The Never-ending Vacation

Apparently I uploaded the photos in the beginning this time. Keeping you guys on your toes I guess.

I feel like I have been saying this way too often with my blog posts lately but “saddle up” everyone. We have a lot of ground to cover. Tomorrow ends my five week vacation. I was just telling my mom tonight that I haven’t really stopped moving since I left Montana. This is not a bad problem to have but this means there is a lot of adventures to discuss.

I’ll start at the beginning. Brad traveled home with me from Montana and I am very happy to report that we did not hate each other after a 20 hour road trip through what is a terribly boring section of the United States (eastern Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois). We carried on to Michigan for a family wedding right after traveling back to Chicago (he stuck around after that too). It was so nice seeing everyone as it seems to only happen these days when someone gets hitched. Good thing there are still plenty of us to go.

I dropped Brad off at the airport and after showing quite a public display of tears I wandered on up to Wisconsin for a visit. I was not able to make it there in between North Carolina and Montana so I was a very happy camper to be able to pay a visit to my Wisco family this time! I managed to completely overbook myself and pretty much had something planned for every minute of each day I was up there but it was totally worth it! It was odd being there though. In terms of my connection to Wisconsin and Milwaukee, I feel like it is gone. It is an odd feeling to come “home” and not feel like I belong there anymore. I still love the city and the state (and of course my friends and family) and always will but I think that helped confirm my decision of why I started traveling and what I set out to do. I have been wanting to move out of the Midwest for a long time and kept sticking around for various reasons but I think we can all agree that a comfort zone is always nice and plays a sizeable role in not moving forward. Turns out once you get out of that comfort zone there is a whole world to explore and so many things to learn. I was thinking the other day, after I did fly fishing for the first time, that if I wrote down all the new things I have done this year I think my brain would be tired just looking at the list. I actually think I will make this list at the end of this year for my own personal amazement.

After my Wisconsin tour I was home for a few days and then headed to Switzerland and Austria with my mom. My mom and I have been trying to plan and follow through with a Europe trip for YEARS. Finally the stars aligned and we made it across the pond together.

First stop was Switzerland. We landed in Zurich and only spent the afteroon and night there. If any of you ever plan to head to Switzerland and fly into Zurich, do not plan on spending any more time there than this. There is an old town section of the city that is worth seeing but otherwise it is like most other cities.

We spent two days in Interlaken. This was a really nice springboard for doing day trips. Interlaken is right at the base of the mountains and basically any direction you look there is a mountain range. There is a main train station that runs through town so getting anywhere in and around Interlaken and up into the mountains is extremely easy. The first thing we did in each of the cities that we stayed in was a walking tour to get a feel for everything. During our walking tour of Interlaken we happened across a tram that went up the side of a mountain. We cut our walk short and hopped right on that tram and rode on up to the top of Harder Kulm. At the top was a beautiful view of Jungfrau across the lakes. Jungfrau is the tallest mountain in Europe. The following day we got up quite early and went to the top of Jungfrau. To clarify, we did this via multiple trains and trams – not hiking. I realized after posting photos that it may have appeared that I hiked up to the top which was not the case for multiple reasons. Nonetheless this was an awesome experience! This mountain holds the longest glacier in Europe as well and it was so fun to see all of this!

We stayed at Hotel Interlaken while we were there and it was adorable! Super cute old school rooms with nice balconies. We ended our evenings out on the balcony with a glass of wine and some Swiss chocolate each night 🙂

After a few days here we hopped on a train to Austria. Our first stop in Austria was Innsbruck. We had heard prior to our trip that only a night would be needed in Innsbruck. Honestly, I would come back to Innsbruck and spend more time here than just a night. It is a super cute little city right on a river with the mountains directly behind it. There is also a college here so the vibe of the city is fun with all the students.

Salzburg was next on the trek. The first night here we grabbed tickets to a classical music concert inside a ballroom of a palace. It was THE BEST. Salzburg is known as a huge music hub and we happened to be there during their annual classical music festival. I realize to a lot of people this probably sounds lame but my mom and I both love classical music so we were thrilled. The street music in this city was all classical music artists! After our concert that first night we came back to the hotel and opened our windows because across the way someone was practicing their cello with their windows open. Could this get any happier!?

