Trip Plans

[Philb]

I am headed for Ukraine March 13th (Returning April 8th).  Flying Austrian Air into Kiev.  I am going to hang out in Kiev for a day or two.  From there I am taking the train to Lugansk with my final destination being Antratsit.  It is a town of about 30,000 60 km south of Lugansk.  

I am basically doing the WOVO again :-).  I have been corresponding with a few other women in Kiev, Sevastopol, and another little town south of Zaporozhye.  So if things really go badly I have some back up plans.  I hope I won't need them though :-).

I understand thta this is not the logical approach, but it is the one I am most comfortable with.  Besides I am in no hurry  I can always go back in the fall.  I think that even if the two of us decide we are not right for each other I will probably hang out there anyway.  The two of us have already discussed this.

The woman I am going to visit teaches English and American Studies in the school there, so communication won't be a problem.  She is a babe too ;-)  Also, I will be doing a question and answer type thing with her students for a couple of days. So it ought to be an adventure.  

I think that this is a fairly poor area.  I do know that water is only sporadically available and that most of the houses do not have indoor toilets.  

Sometimes I think we have an awsome responsiblity when we go over there.  Particularly when we go to these small out of the way places.

[RickM]

... in response to Trip Plans, posted by Philb on Jan 21, 2003

Hey Phil,
Best of luck...Seems you have done your homework and I know you've been a very patient man.Enjoy....

[BubbaGump]

... in response to Trip Plans, posted by Philb on Jan 21, 2003

WOVO is a plan that the girl would feel most comfortable with.  Any other way and they get jealous or think they are wasting their time and money.  Do have a backup plan ready just in case.  She could walk out on you in 30 minutes (that's happened).  Get the number of some of Jack's associates and maybe set yourself up with a cell phone just in case.

[MarkInTx]

... in response to Trip Plans, posted by Philb on Jan 21, 2003

You said:

"I understand thta this is not the logical approach, but it is the one I am most comfortable with. "

Personally, I think the only logical approach is the one you feel comfortable with.

You can't be something that you are not.

Godspeed, Phil. I hope she is everything you dream...

[Frank O]

... in response to Trip Plans, posted by Philb on Jan 21, 2003

Cool man. I did a question & answer thing at a school as well & they were super cool about it. I'm a music teacher that is self employed (private guitar & piano lessons) & I have long hair (Kenny G or Marty Friedman of Megadeth style) & love leather pants & jackets etc. Anyways I stood out like a sore thumb. Well I did "speech" about American entrepreneurs (they asked me to talk about this) so I did it on Bill Gates & Steve Jobs of Apple fame. When I ask for any quesitons the first questions were "Do you play in a band?", "What is your favorite band?" "do you like the Scorpins or Metallica?" etc. LOL!!! Then I had 2 teachers hit on me one was REALLY gorgeous & I even got her number but I was too busy with other girls when she would call & when I called her she was unavailable. As for back up plans. YES! You need them. I went to see only one lady but my ATTITUDE was right. Things didn't pan out (I'm still writing her though,long story) & immediately I had TOO many women wanting to go out with me. Saved ME the trouble of having to find girls. Jack from First Dream (he who recently got temporarily banned! LOL!) was a great help to me in Kiev. Through him I hooked up with Galina who many others here have had good experiences with, she was my guide in Kiev. I met several girls through her & it was great. Basically I had NO shortage of women over there. I didn't even NEED any agency to meet girls over there. They would come up to ME in the street to meet me or in clubs. Even guys would do that as many thought I was a "star"! LOL!!! Anyways I rolled with the punches & had a good time in spite of how things turned out with my Marina. The only bad thing is that having gone out with EXTREMELY GORGEOUS ladies made it VERY difficult now to step back & go out with simply beautiful women. It's hard to describe it's like I feel like I'm taking a step back if she doesn't look like a Cosmopolitan cover girl or Natasha Henstridge. Good luck!

