How to pack for Lithuania?

So, I was finally going. To the polluted and godless country of semi-Russians, where a large part of the populations were deprived of everyday essentials and consequently resorted to a life of crime. How to pack for such a destination? First of all, I packed two wallets and a double set of cash and credit cards. After all, most travel guides tend to warn visitors that they might be robbed or violently attacked for various reasons in Lithuania, and since I was going in February I also assumed I would be just about the only tourist there. Statistically, I should then expect to be robbed. As a result of this, I only packed items I was prepared to part with, including an old laptop belonging to my employer.

 

Arriving at the airport with my bag of expendable luggage, I soon located “The Lithuanian Gate”. Flights from Norway to Lithuania for some reason tend to be given smaller gates often hidden away at the end of the terminal. They are however easily identifiable by two things: The almost complete absence of smiles among the waiting passengers, and the fondness that Lithuanian women seem to have for decorated jeans. When you see the line of serious men and women in creatively decorated jeans, you know you have arrived at the correct gate.

Flying to Lithuania is usually like flying to any other destination, apart from the fact that the passengers tend to be slightly more undisciplined. Some pass bottles between themselves, pretend to be oblivious to the ban on mobile phones while in the air, and display an irrational need to open the overhead compartment almost immediately upon landing. But aside from such, passengers on flights in and out of Lithuania are in my experience very well behaved.

 

Most international flights arrive in Vilnius Airport, which is also the airport I normally use.  After landing, the passengers are transported to the terminal building by bus, where they all rush to be first in line to claim their luggage. While doing so, they usually rush past the only available toilet in the arrivals lounge. Later, after realizing that their luggage will not arrive immediately, many of them tend to rush back and form a line outside the toilet. The experienced travellers will by then long since have relieved themselves, and can casually stroll to collect their bags and pass through the arrivals gate. Into the Lithuanian reality.

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