Shadows in Red Square

It hasn't even been a week yet, but it was actually the announcement of South Korea being awarded the 2018 Winter Olympics that started the wheels turning again.  To be honest, it's tough to know where to begin this story, but I feel like there's some momentum building towards finally realizing a dream that began over a decade ago.  

As  you might have guessed by the image of the Kremlin, my dream has been to travel to Russia (more than anywhere else on Earth) with the latest catalyst being the Olympics in Sochi in 2014.

Even just typing that gets me buzzing.  More so than I'd even like to admit actually.  It's still a ways away, there's still a lot to consider, and seeing Russia the way I want to will cost a small fortune.  Yet, as I brought up the idea with my friend Tyler, after having discussed the potential for travelling somewhere together for several years now, he shared the same optimism and appreciation for the ambition behind taking such a life changing journey.  Not a vacation or holiday, but a fully engrossing adventure.

In a poetic coincidence I discovered today that the Google homepage featured an image of St. Basil's cathedral in Moscow.  The timing was almost too perfect, like a sign that this idea had rested long enough.  The homepage change was for the 450th anniversary of St. Basil's.

This idea, by the way, goes all the way back to 1999.  I was in high school and was just learning about the Cold War and the Soviet Union.  The history fascinated me.  I loved studying the culture and pageantry of the USSR and how that collided with the realities that the politburo tried to white wash.  For whatever reason I became hooked, and between old spy movies and Russian books on tape, a plan was hatched to go to Russia when I graduated in 2002.

Sadly, the idea was met with an increasing amount of obstacles the closer the deadline came.  Ultimately the cost of travel was sidelined when film school became a real expense.  The goal quickly became relegated to a dream as I entered the broke student phase of my twenties.  I'll turn 30 in 2014 and I can think of no better way to celebrate that milestone than by fulfilling one of my final ambitions as a teenager that I've yet to realize.

There's so much that needs to happen to make this a reality, and I won't be surprised if this idea completely evolves and reinvents itself several times before it becomes something tangible.  What would life be without a good pursuit though? I can't begin to tell you how exciting it is to think about something I've dreamt about for so long and finally say, I'm going to make that happen now.