Travel Tales: Russia & The USSR
Is a collection of travel stories of one of the travel world's most, shall we say, duplicitous destinations -- a bit mysterious, somewhat alluring, yet still demanding a modicum of caution. Russia, formerly the Soviet Union, aka the USSR, is a place you can never quite get comfortable with. Oh, for sure, things improved much when the Soviet Union as such collapsed and morphed into what is now a more modern-day Russia, or more formerly "The Russian Federation." Russia, for sure, abounds with history and untold artistic treasures and has modernized considerably bringing itself into the more modern-day 21st century. Maybe not quite among the world's most eagerly sought out destinations on Earth to visit, like, say, the Mediterranean, the pyramids of Egypt, the shopping and culinary meccas of Western Europe, or the wilds of Africa, Russia remains, however, in the minds of armchair travelers and adventurers alike looking to travel one day to Russia, say, to St. Petersburg or Moscow, or perhaps, even take a river journey between these two cities, or take a train trip on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. Russia, though lacking in the relatively innocuous and more mellow travel like, say, to Europe, certainly now has suddenly become one of the more challenging countries to visit. Given the current world political arena, travel to Russia from the West for the foreseeable future will virtually cease to nil. Shall we say that this book on travel to Russia during the Cold War, through its return to the world stage, and now to its presence in the world as a pariah nation -- now in the negative news media on a daily basis -- is certainly not recommended as a destination for the unknown foreseeable future. This book, then, is more attuned to the armchair adventurer and those travelers who are now more curious than anything else and now more than ever before -- about what travel to Russia has been like in the recent past, and now that Russia is largely off the plate for travel at least for the foreseeable future. Now is the time to sit back and contemplate more about what travel to Russia was like in the recent past, now that it is not likely to return any time soon as a goal for future travel adventures. So, given our True Travel Tales destinations sub-series, what was travel to the old USSR and Russia like, at least at the beginning of the more modern-day twenty-first century and slightly beyond? It is one of our purposes of the True Travel Tales series to provide a cross-section of travel life in the world's most popular and alluring places, that along with the good comes sometimes a portion of the bad as well. In the True Travel Tales series, we aim to pull no punches. You'll see some of the good and best sides of Russia as it reached the more modern era, and in so doing, you'll also sample some of the more discomforting or disquieting darker aspects as well that sadly were also part of the cycle of travel life in such a diverse and exotic region as the USSR and our token look of travel to Russia in its greater glory in the more modern day.
Brein, Michael: -
Michael Brein, also known as the Travel Psychologist, is an author, lecturer, travel storyteller, adventurer, and publisher of travel books and guides as well as books on UFOs and the Paranormal.
He recently appeared as a guest on CNN, and is regularly quoted in the news media and blogs, and is an invited guest on Internet radio programs on the psychology of travel as well as UFOs and the paranormal.
Michael is the first person to coin the term 'travel psychology.' Through his doctoral studies, work and life experiences, and extensive world travels, he has become the world's first travel psychologist.
His travel guide series, Michael Brein's Travel Guides to Sightseeing by Public Transportation, shows travelers how to sightsee the top 50 visitor attractions in the world's most popular cities easily and cheaply by public transportation.
Michael also publishes his True Travel Tales series, a collection of books of the best of 10,000 travel stories shared with him from interviews with nearly 2,000 world travelers and adventurers Michael has encountered in his own extensive world travels.
Finally, Michael also publishes The Road to Strange series on the true accounts of people who have had sightings of UFOs or experiences of the paranormal.
Michael Brein resides on Bainbridge Island, Washington.
His website is www.michaelbrein.com, and his email is michaelbrein@gmail.com.
