Events described in this story happened on Friday the 12th of July, 2019. We paddled Zucchini from Au an der Donau to Grein in Austria. We crossed state borders from Oberösterreich (Upper Austria) to Niederösterreich (Lower Austria). This was a distance of 28.8 kilometers. One Night in Au an der Donau Our one night in our ‘wooden tent’ was quite pleasant. We woke up to the murmurs of early risers in the tents next to our fancy tent. Most of these people are doing a long-distance cycling trip, like along the Donauradweg (Danube bike path). Mornings are tough on all of us,Continue reading
Europe
Here you’ll find lots of articles about my hitchhiking and kayaking travels in Europe. As you may know, Europe is my ‘homing’ continent where I’ll – like a stinky pigeon – always return to even if I’m trying to stay away from it. And to be honest, it’s not bad; there’s always more to explore.
I undertook many of my trips around Europe while at university in Maastricht (the Netherlands) and Aarhus (Denmark). That’s why I dropped out. I honed my hitchhiking skills here and set the most personal records and firsts such as:
- First solo hitch: from Kirkenes Airport in Norway to Kirkenes town with a military guy with his son
- Longest distance hitched in 24 hours: ~1200 kilometers from Maastricht (the Netherlands) to somewhere east of Lubljana (Slovenia)
- Most hours in one ride: 3 days with one British driver with a rental car in southern Spain and Portugal (his contract said he couldn’t take the car across the border)
- First plane hitch: over Malta (A to A)
- Longest sailing yacht hitch: from Corfu (Greece) to Malta, which was 340 nautical miles over 2.5 days. Here’s my CrewBay profile
Besides hitchhiking, I also kayaked a long distance in Europe down the Danube river in an inflatable canoe named Zucchini. But before I did that trip with my partner Jonas, I returned to university to finish my degree to erase my student debt. Thesis here.
As you can see, it’s not always a fun continent for me; it’s also the locus of worry about the people and pets I’m close to, of bureaucratic fuckery, and of most of my childhood memories. For most of my life, Europe has tied me down. Now I’m trying to experience it from a place of choice and freedom.
If you are not interested in the Danube trip, you can click this link to not show the Danube posts.
Kayak Trip Day 25: Linz to Au an der Donau
The events in this article happened on Thursday the 11th of July, 2019. We paddled our dear boat Zucchini from Linz – the capital of Upper Austria – to a village named Au an der Donau. This is a distance of 27.6 kilometers. Our Stay in Linz We stayed in Linz for six days in an Airbnb. We got a lot of important things done, like laundry and me giving Jonas a haircut. While the Airbnb was very, very nice, our initial experience of the city didn’t change. I really tried to like it, but I just didn’t. And IContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 24: Aschach to Linz
Events chronicled in this post happened on the 5th of July, 2019. We paddled 25.3 kilometers from the town Aschach an der Donau to Linz in Austria. Linz is the capital of the state of Oberösterreich (Upper Austria). Then in Linz we’d take a break from paddling for a little while. Leaving Aschach an der Donau for Linz We spent two nights and one day in Aschach an der Donau. In the day, we worked on our own projects from our hotel Josepa Hirsch. We mostly went out to eat, do the shopping for the continuation of our trip, andContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 23: Kobling to Aschach an der Donau
Events in this story happened on July 3rd, 2019. We paddled our inflatable canoe named Zucchini from a village called Kobling to the bigger town Aschach an der Donau in Austria. The total distance was 16.6 kilometers. We stayed in Aschach for two nights. Leaving Kobling for Aschach an der Donau We only stayed in the hotel Idylle am Donauufer for one night. They only served breakfast at 8:00, so we slept in more than we’re used to by now. We ate our breakfast, chugged some hot coffee, and prepared two sandwiches for the voyage. Then we brush teeth, finishContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 22: Engelhartszell to Kobling
The happenings in this story occurred on the 2nd of July, 2019. We paddled our trusty inflatable canoe Zucchini on the Danube river from Engelhartszell to Kobling. Both towns are in the Austrian state of Oberösterreich. We paddled 22.8 kilometers between the two towns. Our Stay in Engelhartszell This is Jonas’ first time here. He’s a German passport-holder who has lived in Australia but has never visited Austria before. And even though one probably shouldn’t draw conclusions based on the experiences made in a peripheral border town, his first impressions aren’t bad. It’s like Germany, but with faster internet. TheContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 21: Passau to Engelhartszell – A Border Crossing
This story reflects the events on the 30th of June, 2019. We paddled Zucchini – our inflatable canoe – from Passau in Germany to Engelhartszell in Austria. This was our first international border crossing. We also encountered other paddlers from the TID (Tour International Danubien) on this 25.4-kilometer stretch. This is what happened. Our Stay in Passau We’re spending quite a bit of time indoors in Passau. Not only because it’s very very hot outside and often very busy, but also because we have other things to do: I need to write stories, Jonas needs to write code. Together weContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 20: Vilshofen to Passau
Events from this post happened on Thursday the 27th of June, 2019. We paddled our magnificent inflatable canoe Zucchini from a town called Vilshofen an der Donau to Passau. Passau is the big city at the confluence of the Danube + Inn + Ilz rivers. It’s also the last major stop before the Danube flows into Austria. Our Stay in Vilshofen an der Donau Vilshofen an der Donau is an incredibly sweet little town. Its city center is well-maintained and the dining scene quite lively. On the evening of our arrival, we ate burgers in one of these hip burgerContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 19: Deggendorf to Vilshofen an der Donau
The events chronicled in this story happened in the real world on Tuesday the 25th of June, 2019. We paddled Zucchini the inflatable canoe from Deggendorf to Vilshofen an der Donau on the Danube river. That’s a distance of about 36 kilometers. Our Stay in Deggendorf We stayed two nights in the NH Parkhotel in Deggendorf. I was planning to write a lot and work on my blog posts, but the internet didn’t work on my computer. Jonas spent ages trying to make it work, but it never did. I quickly got demotivated from writing as well, so in theContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 18: Straubing to Deggendorf
On the 23rd of June, 2019, Jonas and I paddled Zucchini from Straubing to Deggendorf. This was a distance of about 35 kilometers. These are the events of that day. Our Stay in Straubing We stayed in an Airbnb room-in-a-house for four nights in Straubing. Our host was a very friendly man who left us a plate of cherries and berries in the kitchen each morning. The internet was super fast and the room really great. Jonas and I previously had not such a great experience with renting a room in a house, but in Germany, we’ve never regretted it.Continue reading