My 15-Minutes of Fame

While I was in Italy, I was asked if I’d like to participate in an article for Apartment Therapy about participating in The Remote Experience. I answered a few questions, sent in a couple of photos and last week, heard from the writer that the article was posted. The next day, it was highlighted in their daily email…with my photo featured! It was actually pretty cool seeing it in my inbox.

Here’s a link to the article if you’d like to read about my trip with The Remote Experience, Jessica with Terminal 3 and Dana with Remote Year.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/remote-work-experience-3-women-took-their-office-global-this-year-235033

The writer actually asked quite a few questions and significantly pared down my answers. Several were interesting questions, and things that we’ve talked about amongst ourselves frequently. So if you’re interested, here are a few:

What advice would you give someone who is interested in/will be participating in a similar program? There will be times that parts of the program annoy or frustrate you. But don’t lose sight of why you chose to be a part of The Remote Experience. Yes, you could have done this by yourself, and yes, for a lot cheaper. But would you have? Knowing you have an instant community, that you’re not flying off to some unknown country by yourself, was a huge comfort for me. And having a company focused on ensuring that I have the ability to work uninterrupted was a big seller for getting my company on board. After two months with The Remote Experience, I feel I can easily do this on my own in the future, that I would feel comfortable being an independent digital nomad. But there’s no way I would have ever gotten to this point without them.

What do you wish you had known before starting this program? That European summers are hot. Like, really, really hot. And AC isn’t used. So be prepared to sweat. A lot. I studied abroad in the fall and spent two weeks in Italy last year in the spring, so I haven’t been here in the heart of summer since I was 11. And I was not prepared for the heat, or the fact that you don’t really get a break from it since AC isn’t common in most stores, restaurants or apartments. On a more practical note, I bought an international cell phone plan through my phone carrier. It’s significantly more expensive than simply getting a new SIM card in each country. I wish I had realized how easy it is to switch out your SIM cards and saved myself a lot of money.

Is there anything that you thought would be hard about this process that turned about to be easy, or vice versa? To be honest, my biggest worry was about working – that others would be here solely to party or recreate their study abroad experience rather than as a professional. Luckily, that hasn’t been the case at all. My other worry was about the people. I was essentially going on a 4-month trip with a group of strangers. So while I knew that I would be living and working with everyone, I had basically prepared myself to be exploring and traveling Europe by myself in case I didn’t click with anyone. And thankfully, the complete opposite happened. Our group is varied in terms of backgrounds, interests and age, but we all share the same adventurous spirit. I feel so fortunate to be sharing this experience with them, to have made 15 friends that I never would have crossed paths with otherwise.

What has surprised you most about this experience? The welcomed flexibility of being social or taking some time for yourself. Most of us had been working remotely prior to coming to Europe. And many of us lived alone in our various cities. So we’re used to a certain level of independence. To be living and working with 10-15 others was a big change. But everyone seems to share the same mentality that if you want to do things with others, great, send a message out and see who is available. But if you need some alone time, everyone understands and there is no judgment; go have lunch by yourself or take a weekend away and meet up with everyone when you’re ready.

Would you like to continue working abroad or are you looking forward to being home again? Would you consider doing it again sometime in the future if not right away? This is a tricky question! Hypothetically, yes, I’d love to continue living abroad. But if I’m being truly honest with myself, it’s probably not a long-term reality at this point in my life. I moved to Chicago 10-months before leaving and am eager to continue to explore the city; at times I feel I know Split or Turin better than I know Chicago! And while my company was very supportive of my going to Europe for 4-months to realize a personal dream, I’m not sure they’d be on board to let me continue this living/working situation indefinitely. All of that being said, I can absolutely see myself living abroad again, possibly for longer than a few months. I’ll just have to see what doors open in the future.

Before I left for a 6-week solo trip to Europe, a friend gave me a card that had a quote inside that really stuck with me, and I think about it all the time when I travel—b/c traveling is amazing, but it’s not always easy—it said: “We don’t remember days, we remember moments.” What has been your favorite moment of the trip so far? I started writing about a solo-trip I took to Zermatt, Switzerland where I skied in the Swiss Alps on July 24^th. While that was pretty incredible, I actually think my favorite moment is much more low-key. Our first night in Torino, we met our local ambassador, Chiara, who invited us over to her apartment to watch the Italy-Germany Euro Cup quarterfinal game. A few of us joined her and about 20 of her neighbors and friends in their apartment courtyard where they were projecting the game onto a wall. I looked around and couldn’t believe how lucky I was, not just to be in Europe, but to be so welcomed by these strangers into their everyday lives. Skiing in the middle of summer in the Alps is simply amazing, but anyone can plan a trip like that. Joining a group of friends to watch a game at their home isn’t something you can ever plan or organize, it’s an experience I never would have had if I weren’t on The Remote Experience. The program provides the opportunity to truly immerse yourself in the local culture, experiencing it as if you live in these cities rather than just visiting.