Vienna was our final destination. I would also come back and spend a few more days in Vienna. The buildings here are just unreal. The history and the architecture are both beautiful and there was way too much to learn and see in the two days we were there. We did a tour of the Opera House since it is one of the most famous opera houses in the world. Unfortunately, the opera takes time off in August and resumes mid September so we were unable to experience this. Another major reason I would come back is just to be able to attend an opera there.

A few mishaps from the trip, because how can there be a trip without a few mishaps for some solid stories!? I was sick with a pretty miserable head cold almost the whole time we were in Europe. It was also about 95 degrees and humid the entire time we were there. I think the only time we weren’t sweating was when we were on top of Jungfrau and it was 32 degrees. We really should have relished this a bit more. By about 4pm on our last day of the trip we said screw it to the heat, sickness and sweating and ate peanut m&ms and pretzels in our room with the air conditioning turned down to about 30 degrees. Trains. We learned very quickly that if you are traveling through Europe with suitcases and can afford it, get first class tickets for trains. I didn’t know any better so bought us regular old second class tickets the first day and it is like a blood bath trying to get a seat on those trains. One train we didn’t even get a seat and we had to stand, with our luggage, in those in between car spaces where you initially walk onto the train. So that was fun standing in tiny space on a 95 degree day with no air circulating. Really, other than these things our trip was quite the success! I would absolutely go back to both of these countries for a bit more time and exploration! Oh. A few other thoughts. I was not at ALL prepared for how many people still smoke in Europe. They actually still have some restaurants where you are allowed to smoke and in every hotel they specifically told us we were in non-smoking rooms. Perhaps the only thing I did not enjoy about being over there was inhaling all the second hand smoke. Finally, these people love ice cream. I have never seen so many people eat ice cream in my life. It was extremely hot there and they were having a record breaking heat wave but the ice cream consumption was aggressive.

I’m looking forward to going back someday!

Three days after getting back to the good ol’ US of A I headed back out to Montana for five days. I was able to push back my start date a bit for my next travel assignment so I was VERY HAPPY to head out west to see Brad for a long weekend 🙂 .

I went fly fishing for the first time out there. This was on my list of goals while I was there for my assignment and finally did it! I definitely need all the practice. My muscle memory kept going back to throwing a softball instead of casting a line. For the life of me I could not keep from snapping my wrist and acting as though I was throwing a ball. I managed to randomly cast correctly and even caught my own fish so I considered it somewhat successful. Also Brad managed to not lose his mind while trying to get me to keep my arm straight, bless his soul. I’m still not totally sold on fishing but I am looking forward to practicing more and having fun with it. I did get to stand in the water in a beautiful place so it’s not all bad.

We went hiking, swimming and did an afternoon float down the Madison River with some of Brad’s friends while I was there. Per usual I loved my time out there and continue to be amazed by the never-ending beauty of that state – even when it is filled with smoke! I was of course sad to say goodbye to Brad, for now. I was totally that girl standing in the airport openly crying at the security gates as I was saying goodbye and then continued to cry while in line. Such a sap these days.

I can’t remember if I have made this announcement or if I’ve made it extremely apparent but while I was in Wisconsin I accepted an assignment out in Portsmouth, New Hampshire for the next three months. I am actually currently sitting in East Aurora, New York trying to finish this darn post before I get to New Hampshire tomorrow.

I am SO excited I got this assignment. Portsmouth is right on the ocean and what looks like an adorable little town. It is also only an hour away from Boston and only an hour away from Portland, Maine AND only an hour away from the mountains. I’ve already joined a hiking meetup so I can jump right in and start hiking. It looks like this group also does bike trips and kayaking so hopefully I can do all the things! So looking forward to experiencing the fall colors out this way. I will be out here until December 10th so I will be here when all the towns are decorated for Christmas. I am literally freaking out over this. Portsmouth was voted one of the top New England Christmas towns – FREAKING OUT. Excuse me while I live out Home Alone 2 Lost in New York; Family Stone and Christmas in Conneticut.

In other news, finding housing out here was the absolute worst and a thousand times more expensive than I thought it would be. However, I somehow managed to score an apartment right on the ocean in the town just south of Porstmouth. I will be able to see the ocean from my place. The freaking out continues.

I’ll throw a few photos up below. Otherwise, I’ll see you all when I get to Portsmouth! I am going to try really, really hard to be better about posting this assignment. I just end up doing so many activities in between my three shifts per week that I get so behind. I’m going to try though! Brad isn’t here with me so I’ll be less distracted and have more time to write my thoughts and feelings.

Cheers!