Cassandra Overby - Explore Europe on Foot: Your Complete Guide to Planning a Cultural Hiking Adventure

EXPLORE
EUROPE
ON FOOT

EXPLORE EUROPE ON FOOT

YOUR COMPLETE GUIDE TO PLANNING A CULTURAL HIKING ADVENTURE

CASSANDRA OVERBY

For Mac, my knight in shining armor, my favorite travel companion
and the one who works an office job so I dont have to

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Copyright 2018 by Cassandra Overby

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Printed in China

Distributed in the United Kingdom by Cordee, www.cordee.co.uk

First edition, 2018

Copyeditor: Kris Fulsaas

Cover & book design: Jen Grable

Cartographer: Lohnes+Wright

All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted

Cover photographs (clockwise from top left): In Englands Lake District, youll walk past charming old buildings and hardy sheep. (Photo John Hodgson) | On Portugals Rota Vicentina Fishermens Trail, the weather is typically warm, so a chilled glass of local wine makes for an excellent post-hike snack. | In Cinque Terre, youll wander through a series of vibrant seaside towns. | On Icelands Laugavegur Trek, stunning scenery takes center stage. (Photo Thomas Fick).

Back cover photographs (from top): Bachalpsee Lake, near Switzerlands Alpine Pass Route | A must-do in Turkey: tea time with locals | Enjoy the wonderful variety of castles on walks in France and Germany. Frontispiece: Switzerlands Alpine Pass Route is at its best midsummer, when the wildflowers are in bloom. , bottom: Metric route signs

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file

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ISBN (paperback): 978-1-68051-107-9

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-68051-108-6

Once upon a time, when I was in my early twenties, I saved up $18,000 to fulfill one of my all-time biggest life goals: a trip around the world. I decided to kick things off in Guatemala by volunteering at an orphanage and then bouncing around to different cities. Heres the part Ive always been embarrassed about: after three months in Guatemala, I called it quits and went back home with all but $1,000 still in my bank account. I felt like the biggest (and weirdest) failure: Who saves up for a bucket-list trip like that and then decides theyd rather be at home?

At first, I couldnt explain it to myself, let alone anyone else. A lot of my identity was wrapped up in travelingId lived abroad twice in college and traveled extensively beyond that. It was what I thought about, dreamed about, worked multiple jobs at a time to save up for. So what gave?

The answer didnt bode well for my future as a traveler: I no longer found fulfillment in sightseeing. I was tired of long lines, loud tourists, bus exhaust and expensive attractions. I was fed up with how inauthenticand global, not localinternational travel had become; it seemed like no matter what city I was visiting, it was American pop music that played on the radio and french fries that were the side dish of choice.

Figuring my time as a gypsy was over, I threw all of my extra money and enthusiasm in the opposite direction: home. I focused on my community and got an office job. I bought a car. As determined as I had been to travel the world, I was now determined to stay in one placeand enjoy it.

Flash forward three years and just imagine my surpriseand, yes, dismaywhen I met the man Id eventually marry, and he told me that his big dream was to do a months-long grand tour of Europe. Oh, and he wanted me to go with him.

I knew at the time that it was a make-or-break-the-relationship kind of request. What I didnt know was that my eventual decision to join him would lead to an epiphany on trail in Switzerland, the healing of my rift with travel and a new life calling to spread the word that there is a better, more authentic way to travel.

A Better Way to Travel

In 2015 my then-boyfriend and now-husband, Mac, and I launched out on our grand tour of Europe. Because we planned on traveling for five months, we wanted to pace ourselves; because of my disillusionment with travel, we also wanted to live like locals instead of tourists. So we started taking long walks wherever we were; it was about the slowest and most local way we could think of to explore not only the cities but the countryside we were passing through.

We didnt expect these long walks to become the most enjoyable part of our trip, but they soon did. After a series of outstanding one-day wanders through the likes of the Loire Valley of France and Cinque Terre of Italy, we excitedly planned a multiday walk along the Alpine Pass Route that runs from east to west across Switzerland.

I thought I was ready for the APR. After all, Im from the Pacific Northwest, where we have our share of skyscraping mountains, remote alpine passes and glacier-fed rivers. Ive hiked extensively in Montana and Colorado. But nothing could have prepared me for the exquisiteness of the Alps. It was the most incredible place Id ever beenenchanting and magical, like The Sound of Music come to life.

There was nothing subtle about its beauty; it held nothing back. And for six days, we discovered deep valleys with lush grass and lazy rivers as well as windswept peaks where patches of snow stubbornly refused to melt in the hot sun and fat marmots played hide-and-seek. Our favorite part was the endless pastures of impossible green that clung to the sides of the mountains like a lover. Here, small farms nestled in the folds of the hills and thousands of cows dotted the landscape, filling our ears with the constant soft tinkling of cowbells. Wildflowers crept up to the edge of our footpath, swaying provocatively in the slightest breeze and freely giving up their intoxicating scent so that even if I closed my eyes, there was no doubt about where we were.

The walking itself was as good as the landscape we were passing through. For six days, we got up early each morning, eager to hit the trail while the air was still brisk and breakfast warmed our bellies. By noon, wed been walkingand exploringfor hours: small farms selling milk and cheese on the honor system, tiny chapels offering generations-old art and the promise of a short rest, quaint villages showcasing the best of rustic Alpine architecture, with its wooden buildings and overflowing boxes of fire pokerred geraniums.