Musings from Jane Air

As one of the baby boomer generation, Russia is not a place I thought I'd ever actually visit.  In fact, my first attempt to visit the then-USSR was unsuccessful in 1982 because of visa requirements. However, when my teenagers suggested St. Petersburg, Russia as our vacation destination, I decided to give it another try. This time I was more successful and as I sit on the plane back to the United States, my family can now say we've been to Russia.  Although political times have changed since 1982, traveling to Russia remains somewhat of a challenge both in entering and touring the country.  In order to help other families who perhaps will be convinced by their children to visit the home of the Kremlin, I've put together some tips to help you navigate the country.

1) File for your Russian visa early.  The paperwork will take you a full day to fill out, particularly if you are going with your family.  The Russian Embassy requires you to use one of a few visa services that require you to file all papers online.  I used Travisa and they were very efficient and helpful.  It isn't cheap to obtain visas so you should plan for this expense as well. All visas require Letters of Invitation that you can get from the major hotels in Russia or approved travel agencies.

2) Plan to go through passport control one at a time.  This was a shocker to me as a mother and something that made me extremely uncomfortable.  Passport agents in Russia require one person at a time enter the line for entry into the country. This means children as well.  If you are traveling with another adult, my suggestion is for one adult to go through first, then send the children through. The second adult should be the last in the line, so no child is alone on either side as was the case with us. My 11-year-old daughter entered first and it made me nervous to have one of my children alone on the other side of Passport entry.

3) Take a copy of your passport with you, including a copy of the page with your visa. Keep it on your person at all times. There are passport police who will stop you just to check and sometimes demand extra money from you. Never go out in Russia without your passport and visa or a copy of it.

4) Don't expect to find people who speak English or people who want to attempt to communicate in anything other than Russian.  It may come off rude, even mean, but Russians expect you to speak Russian. 

5) If your children are picky eaters, you may be eating a lot of McDonald's or Italian. Typical meals include fish or game meats like bear, deer and elk. However, if you are a sushi lover, you are in luck. Russians LOVE sushi. It's everywhere. Although most hotels will allow you to include breakfast in the price of the room, I recommend opting out of this expense.  Chances are you won't wake up the first few days in time to eat breakfast because of the time change.  I often opt for visiting a grocery store and buying a few loaves of bread, lunchmeats and cheeses and keeping it cool in the hotel mini bar. For your sweet tooth, ice cream is available everywhere.

6) I always advise international travelers to exchange money before the trip...not so for Russia. You can only get rubles once you land in Russia and ATM machines are few and far between. Take US dollars to convert rather than depending on ATMS.  Most tourist sites will take Visa and MasterCard, but only a few take US currency[?].

7) If you plan on visiting the Kremlin, it is closed on Thursdays so you might want to plan your trip accordingly. You can go see Lenin in his tomb right in the middle of the Red Square, but you can't carry your cell phone or back pack inside. There is a bag check at the corner of the National Museum, which is right at the start of the line into the tomb but it is long.  Most families have one member hold bags and tag team going through the tomb with the kids. No photos are allowed and guards make sure you don't break that law.

8) Russians overdress and shorts aren't allowed in most Orthodox churches.  So pack a skirt or dress, however make sure the latter has sleeves.

9) Take your bathing suit even if it's winter.  Kids love to swim and most Russian hotels have some sort of pool indoors for the enjoyment of guests.  A dip in the pool was a great way for my kids to relax and cool down in the afternoon.

10) For a great adventure, take the historical red train from Moscow overnight to St. Petersburg but make sure you reserve a first class cabin for your family.  It's fun for kids to experience sleeping on a train.

When it comes to family travel, the key is K.I.S.S.: keep it simple, stupid.

That's been a hard lesson for me to learn. Summer seems so short and there is so much I want to do: road trips, plane trips, see the relatives and show my kids new and exciting places. 

But sometimes too much is just too much. Like this summer.

 I took my teen and tweens on a 1,200 mile road trip from Connecticut to Florida, a plane trip from Florida to Kentucky and another plane trip from Kentucky to house swap in California.

We took a full week to enjoy our road trip, stopping along the way at Natural Bridge in Virginia, the BMW Performance Center in South Carolina, and historic Savannah.  We visited one set of grandparents in Orlando, Florida, and then another set in Kentucky before flying to California to begin a house swap near the beach.

Much of the trip was planned a few weeks before we left, but all of the stops and starts required unpacking and repacking, double checking and eventually scrambling to replace a house swap gone bad.

My kids said they loved all of the things they got to do:  play incredible golf courses, be spoiled by grandparents, enjoy beautiful hotels and bike the beaches in California

But they NEVER want to take a trip this complicated again.

It was too long.  There was too much to do.  There was too much packing and unpacking. 

Next year they asked for one thing:  keep it simple.  So easy to do and yet so difficult for me to embrace.  I still want to do it all. I just have to find a way to do it without being stupid.

