Over a seven-week time frame, Logistics Plus employees Oleh Lykholat and Mykhailo Kostyshyn traveled around Europe to fix equipment and complete installs for a high-profile client. Nineteen flights, nine airports, six cars, two trains, and one metro later, Oleh and Mykhailo finished their journey. The story below, provided by Oleh, is a recap of their travels, jobs, and time spent working at various job sites in Europe.
Background Information
This was our first business trip with Logistics Plus. Our journey started on December 8th and finished on January 28th. We each had three brief home visits during that span. In total, we traveled and worked for fifty-two days and made it to four countries (Germany, Italy, Spain, and France). We were technically in Poland and Turkey as well, but only at the airports.
Traveling Across Europe
Generally, we had very few issues during our travels. The two of us are fully vaccinated, which made everything go pretty smoothly. Our closest situation was the Istanbul airport. Our flight from L’viv to Istanbul arrived fifty minutes later than expected, leaving us twenty minutes to board our next plane to Madrid. Just like Murphy’s law, our next gate was on the opposite side of the airport. Keep in mind that this is one of the three largest airports in Europe. The two of us were forced to run across the airport, but it turned out that they had already finished boarding the plane. After a little bit of persuasion, the gate attendant allowed us on last-minute. Another thing we were lucky with was the date we were in Italy (December 15th). A week after leaving, Italy banned travel for all Ukrainian citizens due to Covid.
Installs & Job-Sites
Over the seven-week journey, we completed two installs from start to finish. One was in Germany, and the other was in Zaragoza, Spain. We spent most of our time working at different job sites where we had to fix equipment for our client. Typically, we worked ten hours on-site, but then another three hours once we got back to the hotel. Our nights at the hotel were spent cutting, stripping, and crimping materials we needed for the next workday. The longest day I remember was when we arrived in Spain late in the evening after a full day of travel and had to begin preparation right away. We only got three hours of sleep that night before heading to the job site in the morning. Overall, we reworked 220 items, manually crimped 11,000 terminals, and used 1,400 meters of wire.
Sightseeing
We tried to see as much as possible during our hectic travel and work schedule. We didn’t have time for everything due to how often we had to move to our next city. We found time to take quick walks in the prominent locations, though. We saw the statue of Jeanne d’Arc, the Eiffel Tower, and so much more. Berlin, Milan, Orleans, Paris, and Madrid were all beautiful cities. My favorite spots were two small historical towns: Orleans, France, and Toledo, Spain (you can scroll through their photos at the bottom of this page or on the Logistics Plus Flickr Page).
Overall Experience
As we reflect on our journey across Europe, only the good moments remain in our memory. Overall, we had a great time and got everything done that we needed to. It was a successful seven weeks, but I wouldn’t say we are itching to get back on the road right away 🙂
After sharing the details of their experiences and travels, Oleh and Mykhailo wanted to emphasize that their success wouldn’t be possible without the help of others. Oleh said, “We were never alone. The whole trip, we had support from our teams around the world. Brian, Ben, Volodymyr, Michel, and Michal were big parts of these projects. A big thanks to all of them and the entire LP team!”
(Click the right and left arrows above to move through the slideshow)
