Adventuresome Austria - How to Ski

Repeat after me: You do not have to drink alcohol every night to have fun. You will eventually not be able to ski because you are too hungover.

I can't say that the tiny little ski town in the middle of Austria was prepared for the number of 20-something-year-old travellers it was about to meet. The first day I got there I met the nice people, had some food and immediately went into party mode. Contiki had organised a Shot-Ski night that day, where you could order 17 shots on a ski for about $30AUD. Needless to say, everybody went pretty hard.

Every day was the same (in the best way possible); wake up at about 8am, have a huge free breakfast at the Contiki lodge, head up the mountain, ski until around 3pm (including lunch and hot chocolate at the ice bar), then come back down for a drink (or 6) at the local pub in town. After that it was time for a sauna and shower, followed by dinner and more drinks. Then Contiki would tell us what the plan was for the night - white night, night ski, heading to the pub or just general shenanigans. The only difference was that every day you woke up feeling more rough than the day before!

About a day and a half into what was supposed to be a 4 day trip, my parents called me with the news. Coronavirus had hit Italy - hard. Originally, I had planned to be in Milan with my ex-roommate for the last 3 days of my trip, however, this plan was quickly changing. We tossed and turned and debated whether or not I should cancel the trip, and ended up agreeing that it was better if I just extended my Contiki in Austria. At this stage, COVID was still a bit of a joke to us travellers - little did we know what a mess it would turn into. I thank my lucky stars every day that I didn't end up going to Italy!

Extending my trip wasn't the worst decision in the world, and luckily my roommate had decided to do the same thing. We got to meet more people, improve our skiing techniques, and kill our livers even more than we already had. It ended up being the perfect end to my trip, but mostly because I was so exhausted from it that a 30 hour plane trip sounded like heaven on earth.

As much as I joke, Contiki was a great place to meet people and learn more about the world. I highly recommend a short stint if you can afford it, just make sure you have a bit more willpower than me when it comes to the alcohol!

#travel #austria #contiki