Flying AGAIN! Tomorrow morning. Not puking my guts out but nervous!!!

[MaxxumUSA]

Ok all,

Those of you who don't know my story, here is a link:

http://www.russianwomendiscussion.com/index.php?topic=3949.0

basically...  I have been seeking a RW for only 3 months.  I got lucky and hit pure gold my first week or so and started chatting with Elena from Samara, Russia.  I visited her 30 days after our first skype conversation from Feb 2 - Feb 7 of this year.

Tomorrow morning I leave again - Alone.  I will be gone three weeks this time.  I am leaving my 14 year old son in the hands of my mother, my sister, and my ex-wife.  I have full custody of my son and this is the longest we are apart in five or six years.  I feel a bit guilty about that, but he understands as he is starting to have "man" type feelings and can understand the need for companionship a little bit.

Ok...  My damn phone will not stop ringing.  Family and friends are wishing me a good trip.  I will try to get this first post started again now.

Just want to let everyone know that besides being excited, I am nervous as all hell.  Not sure about what.  I was like this the first trip also.  Before my first trip I was not involved at all with forums.  I did not know they existed to be honest.  I was flying solo and I was so nervous that I puked for four days before I got on the first flight to Russia.  This time I have not puked a single time.  It seems odd for me - a successful 38 year old businessman - to be proud of this fact.  My first trip deflated a lot of (My) Ego as I realized how little I was compared to all this world has to offer.

I suppose this is the first post for this trip report.  I am bringing my laptop so I will try to set aside a few minutes here and there for updates.

I am anxious to tell you all a few VFC (Very Frighin' Cool) things I have done in preparation for the trip, however these are surprises for my Elena.  JUST IN CASE she might be reading my posts, I will wait until each thing is done and fill everyone in!  I can say this:  I plan on making her the happiest woman on the face of the planet in very short order.

Anyone else have this much excitement/nervousness/fears/worries before traveling alone to Russia/Ukraine?  Please let me know as I would love to hear about it!


- David

[Kuna]

Maxumm,

I can appreciate exactly how excited you must feel heading back to your lady.

Have a great trip... I hope everything is as you desire.

Kuna

[wxman]

I know exactly how you feel. I was very nervous before my first flight to Ukraine 3 years ago as I never went "solo" on any trip of that distance before. This May I will be making my 10th trip (same lady) and the excitement and nervousness are still there. Thats a good sign! 

Have a great trip!

[wiz]

Have a wonderfull trip and we hope you will continue writing this travel report.

It is very exciting reading the story as it unfolds and I have to admit I am a vivid reader.....

Good luck in everyway.

wiz

[MaxxumUSA]

Have a wonderfull trip and we hope you will continue writing this travel report.

It is very exciting reading the story as it unfolds and I have to admit I am a vivid reader.....

Good luck in everyway.

wiz

Well...  I hope this trip will not dissapoint you as it unfolds!  I certainly have a few surprises and I'm showing up with "Some cards up my sleeve" so to speak.  I am a true romantic at heart and I love surprising the people I care about with nice, unexpected treats.  Not necessarily expensive by any means...  just nice and surprising!

And...  by the way wiz, you are quite a vivid writer as well.  I am still working on reading that story of yours.

In any case, thank you also Kuna and WX for the good wishes.  I was just talking to Elena and she wished me a "good way."

Oh well...  I better get back to packing.

[wiz]

And...  by the way wiz, you are quite a vivid writer as well.  I am still working on reading that story of yours.

Oh well...  I better get back to packing.

Oh I am trying to learn how to improve my English........Don't forget I was born in Greece ..... LOL

Don't miss your flight by checking the board........... she will be very unhappy!

Have a nice flight!

[DKMM]

Maxxum,
Your filing a throrough TR on here will be very much appreciated.  I leave a few days after you get back so your experience will be fresh on my mind when I take the journey.

You gotta admit, it sure is thrilling isn't it?  I doubt you will get any sleep on the plane.  Just try to make it all the way to the next night...

[MaxxumUSA]

Maxxum,
Your filing a throrough TR on here will be very much appreciated.  I leave a few days after you get back so your experience will be fresh on my mind when I take the journey.

You gotta admit, it sure is thrilling isn't it?  I doubt you will get any sleep on the plane.  Just try to make it all the way to the next night...

DK, When I was in the Army I used to box on the side.  I was always nervous about a fight before getting in the boxing ring.  After stepping in the ring, I felt very comfortable and at ease.  My point being is that the moment I get on my first airplane, I am home sweet home and I am very comfortable.  I just hope the others on the plane don't mind my snoring!  Hehe

I just woke up about 20 minutes ago.  I finally finished packing last night about 1:00 AM so I got a few hours shut eye.

I should comment on a few things before I leave.  I think once I am with Elena there will be other thoughts and feelings which overpower what is going on in my mind right now, so I will write these now.  Of course first on my mind is my son.  I will not get into details about that.

