Specialising in safety awareness training, travel safety and security advice for a wide range of professionals and individuals prior to their travels.
July 19, 2024
As Nick Milne and I approach the Budomeriz crossing point from Poland to Ukraine, luck seems to be on our side - there is only one vehicle ahead of us and very soon the traffic light goes green beckoning us to the Polish checkpoint. However, there is an air of nervousness, will we have the right paperwork for the mountain of cargo we have in our ancient Mercedes Sprinter freezer van?
It’s been over 2000km and 3 days since we left Oxfordshire, and the van is filled to the gunnels. When I say filled, I mean completely crammed with boxes of medical coveralls, mattresses, 40 sets of crutches, 10 wheelchairs, 200kg of dog and cat food, boxes of old laptops & phones and a warehouse trolley. A twenty-something Customs Officer approaches the van, and we learn quickly that her looks conceal a steely interior as she explores the inside of the van & gasps: “ah too much stuff”. She pauses and points to boxes almost completely hidden under a mountain of crutches and barks: “boxes – open.” She then turns to Nick - “unload those” - and points to a forest of wheelchairs with three bags of Skinners’ dog food piled on top. I make of point of blocking the road as I unload some boxes and crutches. It does the trick, as Lt ‘Poe Face’ decides she has made her point and now the Brits are just being annoying, so she orders us to pack up and move 20m forward to the Ukraine border & customs post.
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