At an outdoor patio bar in Yekaterinburg, Russia, Heiko, Rudy, Paul and I sat down for a beer. It was 5:45am and except for the waitress, we were the only sober folks amongst the small gathering. We however, had not spent the night partying as our company, but rather had just finished a 9pm-3am shift. Technically speaking, this for us was cocktail hour, and we were now awaiting dinner (which happened to coincide with the hotel’s breakfast buffet). Sipping our draft Russian Baltika beers, we relished the cool air and felt relieved to be, at last, not moving on the road. And then, it dawned on us. Today was more than just DAY 2 of 4 on the 9 to 3. It was in fact July 4th. “Nastarovia to that!” and we toasted our glasses again.

On the road, days and dates dissipate from thought, and soon enough all that’s kept track of is where we are on the 4 day shift cycle, day 5 being OFF. With additional thought we confirm amongst each other the overall day of the entire trip, which we need to know to look up the pre-routed exchange point locations (this usually involves some conversation about the actual date in the real world, at which point watches are located and the date is finally confirmed). Otherwise, time in the typical sense is obsolete. But then again, we aren’t living typical days.

While we look forward to our OFF status on DAY 5, these days are not all they suggest. In fact, they would be better coined travel and/or media days given the hours we spend in the van and the occasional photo shoot that pops up. Day 37 included a 6 hour van ride along bumpy roads to Omsk , as we looked on aghast at the tractor-trailer trucks strewn along the roadside which had overturned or ended up stuck in a ditch, and we crossed our fingers that our van would not meet a similar fate. A previous OFF day to Moscow included not only a 5 hour drive in the worst traffic jam we have seen yet, but a 4 hour photo shoot with Estonian photographer Alexander, which of course included some running. Essentially, an OFF DAY only guarantees that you won’t have to run 10 miles--that’s about it. On this trip you’re never off. But, I’m not complaining. Working 9-5 was not what we signed on for!