Greetings fellow travelers from Vienna, Austria!
I originally started this travelogue in 2025 for our RV trips – but for the new year I am going to expand it to all of our family trips. I also plan to incorporate some short video clips in addition to the normal snapshot pictures in future entries. I hope you will enjoy some of the new content over this trip.
The 2026 travel schedule is a full one – and there will be some great content. We have a couple of cruise trips to write about – one to the United Kingdom (U.K.) and the other along the Nile River in Egypt. Additionally, we have RV trips planned to Bend, Oregon; Walla Walla, Washington; Priest Lake, Idaho; the McMinnville Wine & Food Festival, McMinnville, OR; and RV@Olympic in Port Angeles, WA (thanks to Brooks and the RV Out West podcast for this one). Noel and I will also do at least one overnight backpacking trip in Eastern Washington or Eastern Oregon. In short – there will be a lot to write about and document in 2026!
I am consistently amazed that I can wake up, ride the Peloton, take Aurora for a walk, catch an Uber to the Tri-Cities Airport (Pasco, WA) – and poof – several hours later I am in Europe! It is easy to forget how easy it is to travel these days – the world is such a smaller place than it was 100 years ago.
This early 2026 trip to Europe will take me to three places I have never visited – Vienna, Austria; Prague, Czechia; and Athens, Greece.
The “where” will sound cool for my arm chair travelers reading this – but the “why” for the trip is more important.
Andrew is doing a post-doc in Stuttgart, Germany at the Max Planck Institute and had suggested over the past couple of years that with a “semi-retired dad” maybe I could come over and spend a week or more traveling with him to some new places in Europe. During the same time period, Noel was elected to the IEEE Board of Directors and needed a “plus one” for her board meeting – which happened to be in Athens. Put the two together and we have a kick-ass time planned for the next couple of weeks.
My flights for this trip are on Delta Airlines – and were thankfully non-eventful and largely on-time. The airline food was tasty and I caught a few hours of sleep in my slightly reclined airline seat. Following what felt like a 1 mile walk, I was able to get into the KLM Crown Lounge (you gotta love the Delta American Express Card perks) for a quality coffee, an internet connection, and a comfortable place to sit in Amsterdam while awaiting my connecting flight to Vienna.
My flight from Amsterdam to Vienna was a short one with just over 1 hour and 20 minutes in the air – upon landing and picking up my luggage – I made my way to the Marriott Hotel in the City Center via Taxi. I will spend tomorrow learning the public transportation system to get around Vienna.
Until next time …
Kirk’s Travelogue 