Lucky Lazy Day
This blog entry about the events of Sunday, August 08, 2004 was originally posted on August 10, 2004.
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.
Next entry: The Real Siberia
Previous entry: Bowling For Siberia
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Comments for “Lucky Lazy Day”
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 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/10 at 07:49 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 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/10 at 08:34 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 08/10 at 01:18 PM
ALYSON: T-minus THREE DAYS to Mongolia…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/10 at 01:23 PM
ERIK: sweet!
Posted by Alyson on 08/10 at 02:08 PM
Erik - congrats on getting caught up!!! I love those pics of the little houses btw.
Posted by Liz on 08/10 at 06:33 PM
ERIK - what are you reading now?
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/10 at 07:42 PM
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 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/10 at 11:22 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 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/12 at 02:56 PM
MARKYT: “Dave Barry’s Bad Habits”... almost done, then back to Dan Brown…
Posted by .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/13 at 05:39 AM
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 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/13 at 05:41 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 .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/13 at 10:09 AM
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This blog post is one of over 500 travel dispatches from the trip blog, "The Global Trip 2004: Sixteen Months Around The World (Or Until Money Runs Out, Whichever Comes First)," originally hosted by BootsnAll.com. It chronicled a trip around the world from October 2003 to March 2005, which encompassed travel through thirty-seven countries in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. It was this blog that "started it all," where Erik evolved and honed his style of travel blogging — it starts to come into focus around the time he arrives in Africa.
Praised and recommended by USA Today, RickSteves.com, and readers of BootsnAll and Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, The Global Trip blog was selected by the editors of PC Magazine for the "Top 100 Sites You Didn't Know You Couldn't Live Without" (in the travel category) in 2005.
Next entry:
The Real Siberia
Previous entry:
Bowling For Siberia
THE GLOBAL TRIP GLOSSARY
Confused at some of the jargon that's developed with this blog and its readers over the years? Here's what they mean:
BFFN: acronym for "Best Friend For Now"; a friend made on the road, who will share travel experiences for the time being, only to part ways and lose touch withThe Big Trip: the original sixteen month around-the-world trip that started it all, spanning 37 countries in 5 continents over 503 days (October 2003–March 2005)
NIZ: acronym for "No Internet Zone"; a place where there is little to no Internet access, thus preventing dispatches from being posted.
SBR: acronym for "Silent Blog Reader"; a person who has regularly followed The Global Trip blog for years without ever commenting or making his/her presence known to the rest of the reading community. (Breaking this silence by commenting is encouraged.)
Stupid o'clock: any time of the early morning that you have to wake up to catch a train, bus, plane, or tour. Usually any time before 6 a.m. is automatically “stupid o’clock.”
The Trinidad Show: a nickname of The Global Trip blog, used particularly by travelers that have been written about, who are self-aware that they have become "characters" in a long-running story — like characters in the Jim Carrey movie, The Truman Show.
WHMMR: acronym for "Western Hemisphere Monday Morning Rush"; an unofficial deadline to get new content up by a Monday morning, in time for readers in the western hemisphere (i.e. the majority North American audience) heading back to their computers.
1981ers: people born after 1981. Originally, this was to designate groups of young backpackers fresh out of school, many of which were loud, boorish and/or annoying. However, time has passed and 1981ers have matured and have been quite pleasant to travel with. The term still refers to young annoying backpackers, regardless of year — I guess you could call them "1991ers" in 2013 — young, entitled millennials on the road these days, essentially.
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