I Love Switzerland Part II

My whirlwind excursion in Zermatt continued on Sunday. I had seen that you could ski during the summer in Zermatt, but didn’t really put much thought into it considering I didn’t exactly have the clothes or equipment for it. However, Friday night, Jillian informed me that she had rented everything in Interlaken to ski while she studied abroad. I started doing a bit more research and it looked like I could, but the information online about the skiing, gondola, tickets and rentals was all a little confusing, so I dismissed the idea again.

Then I texted my family. I mentioned that I had considered skiing but didn’t think I was going to do it. The gist of the convo was, “skiing on July 24^th…in the Swiss Alps…and you might not do it? Are you crazy!?”

This has no relevance to this section of the post, but I have so many pretty pictures from Switzerland and figured I’d break up the text with an image.

The front desk had been incredibly helpful so far, so I headed downstairs to see what I could figure out. The receptionist was wonderful. She looked up ticket prices, what time the gondola started, how long the mountain stayed open, found a rental shop that would give me clothes and equipment, called them to determine the cost and get their hours and gave me the website so I could check if the mountain was even open (Friday and Saturday were both closed due to high winds).

I enjoyed my fondue while contemplating what I should do. In the end, I decided that yes, it was very expensive, but in 20 years, I think I would have looked back on the weekend and been disappointed that I hadn’t done it.

I woke up at 6:00am to see if the mountain was opened. Yep! I then opened my blinds and saw it was a perfectly clear, bluebird day. I was going skiing!

I filled up on Hotel Bristol’s incredible breakfast buffet (second only to the Danish breakfast smorgasbord my parents and I enjoyed while visiting Copenhagen when I studied abroad) and walked to the ski rental place.

Literally, the Matterhorn is just your beacon all over the town. This was my walk to go skiing.

I was outfitted with pants, jacket, gloves, helmet, goggles, boots, poles and skis. And yes, I felt incredibly gross wearing clothes that had been worn (and sweated in) many, many times.

I hopped on the gondola, which I had to myself, and started the trek up. And up and up and up. The beginning of the ride is beautiful, I was basically going up the same path I hiked the day before.

But then you start to enter the winter wonderland of the Alps, and all you can see is peak after peak of snow-capped mountains.

You also go around the Matterhorn, so you can see it from different angles. I have no idea how people climb it!?

At the top of the gondola, you transfer to a cable car, from which you can see the Swiss Alps, Italian Alps and French Alps.

And finally, 45 minutes later, you are ready to ski!

There were only a couple of runs open and the conditions weren’t great, but I was skiing…on July 24^th…in the Swiss Alps!

For as much as I’ve skied and traveled, I’ve never actually skied outside of the US. The scenery here is so much different.

It was absolutely breathtaking, I can’t imagine what it’s like in the winter. Guess I’ll just have to come back to check it out.

There are signs everywhere warning you to stay on the marked runs, warning of crevices if you don’t. So even though there was only one area open for skiing, I was more than happy making loop after loop. There were no chairlifts in this area so I rode a whole lot of t-bars. The Swiss and Austrian ski teams were both out practicing so it was fun to watch them going down the slalom courses.

The mountain closes at 1:00pm because the snow starts to get so slushy, so I started the trek back down. After the cable car, I realized my ski pass gave me access to the Matterhorn Glacier Paradise, so I checked out the viewing deck.

Back in Zermatt, I quickly stopped at the hotel to drop off my extra layers and headed back out. One of the things I really wanted to do while I was there was try Chez Vrony, a Michelin-nominated restaurant tucked into the mountains above Zermatt. You have to hike or ski to access it (or so I thought) but based on the reviews, it was more than worth it. So off I went.

The hike was no joke! I basically zigzagged my way up switchbacks, straight up a mountain. I was sweating (shocking, I know), huffing, and puffing but kept passing kids, teenagers in converse and jean shorts, overweight parents and old men walking down the hill, looking quite comfortable. Turns out, you can take a gondola up to the same area and simply walk down the mountain. Oh well, I was really earning my lunch! And the views made up for it.

