itinerary that we were attending the ballet in Moscow. You didn't know I was a fan, did you?  Me neither until a few years ago. But there is something mesmerizing about it... dancers who train from near birth, bodies that are out-of-this-world, gymnast-like athleticism, artistic choreography and drama playing out with beautiful lighting and costuming. And on the other end of the spectrum is me.... I'm kinda clumsy if we're being honest!

Going to the ballet is like stepping into someone else's world. It's enchanting.

The Moscow Ballet is the epitome though. It's the nearest thing to perfection in this field and if I was ever going to be in Moscow, attending ballet at the Bolshoi historic theater was on my bucket list.





Around March, shortly after we booked tickets to Moscow, I went looking for Bolshoi ballet tickets. Trouble was, the schedule was not yet published and not expected until May/June for the September events. I put myself on a list for notification and early ticket purchase when the time came... then forgot about it.

In June, I was out with clients when I got a text message. The Bolshoi schedule had published. It was another 2 hours before I was home and could seek out tickets online. In those 2 hours the "cheap seats" sold out! (And I use the term "cheap" very loosely because well, they wanted something close to your first born, for a good seat and possibly only your 4th born, for the least expensive ones.)

I bought Mark and I "second from the cheapest" seats and we were thrilled to add this experience to our first night in Moscow. By thrilled I mean we intend to stay awake the whole 2:45 hour performance but understand that this could otherwise be very expensive nap, given our two days of traveling to get this far. (We have/had no kids, so before you get your panties in a wad, let me tell you we didn't pay via human exchange, we paid by credit card.)

The service that I bought the tickets through guaranteed the seats but tickets are not emailed out until 2 weeks prior.  Once again, the ballet tickets slipped from my mind and we continued to plan the rest of the trip.

Fast forward to last week and I received an email:
It informed me the economy tickets, middle of the 3rd circle were unable to be secured for us, so per their guarantee for those or better, we were getting BETTER!

Now we are the proud and excited owners of tickets to Swan Lake at the Bolshoi, in the first Circle... box seats.  Holy crap! In my wildest dreams I never saw myself sitting in a $995 box seat at the Bolshoi.





Oh my.... Feelin' fancy!

Definitely drinking coffee before the show, definitely.

PS: I'd offer to take pics while there, but it appears that is impossible. No recording devices allowed in. Will you settle for a picture of the brochure if there is one?