Carpathian Getaway During War
Our first vacation since Russia invaded Ukraine
The sun was already heating up the streets of Kyiv at 06:15 as I took my dog (Philly) out for a walk. Summers in Kyiv can be brutally hot. Due to the war and electric outages, you never know whether you will have air conditioning or not. Once you have lived here for a few summers, you understand why people have dachas (summer houses) outside the city.
Is it any cooler there?
Yes because there isn’t as much concrete for the sun to heat nor tall buildings to hold the heat in.
That morning, we embarked on our first vacation since the Russian full-scale invasion. Two and a half years later.
Do people take vacations in war?
It’s complicated and varies from person to person.
We could go on vacation outside the country if we really wanted to since we are both US citizens and not tied to the laws of mobilization. However, after enduring this long, we simply didn’t want to leave Ukraine out of solidarity. The other part is that we heard of many who went outside only to be in the presence of Russians and Belarusians. This far into the war, the last thing we want to do is vacation with the enemy.
