According to one of our travel books Europe on a shoestring, “Vienna is a city that straddles the past and present with ease. No other city effortlessly combined a rich history that has left behind such remarkable gifts as gothic Stephansdom or baroque Schonbrunn palace with contemporary gems like the Leopold Museum o MuseumsQuartier.”
After the decision was made to cut the trip short by 2 weeks was made through our trek through Slovenia to in light of our backpacker exhaustion, we decided to make a few stops en route to Dusseldorf, Germany .
One such stop was Vienna, Austria. Now, a few weeks back we were pleasantly surprised with Vienna’s sister city to the west, Salzburg, and so we expected somewhat the same this time around.
Maybe its because we were both excited about the concept of going home a bit sooner, maybe it was the refreshing fall weather, or maybe it was just Vienna, but whatever the case, we loved it.
It’s almost as if a city like Vienna enjoys the idea of being nicely tucked into the shadows of neighboring tourist mecca countries like Italy. This allows the city to breathe without the suffocating onslaught of visitors. The end result, a fantastically beautiful city that allows visitors a quiet, comfortable look at the magnificent architecture that is literally on every corner. Just as we would finish pointing out one spot, another would appear, and another, and another. Not one building in the area we walked seemed ordinary or boring.
The scenery just got better as we walked towards the opera house and palace which was in my opinion, the most impressive on our trip.
A gorgeous, understated city with a very cultured feel. You get the feeling a place like this enjoys visitors but knows that the natural beauty of the city is more than enough to quench a traveler’s thirst and leaves it at that.
Thanks Vienna, you were a diamond in the rough.
We’re on the home stretch now, thanks for readin,
adam
How do you build a life around adventure and travel?Intentionally and incrementally. Most families who live this way did not leap from conventional to adventurous overnight. They built remote work capacity, paid down debt, tested longer trips, and had increasingly honest conversations about what they actually want from their lives. The leap feels bigger from outside than from inside.
What does an adventurous family lifestyle actually look like?Different for every family. For some it is long-term travel. For others it is weekend adventures close to home. What connects them is intentionality about how time is spent and a preference for experiences over accumulation. The version that fits your family is the right one.
How do you balance adventure with stability for kids?By finding stability within the adventure rather than treating them as opposites. Routines, rituals, and family rhythms travel with you. Familiar foods, bedtime routines, and predictable family dynamics provide stability even when the location changes. Kids need consistency in relationships more than consistency in geography.
What has travel taught your family?That people are fundamentally similar across cultures in what they want for their families. That comfort zone is a smaller circle than it feels from inside. That the things worth having in life require effort and discomfort to get. And that time together doing hard interesting things is the most reliable source of family closeness.
How do you handle the pressure to live conventionally when you have chosen differently?By getting clear on why you made the choices you made and returning to that clarity when the outside noise gets loud. Most families living unconventionally describe an initial period of explaining themselves that gradually gives way to just living the life. The explaining becomes less necessary as the results become visible.
[…] favorite part of this photo is the reflection of the tree in the water. We just happened to be in Vienna at the perfect time. It was fall and the colors were so impressive. It made the aura of the city […]