Frazzled.

I looked at the calendar and realized I will be leaving the country in 17 days. I'm usually an orangized person, having details layed out and somewhat of an outline for my trip, not this time. 

On March 1 I fly to Sweden. Sweden had never been a top destination on my radar but when a direct flight on Norwegian air was only $182, I booked a flight faster than I could think of a plan. I wasn't making lots of money with photography at home, so I figured it would be a better opportunity to go photograph overseas and sell those prints. My destination in mind was Russia, not for the Olympics, the unfriendly people, or the negative digit climate, but for Babooshka. 

I moved into my apartment in July 2013. Every day when I came home from work, I noticed this elderly woman sitting at the front steps people watching. My grandmother had recently passed away in February and the elderly woman reminded me of her. I would try to talk to her but she didn't speak. I would try to smile at her but she didn't budge. I continue to walk pastor and smile every day. After three months, I received a nod and a smile. I couldn't speak any Russian and she couldn't speak any English but I wanted to photograph her. I snuck a photograph of her from my two-story apartment building of her walking down the corridor. For Christmas, I decided to blow up the photograph and give the family. It was at this encounter that I realized Babooshka, Anna, had talked all about me to the family. She would try to speak to me in Russian because I looked Russian. The family pulled out a world globe and showed me where Anna was from, A small town about 10 hours south of Moscow, called the Voronezh. Something came over me and I had this urge to photograph her town, to get to know Anna, to know where she grew up. I felt this connection to this 97-year-old woman and I couldn't figure out why. No words that ever been exchanged, only smiles and hugs. 

I began telling my family and friends I was headed to Russia and their response was not quite pleasant. Russia is unsafe, it isn't a good place to go. Even the Russian family next-door said that they wouldn't feel safe going and hasn't been back since 1995. I began to doublethink my trip. A Russian visa was over $200, I didn't speak the language, and I was hearing that it was unsafe. Then I decided to look up the town on Mormon.org and found that we had a meeting house there as well as meeting a woman in the temple that had served your mission with a friend that lived in Voronezh. Those two simple inclinations were all I needed to book my Russian visa. 

I still remained without any plan, outside of knowing I was flying into Sweden and out of Copenhagen and making a stop in Russia... until last night that is. Last night with the second kick I received around 11 PM, I booked all of my flights and trains for the entire stay. I fly into Stockholm on March 2 and will be there in untill March 5. On March 5 I fly to Geneva Switzerland and will fly out of Zürich Switzerland on March 12. From Zürich Switzerland I will head to Moscow where I will get on a sleeper train to Votonezh and spend 2 days in Anna's small town then head back on a sleeper train to Moscow. Once back in Moscow I will spend three days exploring the city then fly to Denmark where I will spend the remaining 4 days of the trip. 

I plan on photographing everything. Thailand was such a successful business opportunity and I have no doubt this will be either. I've got my winter coat and I'm ready to learn, grow, and explore!