Summer Road Trip

Earlier this month, we hit our 3-year anniversary of living in Switzerland. I'm reflective about our time here, and it feels like a long time ago when we moved. I've recently met some families that are new here, and I've forgotten how much we had to learn. Given that we've been here 3 years, we are also watching some families move on. That's the hard part about being part of an ex-pat community here.

One advantage of meeting new people means it feels like we have friends all over the world. We decided to do a road trip this summer to meet up with friends in new places -- our first extensive roadtrip in Europe covering over 1,800 km and 5 countries in a week. Taking the car meant that we could carry more with us, including the bikes for the kids. We have been used to traveling by train or flying, when we can take bathroom breaks whenever necessary and entertain the kids sitting next to each other. I was a little worried about how well everyone would do in the car over a long journey. When all was said and done, the car trip was a success and we're ready for another!

We tried to travel with stopovers every 5-6 hours. Our first stop was at the Neuschwanstein castle in Germany. I wanted to take the kids there because they recognize the castle. I also remember visiting there with my family 13 years earlier, so I thought it would be a good stop. Unfortunately, the number of tourists there ruined the experience -- I should have known to avoid a castle that is so popular it is often on puzzles. Summer tourist landmarks have been something we have mostly avoided in the past. We learned our lesson.

Rabac, Croatia

So, our next stop was refreshing: small-town Flachau in Austria. It was a great location to decompress for a couple of nights with the kids for hiking and biking. Then, we drove through Slovenia to Croatia. Our destination was in Rabac, the region of Istria (northern Croatia). We met friends there who were visiting family. We enjoyed plenty of trips to the beach to cool off from the heat and loved learning about the local area. Of course, it was very special to catch up with our friends too!

Our last stopover was in Bergamo, Italy -- also exploring a new place through local eyes with friends who were visiting home. An Italian old town on a hill, we enjoyed leisurely strolling through the streets.

And now the kids have been back at school for a month. We had a great summer visiting new places and according to the kids the best things included soccer camp, waterslides and diving boards, swimming in the sea, a ropes course and camping. It was a lot of fun, at home and also away.

first day of school

Until our next adventure...