Shooting with (Patreon)

Alex Stojanov

The speed of Ukrainian service - even government service - continues to shock me)))

Being Ukrainian, and knowing very well how things can go, I was absolutely not prepared to receive a message the day after my interview saying that my visa was ready and already being shipped to me. The planned 10 days somehow became 1 day.

Honestly, dealing with documents in Ukraine after dealing with documents in other countries feels like a constant scam.

A government office answers the phone within a minute? - "Is this a scam?"

Someone replies to your email the same day? - "Definitely a scam."

You get a message saying your documents are already ready? - "Okay, but seriously... is this a scam?")))

It's funny how much distrust "mañana, mañana" and the closest available appointment being a month away can create toward normal government services.

So at least as a farewell gift, Ukraine allowed me to enjoy efficient bureaucracy one last time)))

The funny part is that everything we had planned for these final weeks in Ukraine completely fell apart anyway. People rescheduled shoots. Meetings got cancelled. Sunny forecasts turned into rain. Some expected "unexpected" grief found its way into our family. Even this visa, which was supposed to take ten days, suddenly happened in one. And while that's wonderful news, it also created a small earthquake inside our carefully planned schedule.

I keep saying that I want more spontaneity in my life. But when you're traveling and every day is limited, spontaneity suddenly becomes much less romantic))) Right now I'm sitting on a train to Lviv, looking back at all of it like a comedy sketch and laughing at how stressed, angry and frustrated I was at the time. Shaken up? Definitely. I continue planning anyway)))

With hope that the final week of this trip will follow my carefully constructed schedule at least a little bit more closely than the previous ones.

Until the 16th - Lviv.

Until the 21st - Paris.

And after that...

My new home... Texas.