When Proof Reader Penny and I decided to whack Russia on to the end of our Northern Lights trip, the travel wholesaler was dubious - but, true to form, we were determined - so we're going.
The wholesaler suggested the hassle of a visa wasn't worth it for just a few days. As it turned out, we're now there for a bit over a week, so well worth it - surely. As seasoned travellers, we couldn't imagine it'd be that bad.
Turns out it was.
Required information included the name and date of entry of every country you've ever been to in the last 10 years, (tricky now they don't always stamp your passport), your last two employees, including contact details (Geoff did his apprenticeship in 1978, and the company no longer exists), the name address and phone number of your university, the address and phone number of your travel wholesaler and hotels while there - I had a few errors so have now filled that one out so many times, my computer is automatically entering the St Petersburg hotel details for my address and phone number when I make a website purchase! We then had to follow strict printing instructions of the forms and include a letter of introduction, booking numbers, passports and passport photos with shoulders visible.
PR Penny and I had an hour-long workshop to kick us off and then went it alone. I spent the majority of the AFL Grand Final (about a 3-hour event) doing mine.
We were both relieved when PR Penny drove several suburbs to hand-deliver all paperwork to the travel agent.
Then the email arrived. Three of PR Penny's four applications were rejected because they were each missing a phone number, and although the travel agent assured her it was as simple as logging back on and updating the forms, it wasn't. She had to do them all again - from scratch.
Here's what she had to say about that:
FOOTNOTE FROM PR PENNY: UNPRINTABLE………
