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Have I lost my mind? Probably.

I found an incredible deal going from DC to Oslo and back ($124!!). I want to visit every country in the world, so when I do travel I do what I can to visit multiple countries in a single trip...knowing I'll be back to properly explore later (I travel monthly). Knowing that many disagree with this style of travel, know that I LOVE it. Last summer I rented a car in Frankfurt, drove down to Austria, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, and back up to Frankfurt in 2 days. I also drove the Road to Hana on Maui by myself, so if travel by car is most efficient I could do that.

I arrive in Oslo around 5pm on May 15th, and leave around 8am on May 22nd.

I want to dip into Finland, Sweden, and St. Petersburg, maybe even Estonia.

Knowing the trip is in less than 30 days, I haven't yet applied for a visa for Russia, which adds a bit of complexity to it because if I don't do a visa, then I am stuck with a 3-day Helsinki to Russia boat tour essentially, which severely limits my time to travel in-between.

I have a budget of roughly $3,000 USD.

Knowing my time frame and desires, I would love ideas on how to make this work. I appreciate you!

Posted by
302 posts

Everyone travels differently! It sounds like you know what works for you, but this time what you could "lose" is your passport, with the complexities of the Russian visa process, and even if you use a service for the courier, expedited timeframe, etc it will also use up some of your budget. It sounds like you will have to choose whether getting to St. Petersburg, in order to add Russia to your list of countries visited, means less time to pull off the rest...it's been about 8 years since my trip to Russia and although I used a visa service it was really stressful sending off my passport and wondering if I would ever see it again! This isn't judging how you travel, just caution about the logistics if you add in Russia beyond the usual boat option...