LIVE reports: Poland, Russia and the Baltic countries

Follow along at your own pace with my fall adventure which has been in the planning stages for over a year. I will update as I am able. It will be a lengthy trip of five weeks, and I will be doing a lot of touring.

When I mentioned where I was traveling, the first question out of everybody's mouth (some did not verbalizing it and instead, gave me a puzzled look) is "why do you want to go there?"

There are two reasons why I selected this trip. First of all, I studied Russian history in college, and I was fascinated with the Enlightened period of Peter the Great. I plodded through all the great writers, too, and watched Dr. Zhivalgo numerous times. Going to St. Petersburg and Moscow will be awesome.

Secondly, I feel that I should to go to Auschwitz to complete my previous visits related to WWII both in Nurenburg and Hiroshima. Each had left a mark on the world, and I fully wanted to be there with my feet on the ground along with peace in my heart.

In the front of my mind I wonder what modern day Russia is like from the perspective of the average citizen. I will have opportunities to engage with families, utilize public transportation and join in local festivities.

Map courtesy of Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT)

Back to my original seat

When you plan way ahead in the airline reservation process and you request an aisle seat in an upgraded section of the plane, you are baffled several weeks later when you get an email from the airline regretting that they have to change your seat to a middle one two rows back.

Originally, you are cautioned by your tour company that the airline might not honor its requests, and aisle seats are in demand.

It's doable, yet it's not what you were hoping for on the longest leg of the overnight trip. It seems silly to upgrade your ticket, and not have an optimal seat.

A couple days before departure you have the foresight to check your reservation on the airline app, and out of curiosity pull up the seating chart. Your original seat is now available along with two others.

With one click, you are good to go.

You are assuming the airline held that seat out for a premium fare, or someone changed plans at the last minute.

You don't know about the games airlines play.

Was it luck, or something more complicated in the reservation system?

Kids are kids everywhere in the world

You can't help sensing all the love on these smiling faces from an elementary school in Cairo, Egypt. They're not afraid to mug for the camera.

Although these photos were taken on a visit back in 2010, I trust that the same optimism is still there despite the political conditions today.