Travel to Chicago and The Great Lakes / Путешествие к Великим Озерам

Getting a U.S. visa was probably one of the most stressful things I've ever been through. Took me three tries, two heartbreaks and one unwavering backbone to accomplish the goal. I've wanted to go to the States ever since my best friend moved there with his parents 15 years ago. It was 2001 and I didn't even have a PC at home, let alone mobile phone. We lost touch so abruptly on so many levels that I just couldn't stand the sheer unfairness of it all. So I made it into a goal - travel to the U.S. one day, meet with my buddy, shake a fist to the sky and tell that bitch called Life that she has no business snatching my best friends from under my nose and putting them 6000 miles away just for the fun of it. That was not fun.

So that's what I finally did las year. I booked a four-week vacation, purchased cheapest tickets to NYC - and just went for it. Man, that trip was movie material, the whole reunion-in-the-Land-of-the-Free thing, with New York, Vegas, LA and countless other cool places an excellent background for a beautiful soulmate romance. That is probably, by far, the most emotionally significant thing that I've done in my life.

Anyway, back to the goal at hand. Visa is good until mid-2018, so I still have time to prepare for another mind-blowing adventure in United States, this time with my close friend and co-worker D in the picture. Even though I'm not one to falter in confidence and determination, quite a lot of stars still need to align before we can set off. So let me just outline the goal here and ponder over the actual plan later.

Stay tuned.