But I did want to comment on something I have not seen anyone else write about, at least not in this context...  I feel very fortunate, honored, and blessed to be living in this day and age.  The possibility of meeting your soulmate 5,000 miles away is something that has happened only in very recent history.  I mean...  I grew up rather poor.  As an adult, most of my life I had only my needs met and was lucky to travel as soldier in my early years.  It is only in the past few years that I have had the wherewithall to do travel like this as a civilian.  I just feel so damn lucky to have the opportunity and a feeling inside that makes me different from the average man.  That feeling that told me to reach out and be one of us here that think and act "Out of the box."  We are very fortunate.

I have a deep sense of gratitude to have the ability to do these things.  Of course I believe in God and think he has been smiling on me for some time, whether I deserve it or not.  I believe a lot of people here might get wrapped up in things and forget how lucky we are.

There is a lot of talk on these boards about different topics.  Maxx recently posted an old article from some women writer that did not exactly put all of this in a good light.  What are those people thinking?  I think it's an awesome world when two people from so far apart can find each other, create a bond, and fall in love.  Only a blink of an eye ago in time, Russia was a potential enemy to the USA.  Two blinks ago and we would not be able to communicate with a stranger so far away.  Today, we can meet online within minutes, and be together literally within days if we want.  What about that?  I think that is frighin awesome!  It will take me 24 hours travel to see my Elena.  I leave in about 2 hours.  Only 100 years ago it would take me this long to travel a state or two away right here at home.

Am I the only one in awe about this?  I'd love to hear your comments next time I log on.

Ok...  Signing off now.  Thank you all again for the good wishes.  Next time I log in here,  it will be from Russia.

'Till then!  - David

[Rvrwind]

Anyone else have this much excitement/nervousness/fears/worries before traveling alone to Russia/Ukraine?  Please let me know as I would love to hear about it!

I have those feelings every night when I go to bed & when I wake up in the morning & she is still by my side I can relax!!!

[I/O]

Maxxum Fair sailing and a following breeze. 

A thought about flying.......A good landing is one you walk away from, a great landing is one where they can use the plane again.

I/O

[catzenmouse]

Have a great and safe trip David! I'll be looking forward to hearing about how your trip is going!!

Richard,

 Sent you an e-mail earlier with the images. Just so you know in case you check here first.

I have those feelings every night when I go to bed & when I wake up in the morning & she is still by my side I can relax!!!

Aren't those ankle chains for her that you bolt to the floor each night wonderful to have...

[jb]

One comment I'll always remember from my primary flight instructor, "Don't bend the bird~!"  I thought at the time that he was being more concerned about the airplane than he was about me, then it dawned on me that if I didn't prang the bird, I'd be OK.

Has anyone else noticed that in Russia the passengers all applaud when the pilot makes a landing?  Are they that surprised to walk away from it?

[I/O]

Has anyone else noticed that in Russia the passengers all applaud when the pilot makes a landing?  Are they that surprised to walk away from it?

JB, that's actually pretty common down through central and west Asia also.  I guess after using Royal Brunei airlines a couple of times, I can understand why.  They substitute the standard pre take off safety check for a prayer to hmmmmmmmm guess who.  Kinda made me want to cheer upon landing also. 

I/O

[MaxxumUSA]

I've been here in Samara safe since yesterday afternoon.  Everything is great.

I will give more details after my complete trip.

[timothe]

Good luck Maxxum!  I agree with your earlier comments completely.  We are blessed to have the opportunity to chase skirts anywhere in the world

[Lily]

  We are blessed to have the opportunity to chase skirts anywhere in the world

Same with me. Also feel blessed to being able to chase pants everywhere 

Maxxum raised one very valid point. He almost spoke my mind out writing that it feels great and fortunate living in the era of internet, emails and live webcams, when you can just enter an online community and declare that you are available and approachable. Since I went this way, my emotional life changed a lot. Never dreamed of receiving that amount of attention from such super guys!

I also join in wishing the best of luck to Maxxum. I am especially proud that he found a girl from my home city Samara where I spent the most of my life.

[MaxxumUSA]

Ok all,

I arrived in Samara for my second visit Friday, Mar 30th.  I will stay until April 18 BTW.  Elena picked me up at the airport with her friend Natasha, the nice blonde hair woman in the photo.  Natasha waited in her car so me and Elena had 15 minutes or so alone time before my baggage came from the plane.  I don't think we spoke a word for the first 10 minutes.  We kissed, hugged, a tiny tear hear and there.  We were SO happy to be together again.  We spent the next day or so alone together catching up on conversation and stuff like that. 

That same good feeling lasted the next couple days.  I did plan on proposing to her on Sunday.  As a matter of fact, I had arranged some special things without her knowing.  I contacted a businessman in Samara that speaks English and is happy to help Americans with odds and ends on business trips.  I had him reserve a private room at a nice romantic restaurant for Sunday at 5:00.

