Lucky Lazy Day - THE GLOBAL TRIP 2004

Lucky Lazy Day

DAY 295: When I boarded the No. 8 train the night before, I was anxious. Would I be assigned to a second-class compartment with three drunken Russian mafia-types again, or encounter a sexy, but questionable blonde bombshell in a black bra? I got to my compartment assignment, #25 in Wagon #006. Inside was a young guy in a uniform.

Fuck, is this guy another imposter?

But I lucked out; I felt like I won the lottery or something. He was a legitimate officer with a wife and cute little daughter who shared a bed with her mother -- I've found you can always sort of trust a family man, traveling with his kids. The little girl's giggles were music to my ears. The other person in the room was a lone woman who made kissy faces to her lover on the other side of the window as the train took off.

NOTHING REALLY EXCITING HAPPENED the entire day on the 30-hour train ride -- except for the fact that in that time, I managed to catch all the way up to the present in my handwritten journal for The Blog. I hadn't been caught up for over a month since slacking off in Spain, but had finally made my mark. In my spare time, I finally got back to reading instead of writing, something I hadn't done in a long time.

The train cruised eastbound to Irkutsk in the Lake Baikal region of Siberia, passed little houses and fields with haystacks in them for the horses (picture above). We stopped periodically at station stops where vendors sold food goods, but I was already well stocked with juice, water and ramen noodles. Plus, the nice young family offered me some cheese and bread, cucumber and tomato.

All in all, it was a fairly lazy but productive day (and two nights) on the train, the kind of rest and relaxation period where you don't leave the house and veg out all day. Man, I hadn't had one of those in a very long time.

If you enjoy this daily travel blog, please post a comment! Give me suggestions, send me on missions, let me know how things are going back home in the USA. Knowing that I have an audience will only force me to make this blog more entertaining as the days go by. Don´t forget to bookmark it and let a friend know!

Posted by Erik on August 11, 2004 01:07 PM
TrackBack | Category: Russia

MARIA: Hey there! Guess you left L.A.? Olympic volunteer, as in you are in Athens right now?

Glad you're still following along, even if it's late... needless to say you have a LOT of catching up to do...

As for coming home, YES! Being away for so long really makes you appreciate home... Well, that and the fact that money is starting to run low and my credit card expires next March!

Posted by: Erik TGT on August 13, 2004 10:40 PM

CAN IT BE? Is Erik The Global Trip all caught up on Blog duties? Yes! (minus the events of yesterday, which he still has time to work on according to his regular deadline schedule.)

THANK YOU ALL for being patient... Let's hope I can keep the pace up now without slacking off!

Posted by: Erik TGT on August 11, 2004 12:47 AM

In the words of Rob Schneider from WATERBOY: You can DOO it!!

Glad that you're all caught up - we love you for it!!

You saw all the dachas - lovely! All those babushkis are like the people who get onto the buses in Central and South America!!

Posted by: Noelle on August 11, 2004 01:33 AM

i'm so far behind, it's not even funny. i think i have to read at least 15 entries. holy cow.
thanks for all the updates though!
i'm looking forward to mongolia. you are going there, right?

Posted by: Alyson on August 11, 2004 06:16 AM

This is all really interesting because I had no idea what Siberia would be like. It sort of looks like Northern Ontario or something. And who knew there would be a bowling alley.

Posted by: sara on August 11, 2004 04:20 PM

hey stranger....i've got like half of year of reading your blogs to catch up on too! now that I'm back on the road maybe I can do it...

i've just started a blog too..i'm an olympic volunteer and writing about it! sooo...do you think you'll every come home????

Posted by: maria on August 13, 2004 07:54 AM

Maria -
Where is your blog? I'd love to read it.

Erik - a coworker is in charge of the blog at my organization. And he spoke today at a conference regarding the usage of blogs and non-profits. Which made me laugh - if they only knew how much time they paid me to look at YOUR blog!

Posted by: Noelle on August 14, 2004 03:07 AM