How Austria Unexpectedly Became One of the Highlights of Our Trip

Austria was never part of the original plan.

When we first mapped out this year of travel, the idea was simple: spend three months slowly moving through Southeast Asia. Warm weather, incredible food, new cultures and plenty of time outdoors with the kids.

Skiing was definitely on the radar for the trip.

We’d talked about it a lot.

But we always assumed it would happen somewhere cheaper than Europe. Japan, maybe. Or somewhere later in the journey where the costs would fit more comfortably within our budget.

The Austrian Alps felt well outside that range.

Then one message changed everything.

Kia stumbled across a post from an Austrian family who were inviting travelling families to join them in their hometown of Scharnstein. The idea was simple: spend time in the Austrian Alps, let the kids play together, and learn to ski during the winter season.

Neither of us had considered skiing or snowboarding in Austria, or even looked into visiting. But the idea stuck.

Within a few days, we started looking into it properly.

Flights from Vietnam weren’t too bad.

Accommodation in the small town was surprisingly reasonable.

Lift passes and gear hire were the big unknowns, but when we ran the numbers it suddenly didn’t seem as impossible as we’d assumed.

In the end, we decided to take the leap and reshape our plans.

Instead of three straight months in Southeast Asia, we flew from Vietnam to Austria and spent a month in the mountains learning something entirely new.

And somehow, despite all our assumptions, we only ended up going slightly over budget.

For Europe, that felt like a huge win.

Arriving in a Small Austrian Town

Scharnstein is not the kind of place most travellers end up.

It’s a quiet town tucked into a valley in Upper Austria, surrounded by forests, farms and mountains. The sort of place where church bells echo through the town and life moves at a slower pace.

After the constant motion of Vietnam, arriving there felt like stepping into a different world.

The air was crisp and cold.

Snow covered the fields and rooftops.

And everywhere we looked there were mountains.

For the kids, it felt like something out of a storybook.

For us, it felt like we had stepped into an entirely new chapter of the trip.

The Power of Community

One of the most unexpected parts of our time in Austria wasn’t the skiing.

It was the people.

Because of that original invitation, we suddenly found ourselves hanging out with the Austrian family and another family from Norway. We were all there for the same experience.

Kids from different countries played together as if they’d known each other forever.

Parents shared stories, meals and long conversations about travel and life.

Instead of arriving somewhere completely on our own, we arrived into a ready-made little community.

And that made the experience even more special.

The kids had instant friends.

We had people to learn from.

And the mountains suddenly felt a lot less intimidating.

Discovering Winter

Coming from Brisbane, Australia, winter sports simply aren’t part of everyday life.

Snow is something we usually only see in photos or movies.

In Austria, it’s just normal life.

Snowploughs clear the roads in the morning.

Kids head to school wearing ski gear.

Families spend weekends on the slopes.

For us, it was completely new.

Frozen rivers. Snow-covered forests. Villages tucked beneath towering mountains.

It didn’t take long before we realised that this unexpected detour might become one of the most memorable parts of the entire trip.

When Plans Change for the Better

One of the biggest lessons from long-term travel is that the best experiences rarely come from the original plan.

They come from the detours.

The conversations.

The invitations you didn’t expect.

Austria was exactly that.

A place that appeared out of nowhere, reshaped our route through Europe, and introduced us to experiences we never would have planned ourselves.

We arrived hoping we could afford to try skiing.

We left with an experience our whole family will remember for the rest of our lives.

And learning to ski and snowboard together turned out to be an adventure all on its own.