[MarkInTx]

... in response to Re: Trip Plans, posted by Frank O on Jan 22, 2003


I've only had brief dealings with her, but she seems like a really sweet girl. (We emailed briefly... way back when...)

I'm curious about Marina, Frank...

You said that you only went over to meet her, but mention all of the other girls you were with... Did you two not hit it off early, and then you went back to Kiev and had Galina fix you up with dates, or something?

Do you call this a "back-up" plan? Or are you recommending someone have something more formal in place?

[Dan]

... in response to Trip Plans, posted by Philb on Jan 21, 2003

Please be sure to report back some of your adventures.

If you overnight in Vienna on your way out (or in), be sure to get a hotel downtown and see the city. It is one of Europe's more beautiful cities and chock full of arts.

I hope you have a great time!

- Dan

[Philb]

... in response to Sounds Like A Good Plan . . ., posted by Dan on Jan 21, 2003

especially since Austrian Air pays for hotels when it is forced.  No such luck though.

[MarkInTx]

... in response to I was hoping for a layover in Vienna, posted by Philb on Jan 21, 2003

You mean for bad weather or something?

I was surprised, but Air France picked up my hotel in Boston when I missed my connection due to fog in Paris.

Usually on domestic flights, they won't do it for acts of God, only when its their fault.

AA does, because I have status withthem. But most other carriers don't. I was surprised and pleased when Air France put us up. (At the Hilton no less! You should have seen Stas' eyes when we walked into our hotel for the night....)

[Philb]

... in response to Forced?, posted by MarkInTx on Jan 22, 2003

Again, this is just what I was told by the person who sold me the tickets at tripmakers.  She told me that Austrian Air would pay for my hotel in Vienna if they were unable to get me on connecting flight that day.  Maybe she was just blowing smoke who knows.  She did go onto say that if this was the case I would be issued some sort of voucher.

[MarkInTx]

... in response to Re: Forced?, posted by Philb on Jan 22, 2003

No, I believe that.

If you miss your connection because of thier tardiness, they will probably cover your hotel.

So...here's hoping you miss your plane then :-)

BTW, Vienna would be a GREAT place for a lay-over, if it is long enough to enjoy it.

With my luck, I would get in at 11:00pm... to my hotel at 1:00am, and then have to get up at 4:30 am to catch a 6:30 am flight out.

[Dan]

... in response to I was hoping for a layover in Vienna, posted by Philb on Jan 21, 2003

They never paid for my overnight hotel - and I've probably flown them (through Vienna to/from Kyiv) at least 5 times.

I'll have to inquire next time.

Who is your overseas carrier?

When I flew Austrian, they were teamed with Delta and their connecting flights in Vienna *always* forced an overnight on the way back to the US. Now that Austrian is teamed with ??( is it United?), maybe their connections are not so limited.

- Dan

[hockeybrain]

... in response to Hmmmm . . ., posted by Dan on Jan 21, 2003

The time I flew through Vienna to Kharkov (November 2001) I had a night layover - excellent hotel they put you up in.  I guess it depends on the route / times one is flying when it comes to layovers.

[Philb]

... in response to Re: Hmmmm . . ., posted by hockeybrain on Jan 22, 2003

I did not find out about this option until after I had bought my tickets into Kiev.  It would have been much easier for me to enter Ukraine via Kharkov. Although, I guess that if things don't go well my back up plans work better out of Kiev.

For future reference how was customs, passport control in Kharkov?

[hockeybrain]

... in response to Vienna to Kharkov, posted by Philb on Jan 22, 2003

If you look hard you may be able to find some old trip reports of mine. Anyway, although everyone had to funnel through one booth going in which slowed things down (I think it was about 2 hours until I was totally out of the gate with my bags) I was not hassled in any way going in or out.  Going out was easier.  They had three lines.  There is only one flight in or out of that airport at a time.  The funny thing going out is that an old guy loading the bags wanted at least a hrvna prior to loading your bag, so save a few.