Now I live in two cities: since we began the development of Wheely abroad, in particular in London, I need to spend at least a week there every month. Because of this, most of my trips now are trips to London for work. I rarely go to other cities for business, and not for business – in different ways.
In winter, I prefer ski resorts: I ride on a board. If there is at least a week, I choose European resorts, if this is a short trip – Sochi. In the spring I like to go to Catalonia, where my friends and I have quite a rich sports program. We go there for the fourth or fifth year in a row. We ride mountain bikes and do yoga. They even jumped with a parachute.
Once a year I plan trips to Switzerland to visit my mother. Well, this summer, if there is time, I plan to climb Mont Blanc. Not that it was some kind of dream, just my close friend decided to celebrate his birthday in this way.
The most unusual thing for me was a trip to SEA about ten years ago. I drove about two thousand kilometers through the jungle – from the Golden Triangle on the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Laos – through the whole of Laos, to Cambodia, to the temples of Angkor Wat. All this journey took about two weeks. Somewhere you could stay in hotels, somewhere you had to spend the night in tents.
The stretch of track that began in Cambodia was, let’s say, interesting. It was a solid jungle, where at that time the war had recently ended – everything was mined around, it was impossible to deviate from left to right from the road. Before this trip, I had to drink pills for malaria. And I also encountered an interesting fact there: in the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, of course, there are traffic lights that show red and green lights. But people simply do not know what this is and why. They ride their mopeds, guided exclusively by their own ideas of where and how they need to.
I can’t say that I was faced with some terribly extreme situations while traveling. But there were cases that excited the blood.
For example, when I was diving in the Maldives and met sharks. It’s clear that sharks just don’t attack people – only if you, for example, get blood or dangle your feet and look like a tasty fish or a turtle for a shark. The rest is all the myths that sharks specifically attack humans. But when you see them 15 meters away from you, you must still follow the safety rules – calmly freeze somewhere near the coral and wait until the sharks float away.
I lived in Switzerland for twenty years, I have a second citizenship, so I do not face the need to get a visa every time and, accordingly, get insurance. True, there was a case when they robbed me – and in Switzerland.
I had an alarm in my house, but I did not turn it on, because I thought that it was not necessary in Zurich. As a result, thieves opened a window, smashed the house and stole one coat. The equipment and other valuable things were not touched. It was a very strange and rather creepy event, after which I became more attentive to security.
Ksenia Tulaeva – CEO of Ca Va Agency, partner at Ashmanov & Partners and mother of five
• It is better to have insurance than not to have it – even if you have to pay yourself, then you can get the money out of the insurance.
• When traveling with children, get ready for the worst – a medicine for allergies, antibiotics and an antiviral in the medicine cabinet will not be superfluous.
• Take care of what the children will have fun on the trip – prepare each entertainment according to age.
Working trips with my husband clearly dominate the holidays. There are no particular preferences, but we divide the countries into “for two” and “for the whole family”, and we try to allocate time so that digging in the sand with children does not prevail in our lives. We ourselves prefer Europe, the kids are conditionally “excursion” programs are not interested – they would have a sea. And teenagers already have their own opinion.
You need to rest when there is time. If I plan a trip to Asia, then I lay the acclimatization of children, the possibility of skipping school, and so on. There are a lot of factors and they do not rest only during the year.
It seems to me that each person has a different understanding of exotic: for me personally, all of India is exotic beyond what is possible, I really need cleanliness and an acceptable smell for my smell. If you take the criterion of remoteness, the most distant points of travel for me are Hawaii and Rotaru – this is a remote place in New Zealand.
The most extreme for me personally, thank God, was only riding in an ambulance in Rome – I experienced anaphylactic shock from langoustines. The insurance then, by the way, did not help in any way: the doctor simply could not leave, and they did not have private ambulance crews. Anyone familiar with Italian medicine will understand the futility of calling an ambulance in Italy on the eve of the inauguration of the new Pope.
It seems to me that the Russian people are spoiled by our ambulance structure. When you are faced with how it is organized in the States, in France, in Asia, you begin to love our ambulance doctors. In Thailand, where without insurance and tetanus shots, I wouldn’t advise flying even to the dock, my husband somehow waited for three hours for the operation, lying already on the table, because they agreed on something like anesthesia. As a result, we simply paid for everything ourselves, because waiting with an open wound is still entertainment.
