This morning has been taken up by all the usual elements of a “big
travel” morning – somehow, miraculously, managing to squeeze almost everything
back into the bags you came with (kind of) – handing over a bag or two of
non-essentials (a bottle of dishwashing liquid, boxes of matches, and a few
other such things which can’t be carried on planes or aren’t worth the space
you’d need to take them) to whoever will accept them, and all the excitement of
getting to/checking in at the airport. As I write I’m just about to board the
flight on the first leg home, from Zurich to Bangkok, and by the time you read
this I’ll have been home and back at work for a couple of days. So, to wrap
things up, here are a few facts and reflections from the last month:
- Most border crossings in one day: 6 (I zig-zagged between Austria and Germany A LOT on my way from Salzburg to Innsbruck)
- Most countries in one day: 3 (Poland, Czech Republic, Austria)
- Most steps taken in one day: 40,000+ (the day my FitBit died)
- Regrets: not climbing the Untersberg (the big mountain overlooking Salzburg – but I just wasn’t fit enough at that stage) or Uetliberg (the mountain overlooking Zurich – too tired after alp climbing the day before)
- Highlights: too many to mention them all, but they include climbing my first alp, visiting Auschwitz, learning how to drive on the “wrong” side of the road, my first sight of “real” mountains in Fussen, Germany, and a quiet morning spent in Nonnberg Abbey in Salzburg ...
And on that note, my blogging of this trip is at an end. Thank
you all so much for being “company” while I’ve been away, and particularly to those of you whose emails of love and friendship have brightened many a
homesick evening.
I’ve been pushed to my physical, mental and emotional limits
(sometimes, just a hair over them), which is exactly how I like to travel (and
which simultaneously makes me rather glad that I don’t have the time or the
money to do it too often) - I’ve been challenged in every way, and one way or
another I’ve made it through. After a few days’ quiet rest at home, it will be
time for some new and different adventures.
Until then, danke und auf wiedersehen.