View from the top of Crans-Montana, Switzerland
If you are considering living abroad, or even just getting out and adventuring more, there is one important thing you must do. You have to actually get out and do it! It stinks to be the one to break it to you hard, but it is true.
I have always found it hard to actually act on my wishes and go traveling. Going to school during the week and then having the weekends free- I really just want to sit at home and play computer games with my boyfriend, or scrapbook, or knit. Although that would be nice, each time I need to remind myself of how much I like to get out and explore. And the fact that my boyfriend and I also have regional train passes, so there really is no excuse not to get the most out of them.
We have tried to plan a trip two times a month, and this worked, up until the time that family comes to visit or we get too busy. We are working on getting back on schedule. I would really like to use our time over here to visit most if not all of the countries in Europe. The plane tickets from Germany to any European country would definitely be much cheaper than from the US to a European country!
Honestly, the plane tickets range from 50-600 Euros. I could not believe that plane tickets were available for under 500 Euros. Knowing this, I really want to get the most out of the fact that we are optimally geographically located for European adventures!
So far, we have been to Italy, the Netherlands, and Portugal (but Portugal was on a 10 hour layover). WE decided that this winter break, when we both had some time off, we wanted to go snowboarding. We are avid snowboarders, but I am sorry to say that my boyfriend’s experience with ski hills was Granite Peak in Wausau, Wisconsin, which mainly consists of ice and lots of steep, black diamond slopes (the hardest), in addition to Indianhead, a larger mountain with mainly blue square runs- medium level steepness.
I have also been to the same resorts, in addition to a few in Montana, which were mainly blue square (medium) or green dot (the easiest) level. We have never been on a run longer than three minutes, which is quite short considering all the bigger mountain ranges in the Rockies and all over the world.
We have just finished up our first day in Switzerland, and are pleased to report that the runs here are about 15 minutes for a straight-shot and no stops. We have never even thought such runs existed, and it makes snowboarding so much more enjoyable.
The sum of my story is, that wherever you are, whatever you have for daily chores and responsibilities, get out there and also devote time to following your passion, be it snowboarding, traveling, writing, or taking photos. You are the one who has to make time for your passion, it won’t just fall in your lap.
Lucas and I pushed ourselves to come to Switzerland and go snowboarding, when the money was still kind of tight, and when we really could have also used a week relaxing at home. If we would have done that, we would have missed out on the wonderful and hospitable hotel owner, the longest ski runs in our lives, some of the kindest and friendliest people we have met in Europe (but we haven’t been to many places here, so don’t quote me on it), and the best home-made breakfast in the world (it turns out our hotel owner also runs a restaurant on the side).
We got to experience what it was like to snowboard with mountains staring you in the face. I swear I spent half an hour of the first run partially sitting on the slope to rest, but mainly to sit there and stare in awe at the beautiful mountains. They are so tall, craggy, peaked, jagged, and look beautiful looming over the valley in their blankets of snow.
I am so thankful we took this opportunity to go and explore another country. Which country will we travel to next?
“He who is outside his door has the hardest part of the journey behind him” – Dutch Proverb
Little plug for the best bed, breakfast and restaurant: Cafe Cher-Mignon et Chambres d’hotes, Route de Tzanveulle 16, 3971 Chermignon-d’en Haut, Switzerland
Click here for the link through Bookings.com