The stress and adventure of border crossings

Crossing the border is always very stressful. Very often, to get to another state you need to get a visa. To do this, you need to provide a lot of documents. The process of issuing a visa can take several months. It happens that a visa can be refused or issued for a short period, and then the process of obtaining a visa will need to be repeated after a few months.

Crossing borders, to me always means to explore a new society, culture and legal traditions. The border officials, in some sense, are a mirror of that society and the culture. Any time I cross borders, I remember it and try to understand a new culture from my first impressions of the infrastructure, customs, and people around me. I experience it as some sort of important test for me and the people who are helping newcomers to feel better in the foreign country. It is always a breath-taking adventure filled with emotions and hopes to discover a new world.