Travel, from my point of view, increases tolerance to both people and events.
I can give advice on traveling with children for a couple of articles, but the most important thing is to always count on the worst: this helps to greatly rejoice at the end. I carefully assemble the first-aid kit: antiviral, antibiotics, antihistamines, take replaceable sets of clothes for almost everyone, not counting adolescents – fortunately, they no longer cradle them. Be sure to carefully prepare for the flight: favorite cartoons for kids are downloaded to the iPad, new games for the toddler, films for teenagers. And it is important not to forget the headphones for everyone according to age – not all passengers of the plane easily fall asleep under the “Smesharikov”.
I also buy a couple of new toys that I give the baby right on the plane – the new always takes better than the old. Most often, when flying with children, I take night flights: we toggle for check-in, but then – a tablet of baby melatonin, and a sleeping child spends much less nerves than a tired one.
After traveling with children, a trip together – this, in principle, is a vacation, starting from the exit from the house.
Maxim Pinigin – founder of Wind Power
• Study at least a little the laws of the country you are going to.
• Do not neglect medical insurance – in some countries any visit to the doctor will cost a lot of money.
• Look for travel opportunities: you can always find something for your budget and interests.
In my life there was a period when every three weeks I went somewhere to work or rest. So I know for sure that you can go somewhere more often than I do now – it turns out about once every couple of months.
Mostly I go on a yacht. It can be different regions – Scotland, Faroe Islands, Norway. Now I am going to Iceland. The whole Mediterranean Sea: Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, France, Greece. Of the curious – New Zealand. In winter you can go to the Canaries or the Caribbean, in the summer – to Scotland or Norway. I love outdoor activities. In addition to yachting, I ski. I like to combine this with the study of countries – I like to travel to different regions and cities.
In my opinion, some of the most friendly people in the world are the inhabitants of the Faroe Islands. They are always ready to help, absolutely free of charge. Communicate with interest, ask where you came from, where you are going, what plans. In Scotland, it seems that you are in a super-safe place: you can not lock the car doors and feel relaxed. European cities are probably distinguished only by their architecture. And the Turks are very nice and friendly people, if you go away from tourist places, outside of hotels.
I can’t say that there are places in which I would like to return again and again. Although there is such a Portuguese island of Madeira – I seem to have been there three times, and do not mind visiting again. This is a very beautiful place, in different parts of the island a different climate, there are waves, there is yachting, there are crazy views. Even whales can be found nearby.
I can’t say that I am subject to extreme sports, but force majeure does happen. Once we went on a yacht from the Canary Islands to Gibraltar, and in the strait, when we passed there, a storm raged. We had several options: to go towards Casablanca, losing the day, or to make our way through the storm. I don’t know how to convey in words all my feelings about what to do when some kind of breakdown occurs in a yacht. We chose a storm, and then everything ended well.
I did not have to use insurance services when traveling. But my friends – it happened. Therefore, I believe that insurance should always be in place. There are countries in which well, very expensive medicine. They will treat you a little, it will seem that they did just a few simple manipulations, and then they will send an account for tens of thousands of euros. So I am categorically for health insurance.
I am sure that traveling greatly affects the perception of everything in life. Personally, trips affect me personally: it seems to me that I have become more tolerant, more calm towards people. You live in one society, then break out of it and get to know other people who live by completely different laws. It cannot but affect you. You may not accept other people’s laws, but you will know that there are people who live by them.
I would say that traveling is an adventure with a certain beginning and an unknown end.
Although it is one thing when you go by car to Mongolia, and quite another – a tour to an Egyptian hotel. And there and there can be adventures, they just will be different. But one need not be afraid – one must travel. Seek adventure. Search for travel options that are suitable for your budget – they can be found in almost any region. No need to stay at home. Traveling is awesome.
Well, in order not to get into trouble, you just do not have to go into trouble and respect the culture of the country in which you find yourself. And also – ideally – at least a little study of the features of local laws. For example, in Russia you can exceed the speed on the road by 20 km / h, pay a fine and live in peace. If you pay within two weeks, the fine will be 250 rubles. But in Iceland, a small speeding cost me, if translated into rubles, 36 thousand. An insignificant nuance that could be known in advance, and not get on that kind of money.
