“Traveling – it leaves you speechless, then turns you into a storyteller” – Ibn Battuta
Have you ever visited a new location and thought to yourself, I never want to leave? Or, I’d come back here again and again? What was it about that special place that made it a favorite? The actual geographic location? The scenery? The people? The person or people you traveled with? The food (or wine)? Or a combination of all of the above?
When I think about the place I have strongly considered moving to when I leave the full-time gig as a professor, my mind immediately goes to MÜrren, Switzerland. Maybe it’s because it was a part of my first international trip, outside of Mexico and Canada, maybe it was because I just could not get over the view of the Jungfrau, Mönch and Eiger across the valley, or maybe it was the very kind people. Either way, I wasn’t even on the funicular to get back to Lauterbrunnen before I knew I’d be back.
Here’s the background: I was a Ph.D. student at Syracuse University and had a research paper accepted for presentation at a conference in Jerusalem, Israel. Not only did I not have a passport, I had no idea what I was getting myself into with that trip. But, that’s a story for another day. Because so much of my travel expenses were being covered by the university, I asked my very dear friend and fellow PhD student if she wanted to do a loop around Europe after the trip to Jerusalem. She was down for it all, so the planning began. Think pre-Internet, or at least real Internet. I relied on my handy travel book covering all of Europe–pro tip, not always the reference source you should be going with–and starting making hotel reservations.
My friend and I had a grand plan to leave from Amsterdam, where we had arrived from Tel Aviv, rent a car, and make a giant loop through the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany and then back to Amsterdam. In one week. Who knew that might not be the best idea? However, when checking out hotel recommendations from my travel book, it was noted that if you can take the extra time to get to MÜrren, it was worth the time. I booked a room at the Hotel Eiger, which had rooms that directly faced the three mountain peaks. After so many travel snafus and issues (think, no GPS, using an outdated road map, and these countries hadn’t yet moved to the Euro so we had all kinds of currency floating around in our pockets). But, each country was beautiful and magical, and despite the logistical challenges, we were having a great time cruising around with Orangina and French bread loaves in the back of our rental car.
We arrived in Lauterbrunnen after driving up through the windy road of the valley. Literally, neither of us had any idea of what was way up above us because of the clouds. We transferred our bags onto the funicular (think rail car hugging a mountain) and made our way up to 5,450 feet. MÜrren is part of the Bernese Oberland, known for year-round events but especially known for its skiing for advanced skiers, magnificent hiking in the summer, and snowshoeing in the fall and spring.
We transferred from the funicular to a train in GrÜtschalp, and then as the train made its way into the pedestrian-only village, the view of the mountains opened up. It was the most spectacular thing I had ever seen. We were traveling in June, so there wasn’t snow on the ground but snow covered the three mountain peaks. Adrian from the Hotel Eiger met us at the train station and took our luggage into the hotel (just across the street). From this point on, all I remember is being amazed time and again at the mountains, the flowers, the chalets all around, the cows popping into view as we walked along the village, and the people. The people were so friendly and nice even though we didn’t know a word of German and totally struggled in French.
We ate the best meals of our lives at Eiger StÜbli. I’ll never forget it.
We had about 24 hours in MÜrren, and we made the most of it. We took the gondola to the Piz Gloria at the top of the Schiltorn, and then made our along the Northface Trail, one of the easier trails out of MÜrren. Then, we were back on the train and funicular to get to our rental and head on over to Innsbruck, Austria.
It was several years before I was able to return to Switzerland, but I did so in grand fashion–with eight students in tow as a part of the International Journalism course I was teaching. We stayed at the Hotel Eiger and had more time to explore the surrounding area. I returned again a year later with my mom when my dad gifted her a trip to Switzerland when I had to be in Germany for a conference, and again, we stayed in MÜrren and at the Hotel Eiger. My last visit was in 2011, again with a much larger group of students, and again, we all stayed at the Hotel Eiger. You see a theme here, right?
Over the years, I’ve thought about how to get back there for even longer. There’s much hiking to be done, much mountain viewing to be done, and I found that I was at my center unlike any other place before or after. I loved the idea of renting a chalet and working on my research, writing, and just taking a breather from it all. I’ve found many AirBnB options and am just waiting for the opportunity to make it happen.
And it will. One day. I have determined there have to be times when we allow ourselves the opportunity to return to the places and time when stress is lifted, at least somewhat, when we feel at peace, and when we feel like we can truly take it all in without worrying about the next stop or keeping caught up on work emails or whatever else it is that can keep us from living in the moment.
One of the best tips I ever got was from a former colleague who was 22 years senior to me in academia. He told me to never lose track of who you really are, even though it is so easy to get lost in the moment and the chaos of that moment, and to never forget a place that keeps you centered, grounded, happy, and full.
I haven’t figured out when my next trip will be, but I know when I take it, I’ll not have anyplace else on the itinerary, and I’ll make the time to take in the full experience, to hike along those trails that I always put in my “save for later” box, learn a little bit of German, learn to bake like a German, and have even more conversations with the people in that tiny village.
Find your place. Return to your place. Allow yourself to move outside of your comfort zone and pave your own trail.
“Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Tales from a Solo Girl Traveling the World 