Really since I started working in 2021, I dreamed of the day when I could get back to the wild travel I did after grad school that had been abruptly ended by COVID. It turned out that I actually LOVED having a job though. So much so that I kept delaying my dream. Fast forward to this year, I am 31, my job that I loved for the last 6 years went downhill with a new manager, and my relationship was coming to a decisive point. It kind of felt like everything was tanking at once. And I keep telling myself it had to get really bad for me to pull the trigger and do the thing I have always wanted to do while I don’t have kids, don’t have a mortgage, and am in good health. If I don’t do this now, I know I will look back in 10 years and say “you were in the perfect spot to do it and you didn’t- for what?”
Putting in my two weeks was a bit abrupt, but I truly feel I off-boarded my career life in the best possible way to return to corporate America one day and also not be in a financial pinch. I am roughly giving myself 6 months to have my full-blown crashout. But with the abruptness came nearly no planning for what I would ACTUALLY do with 6 months to travel. There were only two things I was sure of: I couldn’t waste a single day of this 6 months and the good weather in Europe would be winding down soon. So, I packed all of my stuff into a storage unit, my dad and I drove my dog home to Indiana, and 1 week from my last day at work I was on a flight to Zurich.
To be honest, the most expensive country in the world may not have been my first pick to start a jobless adventure. But because of my perks with corporate America, I had status for better seats and complimentary checked bags, so I asked my mom the day of my crash out where she would want to go. Switzerland was her top pick and that’s how we ended up spending 4 days in Interlaken. Cheers to my mom, she did rally and get herself packed (and mentally prepared) for a Euro trip very quickly.
There was only one day where I had a major freak out. It was the Sunday before my last week at work and I thought “oh my god. I am really blowing up my life.” And you know what, I haven’t had that thought since. Because at the end of the day, my reward to risk ratio is very high.
So, we booked our three hotels for my mom’s stay and that’s about it. We would have to figure it out on arrival. All I knew was, we didn’t want to be in Zurich and we couldn’t spend all 9 days of my mom being with me in expensive Switzerland, so we opted to split the time between Interlaken and Alsace.
Oddly enough, I had stayed at Balmer’s Hostel in Interlaken during my semester abroad in 2016. It was my first time staying at a hostel- this kid from Indiana literally had never heard of such a thing. I was with some other students from my school in Barcelona and we had a beautiful winter wonderland of a time. I never thought I would be back there.
And here my mom and I were, taking a plane and a train to get there.
Our adventure started as soon as we left the airport when we met this fun group of two couples from Memphis, Tennessee. They were going on a cruise together but spending a few days ahead of it in Switzerland. We chatted them up for an hour while we all waited for the train and learned their flight path had been so badly cancelled and delayed, that their luggage was still in the U.S. Regardless, they were still the perkiest people ever!
We actually landed so early in Zurich, the train was otherwise dead. Even after a two-hour ride to Interlaken, we got to the hotel by 11am. Our room not being ready was probably for the best since we didn’t have a chance to sit down and let jet lag kick in. We walked around the town and stayed out all day, which is exactly what you want to do. It’s about the best I have ever fought jet lag and we had a good normal night of sleep! A freaking miracle for two girlies with sleep issues.
Because we booked this trip so last minute and I was in a rush to get moved out and drive to Indiana, we didn’t plan anything. Like not a single thing. We had our three hotels, flights, and a rental car. We found ourselves at the front desk every night trying to figure out what we should do the next day. (Note: we stayed at Hotel Krebs which was a great location and beautiful complimentary breakfast dining).
Priority #1 became taking the trains to Lauterbrunnen, Mürren, & Grindlewald. Since we aren’t super adventuresome people when it comes to hiking and extreme sports, we were able to fit these all in the same day. We found the Lauterbrunnern waterfall to be very lackluster, likely due to the minimal rainfall, but I still ultimately would not say it’s worth hiking up to. Much cooler from afar. Don’t sleep on the gorgeous cemetery underneath it though!
Mürren was a whole separate gondola to get to. There are some great views and the town is cute, but I don’t ultimately have any must-dos there. I will always regret not getting a MOO-rren sweatshirt though (seriously if you go, I would like a size large please). And what do you know- we ran into our cruise friends again! They had miraculously picked up free swag t-shirts from Nissan at the Nashville airport and were wearing them as their luggage STILL hadn’t arrived. Good reminder to pack at least 2 outfits in your carry-on! But they made the most of it!
Grindlewald is another train away from Lauterbrunnen and a totally different vibe. It was probably my least favorite of the 3 but had the most activities if that is what you are interested in! I got my mom to do a toboggan and a fly line with me. She was so nervous about the toboggan and upon exiting it said “it was too slow.” So, if you are wondering how kid friendly these two combined activities are, the answer is Dawn May and 4+. I will forever kick myself in the butt for not getting a Mürren cow sweatshirt and a red cow bell for my mom. Guess we will have to go back!
Because of how expensive Switzerland is, I was a bit panicked that we would struggle with dining options. I think we got very lucky that the two places we googled ended up being closed/ empty so we ended up walking by a place called Vintage Chuchichästli. It was so delightful we ended up eating here twice. Zurich pork, fondue, schnitzel- all of the Swiss favorites. 10/10 recommend.
The next day, we once again, shocker, had no plans. Rain was up in the air and that dictated some of our decision-making. In the tourism office, we ended up finding a brochure for Ballenberg, a Swiss open-air museum. It’s basically a living history museum.
It took a train and a bus for us to get to. We barely missed the every 30-minute train and I was so frustrated. Thirty minutes wasted sitting on the platform. But as it happens, this ended up being a blessing because the transfer bus in Brienz we took after that, was just us and about 16 little kids. I’m talking ages 7-14. It was the funniest sight to see all of these children on it like a school bus with no parents or guardians. The bus driver was a super jovial guy and would sing on the mic to the kids and honk the horn. Mind you this is the public bus.
I was handing out my ream of Biscoff cookies to the little kids in front of us and my mom asked the older kids what was happening. Apparently, they are not allowed to eat at school and have to commute home for lunch and back. Some kids lived 20 minutes from school. The one boy also told us that they are done with school at 14 and have to get a job. It was incredibly eye-opening to see how much more independent these children are than in the states. For better or for worse, it’s just different. But they were impressive kids nonetheless and chatting with them was a rose of our trip for sure.
Ballenberg- in three hours we covered maybe 20% of it. This place is massive and beautiful. There were sausages smoking in one home, others had gardens and animals, and some were as old as the 1600s. Really authentic way to see some history of Swiss life. I would have loved to see more but our dogs were BARKING.
We took the bus back to town and did a Coop lunch on the water. Everything is so expensive in Switzerland, the only hack to saving is eating at the grocery stores. When the views are absolutely stunning across the lake, this is an easy sell to bring your own grocery store picnic to the waterside. Brienz is also a great spot to go swimming in the lake, so bring your suit! I did not. Very sad.
Our last full day in Interlaken was RAIN. Lots of rain. The clouds hung low in the valley and there was very little visibility to the mountains. I had run my poor mom to death the previous three days that she woke up and said “thank God it’s raining, I need a break.” Lucky for her, we did not get into too many shenanigans before lunch.
The rain died down in the afternoon so we bussed to one end of the lake to take a picture in a spot I had been 10 years prior with some girls from my class. We then bussed to the other end of the lake to a different spot where we were allowed to swim. I had been so sad we missed out on swimming in Brienz and this was our only break in the weather to hop in for a few minutes.
And that pretty much wraps up our 3.5 days in Switzerland! On to ALSACE!
Indiana Jane 