I was starting to think I’d never make it to Findeln, the micro-town where Chez Vrony is nestled, when I turned around a bend and saw a group of chalets. It was like a mirage! It was now 3:30pm, I had been up since 6:00am, not eaten anything since my breakfast buffet, skied a half day and hauled my ass up an entire mountain.

If you are ever in Switzerland, you have to make your way to Zermatt. Not for the Matterhorn. Not for the skiing. Not for the hiking. But for Chez Vrony. I’m not sure if the atmosphere or the food was better.

I spent several hours simply staring at the Matterhorn, enjoying my burger, beer and coffee. I also spent an entire paycheck on my burger, beer and coffee. But it was totally worth it.

While relishing the scenery…

…I was thinking about how glad I was that I went on this solo trip to Switzerland. My friend Missy has taken several solo-trips and she absolutely loves them. I have done business trips by myself, but never an actual vacation. And to be honest, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like it. When I booked my train to Zermatt, I knew there was a possibility I’d be coming by myself. A few other girls had contemplated coming and until Friday afternoon, two were still thinking about it. But they decided to go to the sea instead and I headed up into the mountains by myself. And I see why Missy likes it so much. You’re 100% on your own schedule. Oh, I feel like skiing today? No problem, there’s no one else I need to think about. So it’s truly a personal vacation all about you. I’m not sure I could do much more than a long weekend and I liked that I had so many activities to keep myself busy, but I’m so glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and did it.

Turns out, solo vacations also increase the number of selfies taken exponentially.

I feel asleep that night so worn out, but also so happy and content. What an amazing couple of days, ones I won’t soon forget!

I Love Switzerland Part I

After about 5-minutes in the Italian Alps, I knew that I had to make it to the Swiss Alps, Torino was so close. I had originally wanted to go to both Zermatt and Chamonix, but a bit of research made it very clear that would be a big endeavor for a weekend trip. Zermatt was a bit easier and faster to get to, and to be honest, I was leaning towards the Swiss Alps vs. the French Alps all along.

I had a 6:00am train out of Torino on Saturday morning and despite three trains and two transfers, I was in Zermatt before 11:00am. Zermatt is car free and the train station is right in the middle of town. You step out and you’re in a picturesque Swiss mountain village.

This is literally the train station!

 As I was walking to my hotel, I crossed the bridge, looked to my right and BAM, there’s the Matterhorn towering impressively over the town. Even partially cloud covered, it was an incredible sight; it’s just so big and it’s the only snow-capped mountain peak you see between a couple of green hills.

My hotel was perfect. Right in the middle of town and a wonderful little balcony.

I dropped off my stuff, grabbed a quick lunch and headed out on a hike recommended by the hotel owner. Downtown Zermatt feels a bit like other mountain towns (except obviously authentic) but as soon as you get off the main street, it’s pure Swiss.

All hiking paths are clearly marked with difficulty level, direction and time to destination.

So even though I was hiking by myself, I really didn’t have any concerns about getting lost. Additionally, I passed a ton of people, all of whom would say “hi”. Within the first 30 minutes, I had heard English, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese, French, Swedish and a few others I couldn’t distinguish.

The views were just incredible. I’ll let the photos explain:

The best part about hiking in Switzerland is you happen upon random 400-year-old towns, most of which are still occupied by restaurants or cafés.

When I got the Zmutt, I stopped for a café latte, enjoying the brisk weather and the fact that I wasn’t sweating…for the first time in two months.

I had brought a bottle of Nebbiolo wine that I picked up at Mustela Winery when we visited and I enjoyed a few glasses on my balcony, watching the sunset.

I glanced down at one point and saw a huge crowd on the bridge. I hurried down and saw that the clouds had dissipated from the top Matterhorn and we had a more clear view of the mountain in all of its glory.

I took a few selfies then asked a woman if she would mind snapping a quick picture of me. Her husband did it instead and took a few very unflattering pictures. He was from Zermatt although he and his wife now live in Bern. He really wanted to share some pictures of the Matterhorn with me (obviously proud of his hometown) so here are some professional pictures he AirDropped over:

What first day in Switzerland is complete without fondue? I enjoyed a traditional cheese fondue with potatoes and bread.

When the waiter came over to ask if I was done, he grabbed my pot and said, “You’re leaving the best part! Let me show you how Swiss do this.” He proceeded to scrape up all the burned cheese so I could enjoy the last few bites. Thank goodness he showed me the ways!