Munich to Venice - an Australian's Experience

Guest blog from Sean Paul.  Sean is a 19 year old Australian who completed the hike from Munich to Venice in 2015.  Although keen on the outdoors, this was his first trip to the Alps and the first time he had hiked for more than 4 days. 

Australians by nature tend not to be mountain faring folk. Whether it be our generally flat geographical disposition, our love of the beach and open plains, our laid back and easy going temperament or a combination of all, we are just not that suited for the mountains. Maybe I am over generalising, although the Germans, Italians, Israelis and even other Australians I met while away all seemed to look at me with the same slightly confused, slightly amused look that you would give a ski instructor at Bondi beach. But there comes a time in every boy’s life when he wants to do something that blurs that line between adventure and foolishness, for me that was to hike from Munich to Venice by myself with the assistance of a German guidebook.

Being the nineteen year old that I am, one can easily imagine the lack of preparation that went into such a task; from my pack that weighed nearly twice that of my German counterparts, my complete lack of training and my inability to understand anything in the guidebook aside from pictures and numbers. But then again, it wouldn’t be an adventure without some obstacles.

All this being said, it was probably one of the greatest decisions of my life to tackle this trek. It was truly everything I was looking for, some of the most beautiful scenery on this planet, an environment that essentially forces you to make friends (communal bunking tends to do that) and every day presenting a new challenge and adventure. Every time I reached a mountain peak or crossed a valley floor I felt truly alive. Every time I climbed a near vertical steel cable or skated across a glacier I felt true joy. Every friend I made along the way and every sip of beer at the end of a hard day made the entire struggle worth it. This trek has the perfect level of freedom and drive to allow you to set your own pace and achieve the goals that you set for yourself. Whether you decide to go alone or in a group, you will push yourself in a way that yields personal growth and new knowledge about yourself. If anything, you will come away with an intense sense of achievement that you hiked over some of the most rugged mountain ranges in the world.

I guess what I learnt most on the hike was that when a German laughs at you for your lack of preparation; sometimes they may know something you don’t. But then again there is a lot of fun in finding out what that something is.