With all of the world’s accelerating problems hogging the headlines in recent weeks, I realize that I have been neglecting the lighter side of life . . . including the travels of my favorite Canadian/Russian family, the Feenstras.

When last viewed, they — parents Arend and Anneesa and six of their nine children — were traveling by RV through the southeastern United States, on a side trip of their months-long visit to their homeland of Canada.

Why and how they were able to leave their new home in Russia for such a prolonged, indefinite period remains a mystery, as does the reason for this detour into the U.S. But, as he does when broadcasting from the farm in Nizhny Novgorod, Arend has been narrating their travel videos as well.

While he occasionally mentions doing some “work” for unnamed “friends” along the way, there are no specifics; instead, the focus is on the rather boring scenery of what, to me, is the least fascinating corner of the U.S. — and I’ve been through most of it (excluding Hawaii, unfortunately).

Don’t get me wrong; there is much to see in the region: Civil War sites in Atlanta, Savannah, Richmond and Charleston; Mardi Gras in New Orleans in February; the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville; Elvis Presley’s “Graceland” home in Memphis; Disney World in Orlando.

Some of those, like Mardi Gras, would probably have been too “woke” for their tastes; others such as Disney World, are very expensive. I get that. But their entire journey seems to have been limited to visiting a few small museums, nature preserves, beaches, and a whole lot of hardware stores and farm equipment dealers . . . keeping to themselves or visiting with like-minded friends and online viewers, rather than becoming acquainted with a broader spectrum of America and Americans.

They don’t seem to have tried expanding their travel experience into new realms, which — back in the time of my world travels — was the whole idea of going somewhere different. Since they’re traveling on a budget, and preparing their meals in the RV or at campsites, I wonder whether they’ve even treated themselves to some good ol’ Southern cooking. (My personal favorite: fried green tomatoes. Yum!)

To each his own, of course. If this is what they truly enjoy, fine; but it seems a shame to have come so far and missed the opportunity to show their children something new and unusual besides palm trees . . . and palmetto bugs the size of mice.

What, then, was the purpose of the trip? Simply to say they had seen X number of U.S. states? That doesn’t seem logical. Arend has talked about meeting with some of their viewers along the way; perhaps they’ve been proselytizing, encouraging other conservative families to make the move to Russia. What great public relations that would be for their benefactor Vladimir Putin, on whose good nature their very survival in Russia depends.

And then there are the commercials. In each video I watched today, there was an overt ad for one company or another. There was one for an app called “PlantMe,” which allows you to identify plants, trees and flowers on your smartphone. Another was half of a video devoted to a detailed tour of the Tractor Supply Company, with an obvious plug for their wide range of John Deere equipment and merchandise.

But the most mystifying ad was for something called “Gentlebands.com” — wedding bands that, in addition to being “bold and unique,” also “symbolize your love with a band as extraordinary as your journey.”

Arend’s words (or the sponsor’s) . . . not mine.

So the social media fame the Feenstras have gained since moving to Russia has apparently proved profitable. And there’s nothing wrong with that . . . many TV and movie celebrities are seen in all sorts of commercials. It must surely help to pay the bills while they build their farm in Nizhny Novgorod into a profit-making enterprise.

I’m now looking forward to their return to Ontario to reunite with their older children, and eventually to fly back to Russia in time for the spring planting season — assuming all of that winter snow their tenants, the Pulleys, have been dealing with has melted.

‘Til then, continued safe travels.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
3/7/26