My first trip to Ukraine

I know it might sound strange to hear, “I'm taking my son to Ukraine for vacation,” and yet here I am thinking about that very trip which is already bought and paid for.

I have previously been to Ukraine so I can say that I scoped it out as a responsible parent. I found Odesa, Ukraine to be as safe as any other city I have been to. Funny enough, the only city I have ever been jumped in is the one I currently call home. 

My first impressions of Ukraine came when I went there during the winter arriving On January 1^st of 2019. Most of what I knew of Ukraine was from the news ( not very useful information ) as well as YouTube ( pretty useful information ).

Opera House

The first thing I noticed about Odesa was that the city is just stunningly beautiful. The architecture was extraordinary and I knew that in that alone I had gone to the right place. I do like to view in wonder the things that locals pass by without consideration. How amazed they might be in my neighborhood while I am just thinking, “eh... I see it every day.”

Being there in the winter was rather illuminating too. I'm from New England, I know cold, but what I experienced in Odessa was a new kind of cold. A cold that according to my travel friend (Olga) was not so bad. I reckoned my discomfort to my Florida blood; don't worry New England, I didn't throw you under the bus, I took one for the team. But honestly, I felt a little like John Snow being called a southern in the real North. 

“G'damn” it was cool though and the wind was like being back in Standing Rock. Yes! It is more like North Dakota than New England. Bitter cold, wholly windy.

Olga and I - Me freezing, her perfectly fine.

The next thing of note was the prices. It is true, it is really inexpensive to be in Ukraine. It was inexpensive if we were talking about the fully furnished apartments I rented on Airbnb at $20, $30, $50 a night as well as the $120 (if purchased in America) aged steaks I was eating for roughly around $10 USD. Ukraine is the kind of place where you can live in luxury while on vacation and not just play at it on some cruise ship somewhere.

And so that is what I prefer to do; travel to economies where I can experience a life very different from my own. The comment, "I'm going to Ukraine," usually elicits the same facial expressions on others as when I mention that I lived in India. A facial expression displaying the question, "Why?"

The answer is simple; relaxation - total relaxation, freedom, and autonomy.

Think about your last family vacation for a minute, to six flags, or whatever expensive vacation you most recently took. Was a notable part of the vacation concerning yourself with the total cost of the final bill at the end of the vacation. Every time you spent more money was it in the back of your mind, “How much am I putting on this credit card?” Did you find that relaxing?

$6.00 worth of Sushi

How about knowing that it doesn't matter what you want to do, money isn't an object you have to concern yourself with. 

Playing Ukrainian Gangster

In Ukraine, I traveled with $1,000 USD for 7 days of leisure. Not only did I come home with local currency but I also came home with $300 USD of that thousand dollars in vacation money.

Sure it was cold, but I was in good company, held zero concern for my safety, held zero concern for my budget and in my eyes lived like a king the entire time I was there.

So that is why I want to bring my son there with me. Because for 10 days he will see what luxury travel is like and hopefully it will inspire him to set up his life in a way that he travels very regularly. So he can see the world with the time he has. To experience more of it than what he is told about on a breaking news broadcast.

This planet is fascinating and it is in everyone's best interest to make friends all around it. From my perspective, people are wonderful everywhere and by and large, everyone attempts to enforce conditions where the environment is safe for their children. Don't be afraid to travel and go to the unknown, it is one of the few things we can do that isn't a waste of time. 

Aged Steaks - My daily dinner

Who are we?

What is the website all about?
Who are we and why do we want to tell our story?

Often times in life events don't work out the way you expect. At some point, all of your planning and changes or breaks down. An event occurs and you are left with a moment where you realize that it is time to reassess your future. To reassess your plans. To make changes to benefit your continued happiness and the continued happiness of those you love.

Our story is one of those stories.

My name is Jason. I am a co-parenting my son Beck with his amazing mother, or at a minimum doing what I think most parents are doing; trying not to screw up their children.

Beck in Belize Drawing Ancient Maya artifacts

My son Beck truly loves to travel. Last year his wonderful mother took him on a trip to Belize. So his passport already has a stamp on it at age eight. On his vacation, he ate things I have never heard of, worked with archaeologists from UNH in the field, and made friends that continue to ask about him every time his mother goes back down there for her work.

It should be obvious that there is no replacement for travel in a child's life. Or at least not in my opinion. No amount of fantasy in video games or movies will ever mean more to a child than growing up seeing the world.

This year Beck and I will be doing some father-son travel. We have a couple plans in mind and one fully booked trip. We are flying out to Lviv and Odesa Ukraine on July 10th. We are most excited.

Our additional plans include a long weekend camping trip to Iceland, a weekend trip to Canada, and national parks while the weather is nice. We live in New Hampshire so the weather really does play a factor.

Full disclosure: 

This blog is mostly a means to catalog our trips, to share our experiences, and to make an attempt to monetize our vacations to make money to fund our vacations. We both believe that honesty here is the best policy.

We will likely share the equipment that we love to use with viewers on YouTube and tours of the cities and places we visit.

As the blog grows and our audience increases we will slowly attempt to find new ways to monetize our trips but we will never recommend something we dislike just for the money. We will not sell out. That just isn't in our nature.

We truly hope you enjoy what we have to share and we expect to make updates to the blog at least once a month.

Thanks and take care.

Beck's dad.