I can’t believe it’s already February…we’re already in the second month of 2017! It still feels like it’s the New Year’s season. Massive 2017 structures are still up all over Moscow and they were put up in early December, ↓ so I’ve had constant reminders to think about what trekking in 2017 may or may not bring.
You can still walk right into 2017 in Moscow.
I realize that this post is late, but with nearly 11 months left of 2017 to go, I think it’s still safe to discuss what trekking adventures may or may not be coming this year.
Like last year, I don’t know where I will be living at the end of the year.
*GASP!*
My contract in Moscow is up this summer, and I don’t know if it’s best to stay in Russia, move to another European country, or move back to Canada.
I’m only thinking of this because of the health problems that arose after my horrid food poisoning episode in August. My muscles started aching to the point of being barely able to stand up and walk on bad days, and it never got better. Treatment back in November running into December didn’t work, so I’ve had to go for more tests. Anyway, I just began a new round of treatment this week for a rare auto-immune muscle disease called polymyositis.
Landing in Moldova, Europe’s least-visited country.
That is why I’ve been so quiet on here as the pain progressively got worse. I’ve missed a few Photo Fridays, hardly posted any new content, and I’ve been much less active on social media. I’m so sorry. I needed a great deal of down time, but I’m gradually bouncing back.
Even though I’m finally starting to feel better with the new treatment, I still can’t trek at my regular speed/pace. However, I refuse to let it completely take over my life. I still made it to St. Petersburg and to Moldova in October, and I saw more of Moscow, but the first half of 2017 will bring more treks than the second half of 2016 did.
For starters, this coming weekend, I’m going to Lithuania! 
By pure luck, I finish really early on Friday, which NEVER happens. I immediately raided skyscanner.com and found the destination with the most convenient flight times for the best price, and Vilnius, Lithuania won. Fingers crossed that I’ll get more lucky long weekends like this, but I’m not counting on it.
The weekend of the 25th is an extra long weekend – a 4-day weekend from Thursday to Sunday – and I’m finally going to make it to Germany! Cologne was the winning city, and I can’t wait to finally set foot in Germany, which will be country #20. I haven’t done any German since I finished my German minor in 2008, so we’ll see how my incredibly rusty German will or won’t help me…lol!
In May, I’m going to back to Brussels. I took a day trip to Brussels when I was in London back in 2010, and what a rookie trekking mistake that was! Only ONE day in Brussels is not enough! I need to go back for a few days and see everything to really feel like I’ve been.
Imagine what the other side looked like during the Nazi occupation.
Next is back to Poland again but this time, to a new city – Krakow. I’ll be making the trek to Auschwitz, which has been on my bucket list since I learned about it in the eighth grade. Seeing the remains of the Warsaw Ghetto walls during my layover way back to Moscow in January hit me really hard, and I can only imagine how Auschwitz is going to shatter my heart.
However, I feel that it is my duty has a decent human being, as a citizen of this world, to bear witness.
Next will be a new country – Spain! A few days in Barcelona ought to help cheer me up and temporarily forget about the horrors of Auschwitz.
Other than going to St. Petersburg, again, I don’t know where else I’ll be trekking in 2017, including where I’ll be living once my contract is up, but keep trekking with me!
What are your trekking plans for 2017?
The post Trekking in 2017 appeared first on Trekking with Becky.