Hey Reader!

This email lands in your inbox every Tuesday. It's all about travel insights, personal stories, and lessons from my adventures exploring over 90 countries thus far. Whether it inspires, entertains, or enlightens, let's celebrate the beauty and diversity of this amazing world we share, from a travel perspective! 🌍✨

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It was my fault, I chose a bus timing that was later than my sister suggested for our trip out of St. Petersburg in Russia to Tallinn, Estonia.

My worry was that we would arrive too early, around 4am which would force us to wait for daybreak to find our way into town.

Her take was that we needed to get to the border before midnight as our Russian Visas were expiring that day.

I was like, relax, we'll make it (according to my quick check on Google maps), plus I'm the bigger sis so I know better right?

Er... not quite!

Bus left around 8pm and since we'd been up and about touring the impressive city all day, we quickly fell asleep in the super comfy recline seats.

Next thing we knew, we were woken up with shouts to get out of the bus and there was lots of movement. We had arrived at the Bordertown of Ivangorod.

Because Russia is part of Europe but not part of the Schengen free movement zone, everyone has to go through immigration to cross over.

Alas, a quick glance with dismay at the time... it was 1am (as was predicted by someone smarter than me). So it was no surprise that the passport-check machine beeped one after another, and we were asked to step aside because our Russian Visas were expired.

That was not as major a challenge as was the ensuing battle with language barrier, as I attempted to assert our way through since our Schengen Visas were valid (and it was just one hour past expiry of the Russian Visas anyway).

While the officers maintained their polite demeanor, including the Immigration Police who'd been called, we could feel the impatience building up behind us in the queue of tired travellers, and in the hall around us causing tension.

All of a sudden, a young, male European, on the queue of those arriving from Estonia, shouted with irritation: "Hey! Your Visas are expired, so the system won't allow you through. You are being asked to offload your luggage from the bus because you will have to remain here as you are being arrested! Please comply!"

Silence.

Everything stopped as everyone froze to stare at what the only 2 dark people in the entire hall would do next.

Without missing a beat, I turned in his direction and said, 'Oh okay, thank you' and proceeded to irritate him further by engaging him as our personal translator, 'Ask them if we can go collect our luggage or they will? And what happens next and what we should do?’

"I don't know just follow the Police instructions", he said, blushing a little in embarrassment, then shrugged and turned away, he was done with us.

As people relaxed and the hall resumed operations, we went for our bags from the bus before being escorted by two very fine looking armed officers to the inner sanctuary of immigration offices, bracing ourselves for 'jail' (yikes)!

Turned out that either they were lenient, or visa expiry is not considered that serious an offence because we were led to some small office of sorts, barely furnished apart from a desk and 2 chairs (probably an interrogation room).

The nearby toilets were pointed out and that was that, they left and didn't lock the door.

It was a looong night without much rest (the one sleeping pill I happened to have that we shared between us was useless) but daybreak came soon enough.

The next morning we were escorted by a great looking Russian soldier to the nearby bank where we paid about $15 for a one day visa extension. He spoke English with confidence in an American Accent and turned out to be great company, chatting away probably happy to practice his language competency. He eventually gave us back our passports, and waved us on to continue our journey into Estonia, one of the stops on our 6-Country adventure around the Baltic Sea.

Crisis over. 😅

Looking back, I laugh about it now.

We made it across in one piece with a new experience from travel (never been arrested at home, let alone a foreign country)

But I also appreciate the lesson.

Travel has taught me that confidence is useful. Overconfidence is expensive.

After visiting more than 90 countries, I've made plenty of mistakes. Some were funny. Some were stressful. Some like this one taught me to listen to my sister with a little more humility.

All of them taught me something valuable.

The good news?

You don't have to learn every lesson the hard way.

If you already have travel plans in mind but keep postponing them because you don't know where to start, how to budget, what to book first, or how to avoid costly mistakes, that's exactly what my soon-to-start Travel With Confidence Bootcamp is designed to help you with.

There are a few spots left, and I've decided to generously extend the 25% webinar discount for everyone (including those who couldn't attend the webinar) for just two more days. Don't miss this chance. Register here:

👉 https://travelwithmkay.co.ke/bootcamp-funnel/​

Join us and benefit from decades of travel experience, practical guidance, and lessons learned the hard way, so you don't have to.

Because getting arrested in Russia makes for a great story.

It's just not a travel planning strategy I'd recommend. 😂

Enjoy a productive week ahead!

Your Travel Coach,

Maria Kamau (aka Mkay)

Travel Enthusiast | Bodacious Adventurer |Travel Writer

I help women over 40 travel confidently, affordably and on their own terms, without relying on tour agents or on others to realise their dreams.

PS: If you are planning to Travel and could use some support, here are a few ways I can help you:

✅Book a check in chat so we can explore your travel plans and how I could help: https://tinyurl.com/check-in-chat-with-Mkay [FREE]

✅✅Work with me to get the support you need for a specific upcoming trip you are planning https://tinyurl.com/travel-support-options [Low Cost, High Value]

✅✅✅Work with me 1-on-1 for 4 or more sessions to equip you with the skills of travelling as a lifestyle and watch your travel dreams come true! https://tinyurl.com/travel-support-options [Affordable and Transformative]

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