Week 201-205: Canyoning, Paragliding, 7 days of rain, 7 year anniversary, and Final Four Champs!

In our last recap, we announced our plans to head back home, with 12 weeks left before the move. In real life, week 200 was 5 weeks ago and now we’re down to just 50 days! Time has flown by, and we’ve struggled to get back into our regular posting schedule—life has been moving fast, and so have the weeks.

Instead of trying to catch up post by post, I’m rolling everything into this update. The last five weeks have been packed with lots of softball, a few epic adventures, and some major milestones!

Here’s what we’ve been up to–

Week 201

We had another canyoning adventure in Salzburg through the Strubklamm Gorge. This time was much longer, a lot higher, and more intense than our last canyoning experience in Week 189, but we loved every second of it.

To book this excursion, click here

We were in a group with five other friendly German guys who kindly translated for us since our guide didn’t speak English. Their help made navigating the rocks, pools, and narrow streams much smoother.

*Jumping into the Straubklamm at the same time*

We had two snack breaks to refuel along the way… sitting in a pool, in a gorge, in the middle of Austria, with cold drinks and miniature candies provided by the guide felt like a core memory. I imagine we will think back to this day often when we move back to the States.

After our second snack break, we got to tackle a nerve-wracking eleven-meter jump (that is 36 feet for our non-European readers.)

We all did it! I guess the old-time saying “Would you jump off a bridge if your friends did?” proved to be true (under the right circumstances and safety precautions, of course). The guide and one of the other guys climbed a bit higher and jumped from 15 meters.

The guys captured the whole experience on their GoPro (a lifesaver since our GoPro met an unfortunate end in Sardinia), giving us some awesome footage to remember the day. All in all, the Strubklamm Gorge was exhilarating, exhausting, and worth it—an adventure for anyone craving a thrill in Austria!

Week 202

The adventures continued in week 202 as I ran off the side of the Gaisberg on a tandem paragliding excursion with Hannah on her last day in Austria before returning to America.

To book this excursion, click here

It’s hard to plan a paragliding trip. The weather has to be perfect. We have tried a few times to go again over the past few years and it has never worked in our favor. So to be able to go spontaneously in week 202 was exciting!

I paraglided from the Dachstein in 2021 with my family in weeks 41-43. That experience was a bit more thrilling as it was in the Alps and much closer to the mountains for the ride down.

Yet, floating high above the city of Salzburg with faint Alps in the background was nothing short of magical. The feeling of freedom up there, coupled with the breathtaking views made it a perfect last activity for Hannah to remember Austria by.

We ended week 202 at Gmunden’s street food festival. We love this festival and have been coming to it every year since we arrived.

It’s a free event that takes place in the town center. It features over 100 different foods from the best local and international food trucks. This year’s cool treat was ice cream from Black Monkey!

Week 203

A few days after the festival ended, it began to rain and didn’t stop for seven days.

News reports stated this was the worst flooding in over 20 years. The heaviest damage was in Lower Austria, but Upper Austria saw some damage too. The dock at the rowing club across the street from us was completely submerged and the paths around the park were covered with several inches of water.

*The rain also brought early snow to the mountains*

Week 204

This week brought a halt to the rain and allowed us to celebrate our 7-year wedding anniversary!

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A post shared by Sarah Hollis (Frazer) (@sarahhollis44)

We went out to dinner and reflected on how our third anniversary back in 2020 was preparing to move abroad and now here we are on our seventh preparing to move back home 🇦🇹✈️🇺🇸

We’re super sad and also pretty excited about new beginnings and all the adventures still ahead.

Week 204 was also the week my softball team won the final four championships!

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For the first time in club history, we took 1st place in the final four of the Austria Softball Bundesliga 2., marking a huge milestone for our team, club, and city.

Like almost every game this season, Eric took over the photographer responsibilities!

On top of the team victory, I also took home two personal awards – ”the best batter” of the season and a “golden glove” for having no errors in my position.

Week 205

Last but not least, week 205. This past week was spent preparing to fly to Illinois for a week to search for a house.

Since we can only have one pet per person on the flight back, we will be bringing Denzel back with us and he will stay with his grandparents in Kentucky until we can officially move back.

We made sure to take him up to see the mountains for one last look before he goes back to the Illinois cornfields.

Tune into my Instagram tomorrow as we will try to capture the journey of taking our cat across the world :)