Quest 3. Housing So, for the job offer, maybe another $120 (absolute max). Next is housing. Don't even worry about this. We'll either live in cheap motels (which is more expensive and less convenient) or (which is way cooler), we'll get 4-5 (or even more) people together and rent a decent apartment so everything is chill. But that's once we arrive. For the first few days, you can stay in a hotel. As a rule, housing offered from here is significantly more expensive. Plus, you can't see it or evaluate it, so we don't stress about it here (although I've heard it's tough in some states, for example, on the Outer Banks in North Carolina, the rates are totally different and it's scarce. That's true... but it's just another reason to go to South Carolina!). In general, we'll try to find a house there for $30-50 a week. As you've gathered, we went to South Carolina with absolutely no housing lined up)) Quest 4. Tickets Right, what else. Oh, yeah, tickets. If you live in the Far East or the Urals - yeah, tickets are expensive, but you're cool for life! And if you're from Central Russia or the Northwest - well, tickets are cheaper for you). Either way, we get to Moscow and fly from there. This year, a British Airways ticket 1.5 months before departure cost about $600. Those who took the program without a ticket saved about 250 bucks if they bought them. To get deals like that, just regularly check the website www.kayak.com. For Russian airports, it's the ideal option. Change the dates and arrival points and eventually, you'll find the one that suits you best. Plus, in the spring, most companies definitely have some kind of promotion. Also, buying it yourself gives you the chance to choose the departure date. If you found a cheap ticket, but your DS-2019 is for a different date - don't be shy, go to the CMO and ask to change the date. It will take about two weeks. The service is free, as far as I remember. To buy tickets (or anything on the internet), you need a VISA card (usually classic, not electron) or a MasterCard (not Maestro). Another plus of buying online is the e-ticket. A friend who lived with us and bought a ticket from the CMO was given a paper one. To change the date, she spent 3 WEEKS calling an idiotic company (AlItalia) almost every day and still can't get back the $75 the airline accidentally charged her account. The fault here is purely the airline's, but even if we take a ticket through the CMO, it must be electronic. It's called an e-ticket. If we have the opportunity to go to Finland or Latvia, the situation improves significantly. A ticket from Finland to the USA can be bought for $150-500. Moreover, the airlines will be in the top ten in the world. We flew British Airways for $400, there were also Finnair for $500 and (as we found out later) Ryanair+British Airways for $230. Any flights from Europe are definitely a few hundred cheaper. So, if we have the chance to get to Europe, we type 'low budget airlines' into Google and search the sites to see who has what prices. Ryanair.com is an ideal option - the company is 7th in the world for safety (cooler than AirFrance, etc.). A ticket to London from Finland costs $30. From London, there were $130 tickets to New York on British Airways. If you are not from St. Petersburg - getting from here to Helsinki or Tampere (the country's 2 main airports) costs 900 rubles by bus. It's convenient, luggage is in the luggage compartment, nothing gets in the way, the trip takes 6 hours. By car, 4-5. Buses leave right from the Moskovsky railway station. That's the city center. There are always seats, unless you're very unlucky on Fridays and Saturdays. On those days, it's better to book in advance. Just type 'buses St. Petersburg Finland' into the internet and look for the one you need. From New York (or anywhere else, if it's not the final destination), you can get around by (a) planes - again, book a ticket on kayak.com and fly peacefully. Cheaper or more convenient options might be
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