Packing list for Moscow help

[KenInUtah]

Hey guys!

I looked through all 35 pages of this Forum looking for tips on things I need to take with me.  If you suggest anything more than these, please let me know!

Clothing and Shoes (I wrote this because someone would mention it otherwise)
Sportcoat
Spring jacket (I'm going late April)
Prescriptions
Current Converter
Phone charger
Copies of all my documents
Aspirin, Pepto, general toiletries
Ziploc Bags
Baby wipes (for cleaning hands while out and about)
Travel pillow
Money Belt

[sleepycat]

Hey guys!

  If you suggest anything more than these, please let me know!

* A wheelbarrow to cart those bundles of near worthless rubles around (or a sleigh if it is snowing then).

* A Putin T-shirt to be displayed in the event you get outed as an American by a gang of Russian nationalists/Nazis.

If you have the entrepreneurial spirit, maybe try to bring in a suitcase full of high value non-perishable EU food products to be resold in Moscow at 400% profit.

[calmissile]

I can't find my very long list I used to have, but here a couple things that come to mind that I forgot a time or two.

1.  220 V European adapter plugs for computer and various chargers.
2.  Misc chargers for electronics... tablet, computer, camera, etc.
3.  Misc accessory cords for downloading photos, etc between media.
4.  Spare thumb drives, etc.
5.  Phone numbers and addresses for Russia contacts and USA contacts including banks, etc.
6.  You might want to take a small gift that is made in the USA that depicts something about the country.  Maps, Flags, Disneyland Shirts were popular for my wife's family.
7.  Handheld GPS.  Even though she will be leading you around, it is interesting to follow on the GPS where you go and where you have been.
8.  I don't recall her English skills, but my wife and I used an electronic translator quite a bit.  Both on computer and tablet.
9.  Not knowing your plans or personality, but one of the greatest memories for me was taking the overnight train across Ukraine and into Crimea.  If you get a chance, you might enjoy it.  If so, get a private room and mingle with the locals.  Hopefully, the Russians are as friendly as the Ukrainians were to me/us.
10.. If I think of something else, I will add it later.

[KenInUtah]

Thanks Doug.

Seems like most of the stuff on your list is in my phone anyway.  I have the converter and cords/chargers.  I am taking some books about SLC for her with pictures and Lindt Truffles (She likes them - I've sent her them before).  Her English is very good so that isn't a problem.  We are also taking the train to St. Petersburg for a couple days as she is in Moscow.  Ukraine is a trek and probably not where I'd wanna go right now.

Thanks,
Ken

[cc3]

Don't forget Rick Steves' advice manual on proper responses while being tortured by FSB for being a fascist Amerikanski.

[ML]

Disneyland Shits were popular for my wife's family.

Weren't they a little smelly??

[calmissile]

Weren't they a little smelly??

OK, OK, I made the correction.   

[mendeleyev]

A small flashlight, or two.

Several packets of travel tissues. You will not only use them to blow your nose, but as napkins, and as toilet tissue when out and about, or one the train. In winter I recommend about 4 packets for each week stay.

A printed Moscow Metro map. http://engl.mosmetro.ru/flash/scheme01.html

An umbrella.

A notepad and ink pens. Helpful for all sort of uses from writing down directions to copying words you see that you'd like to learn.

Several cloth/fabric shopping bags. They take very little space and weigh nothing. But are indispensable when out and about, and especially on the train.

At least one canvas type lined shopping bag, the thin but lined type designed to keep things cold in summer. These are absolutely handy to keep things things such as cameras, books, metro maps, souvenirs, etc, dry from the elements.

A copy of your passport and travel documents. This is helpful should you lose them, making it easier to have the Embassy issue replacements.

[Chicagoguy]

Most large drugstores here [Walgreens/CVS] have a section for travel needs. Many things there. Plus small toilet paper rolls - a must. Trust me on this.

Many of the better hotels have a "Where Magazine" with a wonderful English/Russian map of Metro. When you walk into best hotels look like you belong or tell them you just need to see concierge. They will let you pass.

Take a hidden neck pouch or waist pouch for extra cash, passport and copies of passport and credit cards - both sides.

Citi Bank has many ATM machines. I had a Citi card and could take out large amounts with no problems.

[Muzh]

Most large drugstores here [Walgreens/CVS] have a section for travel needs. Many things there. Plus small toilet paper rolls - a must. Trust me on this.