So, Sunday comes and we're relaxing because we went out Saturday night and needed to recover.  Around 3:30 pm she gets a call from her brother and he will be at her flat in one hour to get a hair cut.  So...  I had to tell her I had plans for us.  She was blown away!  She did not believe me and would not call her brother to postpone the plans.  She thought it was my April 1 joke on her.  But it was not.  So I called up my new friend, Mikhail, and he assured her this was no joke and he would arrive to pick us up at 4:40. 

She is shocked.  This is a TOTAL surprise.  I mean…  5 minutes before her brother called she was asking what she wanted to do that evening and I said:  “Whatever you want, my darling!” with a little smile in the back of my mind. 

Elena is complaining (Only a tiny bit) that I should not have surprised her...  she wanted to go have her hair done.  I assured her she would look just fine and she better get rocking and rolling because we have one hour.  At this time she still has no idea where we are going other than the fact that I am ironing my nice clothes and she realizes it will be nice whatever is going on.  So...  of course she gets ready and of course she looks beautiful as usual.  But I go to put my slacks on and I have a problem.  I grabbed the wrong pair of slacks and they are 2" too small in the waist.  I was very upset for about 2 minutes but Elena calms me down, then we made the best of things and I put on jeans with my dress shirt.

Anywho...  Mikhail shows up on time, and we go out.  He has 5 beautiful long stem red roses for Elena as we discussed.  And we are off to Bora Bora, a nice cozy restaurant here in Samara.  We had the whole restaurant and their staff at our disposal.  The whole atmosphere was awesome.

We sat together for a few minutes and talked.  We told each other some private things, and I proposed marriage.  She accepted.  Immediately I asked for a pack of cigarettes.  She looked at me as if to say she did not want to smell the cigarette smoke.  Of course her engagement ring was in the pack and that is the only reason I needed it.  So I pull the REAL* ring out and give it to her.

*read below for explanation of first, second, and REAL ring…

The first ring:  When I arrived Friday, after we got settled at her flat, I told her I had a ring for her.  She smiled and looked thrilled.  I gave her a ring that – while pretty neat – was more a joke but she did not know it.  It was made of lava and she actually wore it the next day complimenting me on how much she liked it.

The second ring:  Saturday night we went out to a night club with friends.  Both of us were a bit toasty by the time we returned to the flat.  It was technically April 1 which is April fools of course.  So I started telling her while we were still out that I had a ring I REALLY had to give her.  I could not bear to wait any longer.  She told me wait until we are not drunk for this special ring.  Hehe!  I insisted so she obliged and agreed she would accept the ring that night.  We stumbled into the flat, she took off all rings from all her fingers and waited excitedly.  I had a ring box and opened it to reveal her April fools ring.  It was a mood ring I picked up.  I went all out….  Even had the chart that tells you what mood you’re in when the silly thing turns colors.  I could tell she was not exactly thrilled with my joke.  But I could tell she might suspect this is a joke.  We played with the damn thing for a bit trying to make it change colors but it did not work.  It wasn’t even close to the right size for ANY of her fingers.  (Remember guys/gals…  this was a joke ring.)


The REAL ring:  After putting the ring on her finger, I tell her it is a special ring.  It is sized perfectly by the way.  She says she knows the ring is special.  I tell her to please tell me the story about this ring, since she knows.  Confused look on her face.    So I explain to her…  This ring was the ring my grandfather gave my grandmother when he proposed before he went to fight in World War II.  This ring is a family heirloom and is my family’s most valuable heirloom. (In sentimental value) It is a beautiful ring with an early 1900’s cut.  I think it’s called a princess cut.  I had it reconstructed, repaired, sized, and polished leaving the original design and diamond.  It is light champagne color and was sought after in my grandfather’s time.  Elena was quite overwhelmed at this point and tears of joy flowed from her eyes.

Elena called her mom with the news after we spent more alone time in the restaurant.  After dinner we were met by her brother, then later a few of her close friends for some celebration.  Well…  maybe A LOT of celebration!  We had a blast.  Of course we joked about the other two rings.

Elena told me this was the best day of her life.  Other than the birth of my son, this was also the best for me.  And I have had some great days!

Today is Tuesday, two days after the events I have told about here.  We still have a couple more weeks before I return to USA.  I will give a trip report about the other days when I return or as I have time.  I have wanted to write about this one day while the small details are fresh in my head.

[LEGAL]

Congratulations MaxxumUSA & Elena 


LEGAL & Olga

[DKMM]

Yay Congrats!  so many people around here getting engaged.  You were quick!

[MaxxumUSA]

Yay Congrats!  so many people around here getting engaged.  You were quick!

Before my first visit in early February we both discussed many serious issues about life, family, marriage, what we both want and what we both do not want.  We agreed on most topics.  When we met in person the first time, after four days we pretty much decided we wanted all those things with each other.  I was tempted to propose my first trip but I waited until I knew for sure this is what is best.

Thanks for the congrats all. 

[catzenmouse]

Congratulations To Both Of YOU! Here's to a long, happy, and healthy life together!!!

By the way, Elena is my very favorite name!

Ken & Elena