Water is wet. And yes: there is very little time left. While I am still able to think confidently about things that are yet to happen, very soon I won't be able to speak so confidently about what will happen tomorrow, let alone the day after. But this time, my mind woke up long before, so the virtual route is roughly laid out, and I have the means (camera) and the destination (here) in advance. The places are quite remote, and the realities are too, so I will try to avoid photos like "me with someone else's car" or "a tree like a tree, but American."

Perm - Nizhny Novgorod - Frankfurt - Chicago. Rubles-euros-dollars.

Next - what you need for survival if you are going to dash off to the land of the stars and stripes, besides Valentin Strykalo recordings on magnetic tape (in descending order of importance):

= You need to punch yourself in the face or otherwise convince yourself to sit down at the computer and, instead of the usual youporn.com, open something like google.maps and look at the places where you will soon be thrown. It is useful to get a card like a Visa Classic with a dollar account in advance to buy tickets for a bus/train/plane from city A to city B. It is no less useful to know in advance where to run and what to see. The internet will help.

= Take your documents and make copies and copies of copies, which should be placed in your bag, laptop, Google Docs, Dropbox, or wherever else you keep your internet backups.

= A laptop, for orientation, Skype, online shopping, listening/watching and recording/filming, and even, oh my god, playing @ killing time.

= Medicines: anything more complex than activated charcoal - take it with you. All sorts of band-aids/bandages/cough syrups are available everywhere. Everyone worries about contact lenses, but in vain. Solutions are sold freely, the lenses themselves - not so freely. There are sites for ordering, but they ask you to attach a prescription, apparently in digital form. Although, people say that everything is fine, you just skip this step and receive the package.

= Clothes: besides the junk you'll wear on the plane, you need spare replacements for underwear, socks, and a sweaty t-shirt. Everything is sold in any size, very cheaply.

= A camera, any kind. It will remember everything for you.

In general, I will try to write something obvious here from time to time, but from the other side, and not forget about rpod.