Many of the better hotels have a "Where Magazine" with a wonderful English/Russian map of Metro. When you walk into best hotels look like you belong or tell them you just need to see concierge. They will let you pass.

Take a hidden neck pouch or waist pouch for extra cash, passport and copies of passport and credit cards - both sides.

Citi Bank has many ATM machines. I had a Citi card and could take out large amounts with no problems.

If you are a AAA member, you can get that very cheap at one of their offices.

[Doll]

Toilet paper and two flashlights to Moscow? 

[Gator]

Toilet paper and two flashlights to Moscow? 

Train toilets never have TP.....  The train to St. Piter is an overnighter, departing around dinner and arriving mid-morning.  Tissue packs will suffice and are more elegant  than bringing out a TP roll, especially if your allergies act up.


Evidently Mendy does not have the latest phone with flashlight. 

[Doll]

I didn't see the TS was going to travel by trains.
Two flash lights impressed me

[mendeleyev]

Doll, I didn't say to take toilet paper.

What I actually said was that small tissue packets are good not only for facial use, but as napkins and as toilet tissue when out and about, or on trains. If you have ever stepped into one of those portable toilets after paying the attendant, and then looked at the small swatch of paper she gave, you'll understand why those tissue packets can come in handy.

As for small flashlights, obviously. In a new apartment one doesn't always know where light switches are in the middle of the night. Just last week we experienced an electric outage in our home. Moscow does have inclement weather from time to time. Even today I carry one in my on-board pack so if the person sitting next to me is bothered by the overhead light, I can turn it off and use a small flashlight to read, etc. If on a train, those can be especially handy when in a second or third class compartment.

[Gator]

As for small flashlights, obviously. In a new apartment one doesn't always know where light switches are in the middle of the night.

Unlocking the front door to a FSU apartment can be a Chinese puzzle, usually involving two very different keys of an archaic design.   One time in Dnepropetrovsk, the corridor light was out, and I could see as well as Stevie Wonder.   I had to leave and buy matches at a kiosk and then take care not to start a fire while using both hands to unlock the door.   

My phone would have sufficed however. 

[BC]

Just skimmed....

did anyone mention condoms?

[jone]

I was going to, but thought that to be too 'Tongue in Cheek'.

[jone]

And on that note:

Here is a cute anecdote from the WWII years:

http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/rubber_wars

The story has grown over the years but the three different varieties all show the humor between the government leaders at the time.

[BillyB]

did anyone mention condoms?

No, you're the first and you may have given the best advice yet.

[Anotherkiwi]

Train toilets never have TP.....  The train to St. Piter is an overnighter, departing around dinner and arriving mid-morning.

Where have you been for the past few years, Gator?    Moscow to Piter now has a high-speed link (the Sapsan), taking less than four hours.  It also runs from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod.  One would hope that such modernity also includes toilet paper amongst its staple provisions.

[SANDRO43]

Since the advice in this thread might be useful to perspective travellers to the FSU, I added it as a page to our RWDpedia at http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/mwiki/index.php/Packing_List.

Feel free to make additions .

[Gator]

Where have you been for the past few years, Gator?    Moscow to Piter now has a high-speed link (the Sapsan), taking less than four hours.  It also runs from Moscow to Nizhny Novgorod.  One would hope that such modernity also includes toilet paper amongst its staple provisions.

Yes, it has been a while.  Remarkable.

Even if there is no TP, one could hold it for four hours. 

[Anotherkiwi]

Yes, it has been a while.  Remarkable.

Even if there is no TP, one could hold it for four hours.

Not always!  You forget the average age of gents in this pursuit! 

[mendeleyev]

Eh? Whatdidyasay, Kiwi? This new hearing aid can't hold a charge for love or money!

[mendeleyev]

Since the advice in this thread might be useful to perspective travellers to the FSU, I added it as a page to our RWDpedia at http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/mwiki/index.php/Packing_List.

Feel free to make additions .

Sandro, I'm not confident enough to add/edit the wiki, so will list this suggestion here in case you feel it should be added.

At least in my case, several smaller flash drives for cameras and audio devices can be better than one large drive per apparatus. All it takes is one theft, one police or military checkpoint confiscation, or one lost drive to ruin days or weeks worth of work if everything is on a single drive. I habitually download each evening, if WiFi is available, and store in the cloud whenever possible. But when traveling in a new country, WiFi isn't always available where and/or when you want it, and sometimes there is safety in having several drives to use one each day, as opposed to one.