Dear Mom and Dad,

Today's the day I set out east. Well first south to Moscow from St. Petersburg on an overnight train, but then out east, to the Russian Far East - a mere eight hour flight on a local steel bird. A mere eight hours I say as the trip back to Moscow I will undertake to make by train. I didn't think I would ever do it to be honest, so I started telling people I would do it until it got to the point that I was ashamed not to - a trick my life coach never told me.

As you know, I've been inexplicably captivated by the idea of taking a train across Russia ever since I first came to the country five years ago (almost to the day) and lived in Vladivostok, the end point of the Trans-Siberian Railway. At the train station in Vladivostok there's a plaque that tells you you are 9288 km from Moscow. Before I set out I'll send a picture. I remember I found the number large and...captivating. So here I am, sitting on the couch boiling eggs and preparing to set off tonight to Moscow and then to Vladivostok. My goal is to write along the way (here again is my self shaming tactic at work). I decided to write you, Mom and Dad, because, let's be honest, blogs are only read by the blogger's parents anyways.

P.S. I thought I'd include my flight destination and trans-Russia train ride point of initiation - the Vladivostok railway station. I took this picture the last day of my stay - the year 2015, the month - May. Okay, that's all

for today.

Your son,

Alex