With so many kids returning to school in August (which cheats them out of several weeks of summer, if you ask me),  our attention returns to the importance of learning and the great debate over whether travel is, in and of itself, educational.

I believe firmly that travel is always educational.

Yes, my kids learned their multiplication tables on the road over the many hours we spent reciting in sing-song voices, "One times one is one. One times two is two....") And, yes, my daughter learned plenty about the Revolutionary War during a visit to the living history museum at Colonial Williamsburg. And, yes, my kids and I both learned a lot about dolphins because we were able to swim with them.

But I'm not really talking about that kind of education from travel. The learning that happens on a family vacation is so much more subtle and so much more fundamental than that.
By spending time in Mexico, my kids have learned a deep appreciation of the culture of Mexico. By traveling across America, my kids have seen that there are places in our melting pot country where only white people live, a shock for my children, who are being raised in multi-cultural community. By visiting other cities, they are better able to look at their own with a critical eye, seeing the things Chicago does well and the things it doesn't.

By traveling to the mountains, I learned that I need to be near to water to be happy while my son learned that he might be happier living above the tree line.

But the most important lesson any of us has learned is that the family-building and memory-making potential of travel is limitless. And that's something no school can teach.

The last place a single woman thinks about going when planning a weekend escape on her own is to a romantic island. After all, why would you pay to remind yourself of your solitude? It's enough you don't have someone to whisk you away for the weekend, right? Maybe you're wrong. There's something to be said for intimate destinations - they are quiet, they are peaceful, they often have a great spa attached and depending on where you stay, you can treat yourself to a little luxury in the comforts of your guest room.

Having come off almost four weeks of not sleeping due to pending deadlines that kept piling up, I was eager to get away and just crash for a weekend. Like most people, being at home isn't often 'relaxing' - there's always a dish to clean, laundry to do, piles of mail to organize ... you get the point. While I can't advocate that you dismiss all your responsibilities at home and take off for a weekend away because you want one, I can suggest that you reward yourself with something serene after finalizing a huge project, or when you're just so worn down you can't recall what happened earlier in the day.

Enter: Bermuda. The picturesque island with pink sand located just a few hours from most East Coast airports. Romantic? Yes, but it is equally private and secluded, which made vacationing alone on this island the perfect prescription for my worn out mind, body and soul.

I hopped a flight Friday morning and was in Bermuda one hour and 48 minutes later, thanks to Jetblue. My destination: Tucker's Point. My plan: Nothing. I was going to check in, order up some room service, make myself a dark-n-stormy and exhale. That's exactly what I did, and it felt great.

Bermuda is more than long walks along the pink sand beaches. Steeped in history and fiercely proud of its heritage, Bermuda can capture the hearts of the heartbroken, and ail even the most tired souls. You could spend the entire time in your room enjoying the peace and quiet of the ocean views, or you can get out and do some of the following:

1. Call down to your hotel's water sports center and ask for a private boat ride early one morning. Head out before the crowds take over and ask your driver for a trip to see the best homes on the island. Because Bermuda is so perfectly private, many celebrities have a home here including Ross Perot, David Bowie and his wife Iman, and Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones. While you're out and about, tuck into a few of the hidden coves and awe at the homes and boats of Bermuda's wealthiest residents. Why? Because you can. The best part of the entire journey? Being on the turquoise blue waters. Sit back and relax while you spend a few hours on the water.
2. Visit St. George's town: St George's was Bermuda's capital before Hamilton took over, and is located at the east end of the island. A walk through this historic town is a great way to spend a few hours and spot some awesome architecture. The hub of town life is King's Square where you'll find Town Hall and the State House, dating back to the early 1600s. Nearby you'll find art galleries and museums, but the best parts of the area are the narrow sidewalks and hidden streets that frame the picturesque homes and provide an authentically Bermudian photo opp.
3. Learn to golf: Bermuda is known for its amazing golf courses, so you might as well try, right?  If you're already a seasoned golfer, head to the links for an afternoon game. If you're new to the game, call ahead and schedule a lesson with a pro. It doesn't matter if you never golf again, the feeling you get from whacking the ball is an awesome stress relief, and you'll get a great workout (nice segue into 'book spa appointment').
4. Book a spa appointment. But go for something unique. A little known fact: Bermuda is home to some of the best honey makers in the world. Each beekeeper is given a number and each resort, restaurant and store, sells and uses a particular beekeeper's brand. If the spa you're staying in has a honey scrub or something similar, go for it! You know it's unique and completely organic, and honey is an excellent source of nutrition for your skin.
5. Talk to the locals. If you're feeling a little lonely, get out and talk to the locals. Bermudians are genuine, generous people; each one with a story to tell. You'll learn about the generations of families that lived on the island, those who've met past-presidents and those who've helped rebuild and reshape the island, while preserving its historic past. Share a dark-n-stormy with a stranger and regale in some tales.

Remember, just because it's branded a romantic island doesn't mean you, a single woman, won't enjoy yourself.  Take advantage of a solo weekend away, and don't forget to sleep in!