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April 02, 2005
poll on visiting russia
So, before I left, a number of people expressed interest in possibly visiting, and I expressed interest in possibly playing tourguide. I've been mulling over various approaches to this, all of which depend on people's thoughts on the following:
- which city or cities you'd like to visit
- how long you want to be here
- where you're interested in staying
- overpriced Western hotel
- cheap Soviet hotel
- short-term furnished apartment rental (the best mid-range option, actually)
- hostel
- short-term homestay
- whether you like structured tours or open-ended travel
- what sorts of things you're interested in seeing or experiencing
In general my schedule has and will most likely to turn out to be more flexible than I originally envisioned, which is good for anyone interested in visiting. After April 16, anytime except May 26–June 11 and July 24–31 look good. So I can probably entertain visitors one at a time—at least in Moscow—which is not something I originally thought I could do. However, I can't commit to making lots of individual trips to St. Pete since the cost ads up, and I'm already spending enough money on conferences in Europe as it is.
So if these time slots suit you, post a comment giving me some ideas of what you'd like to do, and I'll see what we can do. If you're too shy, you can email me as one person has already done, but I'd prefer to get some brainstorming going.
Another option, if you're into maximizing your vacations, is to join up with a one-time tour this July called "Soviet Secrets, Russian Revelations: An Inside View of Information and Access in the New Russia." Be sure to check out the draft schedule with all the links. It looks pretty expensive in my opinion, but you're paying for not having to make your own plans and for experiences you won't otherwise be able to have. If anyone is interested in this, I could certainly meet up with you at a few points.
Hope to see everyone who can make it!
Posted by kshawkin at April 2, 2005 09:42 PM