Day 101 - Last Full Day in Austria

We were up at the usual time. Coffee. Breakfast. That familiar rhythm that has shaped this entire season. But instead of layering up for the mountain, we were pulling everything out of cupboards. Sorting. Folding. Deciding what stays and what goes. There’s something emotional about packing up a life you’ve settled into, even if it’s only temporary.

There were a few last bits to sort on the laptop. Loose ends. Bookings checked. Files organised. All the tiny admin jobs that quietly stack up before a departure day.

Emmett spent the entire day down at the Austrian family’s house, just playing and hanging out. No packing stress. No sorting. Just being a kid and soaking up one last day with mates. It was probably the perfect way for him to finish this chapter.

Maddie stayed with us at the accommodation. Between helping out here and there, she set herself up with craft projects. She cut her jeans into shorts, tweaked a few other bits of clothing, and made little creative pieces with what we had lying around. It was calm, productive, and very her. While the house slowly emptied into piles and bags, she quietly created something new.

I headed into town to find an ATM and pull out some cash. I also dropped a bag of clothes into a charity bin, just things we didn’t need anymore. It felt good to lighten the load, even slightly.

Maddie came along for the drive at one point, wanting to be dropped back at the accommodation before I continued on to the Austrian family’s place to clean out the hire car and sort the ski gear. I borrowed their vacuum and spent about an hour and a half properly cleaning the car. Snow, gravel, crumbs. Evidence of over 100 days of life on the road. It’s wild how quickly a car becomes a moving storage unit.

Then I realised I’d left all the snowboarding boots in the drying room back at the accommodation. Of course I had. So Maddie had to bring them down. One last logistical hiccup to finish the Austrian chapter properly.

We dropped off Emmett’s snowboard and boots, Maddie’s skis, Kia’s boots and helmet, Maddie’s helmet, Nanette’s helmet, and all the goggles. The rest of the gear had been borrowed from the Austrian family. They cleaned and oiled the edges before putting everything back into storage. They even offered to photograph and list our gear on a local ski marketplace to help us sell it. That kind of generosity doesn’t go unnoticed.

It felt strange handing it all over. That gear represented falls, breakthroughs, frustration, courage, confidence. Big ski days. Cold hands. Long chairlift chats. And now it’s gone.

Back at the room, there was more cleaning and more packing before a quick lunch. I took the drone out for one last flight to capture the area from above, but it wasn’t playing nicely. There’s a helicopter pad nearby, and the restrictions were tight. It wouldn’t let me fly higher than 30 metres or further than 50 metres from where I took off. It made wide shots almost impossible. I grabbed what I could and called it a day.

Later, Kia and I went for one final walk through the countryside. The quiet roads. The farms. The open space. The mountains sitting calmly in the background. We’ve walked those roads a lot over the past weeks. Sometimes deep in conversation. Sometimes barely speaking. Just moving. Just breathing. You don’t realise how attached you become to simple landscapes until you’re about to leave them.

Dinner was pizza at the Austrian family’s place with the Norwegians there too. Kids running around. Stories being retold. Laughter. Gratitude. It wasn’t dramatic or emotional. It was warm and real. The kind of goodbye that doesn’t need to be big to mean something.

We got home late, which isn’t ideal with an early start ahead of us. But some nights are worth stretching for.

Day 101 wasn’t exciting or glamorous. It was a closing chapter kind of day. Cleaning properly. Returning what we borrowed. Letting go of the winter gear. Saying thank you. Wrapping it all up with intention.

Austria has been huge for us. Growth. Resilience. Friendships. Meltdowns. Breakthroughs. Cold mornings and big ski days.