May 23, 2005
Kyiv i Krym
Okay, here's the deal. I'm off to Ukraine for a week in early June. I've wanted to go on a research trip there for a long time. Firstly because I do want to see the places I've been trying to write about so I could be a better writer. But also, I figure that if I'm going to make the time and resource commitment to do a trip like this, I'll be forced to dedicate myself to finishing this story I'm working on because it will be too humiliating for me to give up on it.
Also, honestly, I'm not very good at doing one thing and only one thing for a long time. I've been working too hard at my day job for the last year and I just feel like I've been gasping for air lately. Need to breathe, need to think about something else for a little while, and maybe I need an adventure.
So the cool thing is, while doing research for the book, I've stumbled into a couple of potential real stories. I'll be able to spend a couple of days in Kiev and a few days in the Crimea chasing them down, and I'm trying to get some newspapers to notice me so I can come back with a story I can sell.
It's a longshot at best because I will not have enough time to do serious research before the trip (my fucking job again), and my stay in Ukraine will be too brief to chase follow-on leads that I may get from my initial contacts. My Russian skills have degraded below the point of usefulness and my Ukrainian is nonexistent (though Russian is probably more important in Crimea and especially around Sevastopol).
And I'm having to leave more details to chance than I'd like (for example, I've booked a plane down to Crimea but have no way of confirming the night train back to Kiev till I get there).
But what the hell, it might work. The way things are going I'll be able to pull off--at most--one trip like this every couple of years, so I'll make it work. I do have some contacts and the country is probably easier for an American to get around in since Yushchenko won the Orange Revolution. What does not yet exist, is possible.
Posted by case at May 23, 2005 11:34 AMthat's freakin' awesome pete! glad to hear you are jumping into the fray. best of luck with the fuzzy details, I hope to hear all kinda unbelievable stories (take pics too!) next time I see you.
Hey, probably will be in Berlin over xmas/new years. I don't suppose there's any chance you could extricate yourself from daily duties for a visit? More info later.
Posted by: jeremy at May 23, 2005 08:17 PM