Maria’s travel life history

Traveling was always a part of Maria’s life because of her father’s work: “I was born in a family of a military servant. For this reason I had been traveling since my birth”. The southern destinations stay in her memory. A part of her childhood memories included the trips the whole family took together: “More than that, I certainly remember my parents and I went to the south to stay at a holiday center for around three weeks every summer since I was three”. They also used to visit relatives. Maria still did not like long car trips but appreciated the pleasant things such as the weather and the sea: “Funny enough I still can’t stand all these road trips, but the best memories relate back to palms, warmth, good weather, and, of course, the sea”. The weather was not the only difference between her home in the Republic of Karelia and the southern destinations: “people were not as reserved as they were in Karelia”.

According to the narrator, traveling did not bring any special financial difficulties.

Her family got used to traveling: “All this traveling could have caused some worries and concerns, but not for us. That time was different, and we were used to moving around so much”.

Maria was satisfied with her childhood regarding traveling.

Maria continued regarding her first university trip to Yugoslavia right before the collapse of the USSR: “I got a holiday package as a student”. The narrator mentioned she felt very intrigued about the trip: ”All the excitement was about the fact that it was the very first group trip abroad”. She remembered how she spent her time during the stay:

“We spent time staying in a hotel at night and having outings in the day time”. Maria told about this trip with sentiment: “I liked everything either because it was my first time abroad or the fact it was a group trip”.

Participants could take only a certain amount of money: “I still remember I had 50 rubles exchanged into foreign currency as we were allowed to exchange a fixed sum of money at that time. So 50 rubles was the money I had on me”. Maria told about other restrictions during the trip: “The leader of our group was responsible for this part. He was in charge of all the formal aspects, and we were not supposed to walk by ourselves”. According to the narrator, members of the travel group knew there was someone observing the behavior of the group but they did not know exactly who the person was. Despite that the group was under observation, Maria did not feel any discomfort: “Frankly speaking, if you were traveling anywhere you were hanging out with the other people of the trip. For example, I went with a friend of mine. We were together all the time and never felt pressured in terms of behavior or anything else. In fact, we didn’t feel like we were being followed”. Another thing that Maria admitted the lack of product availability in the USSR and remembered the things she bought during the trip: cosmetics and clothes.

Maria did not tell much about the destinations she visited and just mentioned some of them: “After the abroad experience I would travel to Sevastopol, Yalta, Minsk, and Riga with my sister or friends”. Cyprus impressed her: “What struck me most was the fact that nobody followed the traffic rules. I had noticed that as I am a driver myself”.

Maria expressed her opinion on traveling in general during the Soviet Union times:

“Back in those days people didn’t use to travel abroad that much. It was more about going to the south of Russia, and everybody went there at more or less the same frequency”. A weekend trip made by her friend during the university times impressed her a lot: “However, I remember one girl from the final year at the university who went to Yalta or Sochi with a boyfriend for a weekend, just for a couple of days, and that was astonishing. It was amazing because she could come from a chilly spring and go into the warm seaside”. She underlined two issues, that a girl went on a trip with her boyfriend (not yet a husband) and experiencing the summer just for a few days. Maria explained the girl’s behavior right away: “It was not about being brave or something, she went there with a fiancée she was going to marry one day”.

There was a period in Maria’s life when she did not travel: “Starting from 2000 I resumed traveling after a significant break”. She explained the lack of traveling in light of financial difficulties after the collapse of the USSR.

The first trip she remembered after starting to travel again was to Finland: “About 10 or 15 years ago I took a trip to Finland as I was meeting a good friend of mine in Turku”.

Visa issues were organized differently back then: “During those days they issued visas based only on invitations”. The country made a good impression, as she mentioned the peacefulness and people living according to the rules. Trips to Finland are a part of Maria’s travel life now. She appreciates the easiness of travel organizational issues:

“Currently I am used to driving to Joensuu, for example, which is not difficult. The visa is issued for a year and they simplified all the paperwork”. Travel to Finland enabled her to manage the trip without speaking foreign languages. The narrator appreciated service in Russian: “Another important aspect is language. When I travel to Finland I can make all the arrangements by myself. On the contrary, if you go further you’d better speak English. For example, I just came from Greece. No one spoke Russian there. All in all, service in Russian

is very important”.

Maria’s travel dreams are now connected to exotic destinations: “If I had a chance to go anywhere I would probably choose Vietnam”. The narrator thought that four or five hours is enough to get to Thailand:” I have always dreamed to see something exotic, Thailand, for example. It is not that far in terms of a distance because I don’t really like long flights. Three or five hours is my limit”. Maria underlined that she does not like

long journeys by car either: “Moreover, I can’t stand long road trips, which spoils all the impressions a journey can bring.

At the end of the story Maria expressed her opinion on Russian tourists in general and compared them to others: “In my way of thinking, Russians are more emotional.

Surprisingly, judging from my recent experience in Greece, Russian tourists were more well-behaved than others”. For her personally it is important to see different people and try new cuisine: “While traveling you are in the mixture of nationalities”; “I am not a huge fan of exotic foods, but I would like a change in meals for sure. I am always up for something new, so to speak”.

5.3.1 Analyses of Maria’s travel life history

Travel patterns during Soviet and Russian times: norms and rules

Maria, a child of a military servant, changed her place of residence several times during her childhood; travel itself was not a new practice in her life. She remembered her parents traveling regularly every summer. She described her childhood as a happy one with good financial possibilities to travel. The first time the narrator came to the issue of Soviet travel rules, was her first trip abroad. She could not walk alone without a group or decide how she would spend her time. Maria also mentioned a person watching them, but her attitude towards this was calm and seemed \ not to bother her.

According to the narrator, it was typical to travel to the south of the country during Soviet times, and everybody had the same possibilities to do it. She explained her break in travel with the general financial difficulties of these Soviet times and did not touch on the topic of travel restrictions.

Maria paid attention to trips to Finland. She compared the visa regimes and underlined that she appreciates the ease of travel: the visa for one year and the location nearby. Service in Russian during the trips is an important issue.

Gender aspects

Maria touched on the topic of gender when she talked about the deficit of goods in the Soviet Union and her willingness to buy different clothes and cosmetics. The second time Maria underlined the role of women in society and appropriate behavior was when she talked about her university friend going on a vacation with her boyfriend (not yet a husband) for a several-day trip. She explained that the woman’s behavior was according to the norms as they were going to get married soon.

Russianness and habitus

Family trips influenced Maria’s travel habits in different ways. During the whole story, Maria repeated that traveling was a usual practice in her family, and the family used to change the place of residence often and additionally traveled regularly. Due to the long journeys with the family, she admitted that she could not stand trips that require long traveling to the destination, by car or by plane. At the same time, she dreamed about such exotic destinations as Vietnam or Thailand. Maria identified Russians as a positive and special kind of tourist, adequate, relaxed and emotional.