Of course, for me it all has been started from crossing the border to Poland. If you live in Ukraine, it’s the most common way to start a journey as a pedestrian, keeping your own backpack and leading the way by yourself, at least I believe so. Probably, I am not the only one, who think, that comfort – isn’t the most valuable thing in traveling; that having huge luggage is just a burden; that the reason for you to have two happy legs is that you keep them walking around; and that taking the easiest way does not give you desirable freedom. But mostly, in my case crossing the border through Poland works just because it’s one hour by car to the border from where I live. As well, it’s just the easiest way for me even to structure my time and possibilities to travel efficiently.
Having friends in Wroclaw, in a very far West South Poland, I naturally just chose to visit them on my first travel abroad. And in one moment, carefully planning not to overstay my 7-day-visa, I took a chance not to be lost somewhere in the woods and I left my house. Apparently, you don’t see any sense in my words about that fear to be lost in woods, but it’s not just a phrase to keep your attention sharp or to make a poetic embellishment. It’s how I saw all my future journey at that moment, leaving the house at 7 a.m. and taking an unknown bus to reach an unknown spot, which on the map does look like a pure forest. And there happened to be woods on my way, which luckily in my first journey were just parks, though huge and, as well, unknown. But beautiful and greeny, as was expected. But once it happened, I was lost in the woods, but it’s a different story which will be told under a different title ” How to survive the hitchhiking near the woods” 🙂
Just twice, from all my list of travels, I was leaving Ukraine in an appropriate, safe way. Oh, no, let’s count it just once, when I took a plane from Lviv airport to Istanbul, starting my late summer journey with my boyfriend -it happened just a few months ago, and of course, you will find a story about that in my next posts. Once, as well, I left a country with unknown people, in a track with no windows, exactly how my mom told me not to travel, and was departing to Belarus border, in these days when all the borders were close due to the quarantine, except this one. But I chain these two cases with an idea, that Ukraine wasn’t left by me through the border Ukraine-Poland.
For you to understand the problem of crossing the border to Poland, you need to picture a line of people, standing all together like in old pre-corona times, where actually is no line, just aggressive opponents, fighting silently, very often not silently at all, for a place under the sun with their ealbones and, when catching the right moment, just run over you. As you can see already, there is no line, just a huge group, probably one hundred people, trying to reach the gate the fastest they can do and have a luck to get a stump into their passports as quickly as is possible. Aggressive word, where is no right answer how to behave – sometimes being a tender flower can just break the system, or can break something else, which is as well tender and fragile.
Experience being many times in this line, normally from 2 to 3 hours, side by side with other pedestrians-cross-country, taught me a thought that your position can be as lost as won in the perspective of how you will allow it to happen. The little universe of chaos, which has its own weak sides.
Sometimes I managed to overrun all the lines just demanding the right approach to my case. Sometimes being late for my bus, knowledge of my English could help me to overjump into the line for EU citizens, which once saved me two hours or so. But mostly, I was just taking a place in my line and watching people, which as well wasn’t a bad opportunity if you are eager to hear stories, that will stay with you for long and will help to create funny beer toasts about surviving and just having fun when it’s not about fun at all.
My first time crossing that pedestrian border to Poland made my mind so exciting, that probably nothing could spoil the mood. Taking a bus to reach a train to get to another bus to reach Krakow, spending there two days and finally taking the last bus to see friends in Wroclaw. That was a journey, worth every effort, that was put into that case. I felt like a huge champion after every success – finding a train and bus stations, managing to buy tickets using my broken Polish, finding my way in the cities and all the parks that are around. Having no plans – was my plan; and so just walking in Krakow, which at that moment I thought is the most beautiful city in the world, I felt myself as absolutely a free bird. Getting lost to get myself find.
It happened, my friends in Wroclaw were Rastafari, so open and sincere people, and having fun – an only job for us to do. I hope, them reading this text will give them a smile, because my first journey, which was built around the case to finally meet them, brought me huge joy and made me addicted to traveling so much.
And so, I invite you to read more and find out how to travel with no money and no plans but with a smile 😉 As once, or twice was made by me, despite all the reasons why it wouldn’t be reasonable at all.
The next trip I want to tell you about, will bring you not just to Poland, but to Germany and Netherland. And all will start on my one week work on the cherry plantation in the city which is called Zielena Gora. See you there 🙂