Why Vienna? Well my first reason was I wanted a “safe” place for my first time out by myself. I googled and the number one place is actually Copenhagen, Denmark. I just did not feel like that would be enough. I decided to go onto skyscanner to see what the nonstops were out of Las Vegas. Nothing narrows my decisions down like a nonstop flight lol. One of the options was Vienna.
Now...side note: The Sound of Music is one of my all time favorite movies. I knew it was filmed in Austria, so a light bulb went off. I had never thought of Vienna, let alone Austria in general as a place I really had to go to. It was not on my bucket list or ever really crossed my mind at all. But, now it kind of fell into my lap. I can’t imagine anything terrible happening in Austria. Well....not as of late anyways… So Austria became my choice. Stop! Wait a minute! Ugh....is that departure out of LA!? Somehow in my research I changed the departure to leave out of LAX. I know I did it see what other options were out there. But, as I settled into this plan I surely was thinking I was leaving out of Vegas. About a week later I discovered I was wrong! Man!!! Not that it's completely horrible. It’s only like an hour flight to LAX. I just had my hopes up on a nonstop flight. Sigh… Well of course my flight from Vegas to LA was delayed. No biggie. Although it was a tight connection the delay was not that bad. Only like 30 mins. Cool! Once again it’s a really quick flight. Hopefully, they would make up a little time in the air. Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! We taxi out and eventually come to a stop. We wait for what seems like forever. The suspense is killing me and my connection time. Finally the caption comes on and says we have to return to the gate for a small maintenance issue. WHAT!!!! Don’t they know I have an International flight to catch. Not like I’m going to go plant sitting. I was so scared. Maybe it was not meant for me to go? Is this a sign? Well it really was a quick fix. We were not at the gate long. Literally it was the final countdown stepping out of that plane. Have you ever taken a domestic flight on another carrier and had to transfer to the international terminal in LAX? It is hella far! Like ridiculously far. Now I do not run. It is so much work. But, speed walking was an understatement! And, of course it was the furthest gate away. Literally the last gates in the building. I promise I am not lying. I wish there was video of how far it was to get to this gate. Next time I am there I will record the marathon I ran to get to this gate. Have I mention how good God is to me! I arrive at the gate profusely sweating and out of breath. ***Note: Do more cardio*** They have of course already started boarding. The gate agent asks “Why are you getting here so late?” Really Ma’am! Really! Does it really look like I tried to miss this flight on purpose!? I mean who does that!? That is what I wanted to say. Instead...I politely said my connecting flight was delayed. She went through my documents and let me cut in line to head to the bus that takes you to the plane. Sweet. Now for my 14 hour journey. Yippie! Oh...the adventures. Stay tuned. lol
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My first solo trip to Vienna, Salzberg, and Munich was The best decision I've had in a long time. It was so eye opening in the best possible way.
Like many young women I fell for the trap. It's not safe for a young girl by herself. There are terrorist everywhere. The world is crazy. You could be raped, murdered, or sold into sex slavery. Don't get me wrong. All of this craziness swirls around your head as I take my first step out of the safety of the airplane. Now what?! Well...when has the world not been crazy is always my first thought. Followed by you can't wait on people to get where you wanna go. That is the case for most people. They are always waiting on someone else to live their lives. I never wanted my tombstone to say..."She wished she could have done many amazing things. Unfortunately, there was never anyone there to do it with her." I have always had an independent spirt. Always willing to go to the movies or restaurants by myself. In fact, I enjoy my own company. I like being alone. Sometimes. I'm also a very social person and love having conversations with everybody. So how could I go all the way across the pond and be like oh look at this, and there be nobody there to agree or give commentary back. That of all things was my biggest fear. Not the terrorists. There can't be a terrorist on every street corner. But, the thought of being on my own schedule. Waking up when I want, eating, enjoying museums at my own pace. That sounded Ahhmazing! I've always lived by you can't wait for anyone motto. I didn't necessarily think that applied to traveling aboard. That's a bigger beast. But, deep down I knew that was exactly what it meant. I love traveling too much. I love exploring the world. I was able to do it for a long time with so called friends. If you didn't catch that drift, those relationships ended. So that left me with I could wait to when my husband got time off (which isn't a lot to do big trips). Oh yea! I'm also married and a solo traveler now. Or suck it up and live by my own motto. I also have another motto that which is I'm down for whatever. O...k....alright....no turning back now! I have to be about my word. Now. I must say again that I have traveled plenty times aboard with others. So I am definitely familiar with doing it. But, I really relied on them for the navigating part. I am terrible at that. I can barely get around my hometown without GPS and I've lived there my whole life. I'm very directionally challenged. That was another fear of mine. I may have grown up in a big city. But, I've never used public transportation on my own. Well once in San Francisco BUT not in another country where I don't speak the language. I was afraid I would get off on the wrong stop, or better yet be riding forever Bc I didn't hear the stop name. Ahhhhh.... But, you know. You never know until you try. So off I went on my biggest adventure yet. If you cannot tell by these pictures, I had a ball! It was so fun getting into my pinup roll for this location. It kind of demands it. This wonderland is in Nelson, Nevada. From the strip it's about an hour away. Just type it into google maps and you should have no problems. If not here are the directions from the strip. Take I-215 E, W Lake Mead Pkwy, Lakeshore Rd, US-93 N, ... and NV-165 E to your destination. I think it's totally worth it. You can be the judge. Here is my vintage playground :) This little town (which is practically in the middle of nowhere) has a ton of movie cred. If you go into the store you see all the pictures from the films/music videos it's been apart of. There is a family that runs the business. They actually live in the house that is also the store. So they request that you check in with them. If you are going to take pictures they charge $10 an hour. We zoomed through and got done within the hour. Pictures can never do justice of any place. But, I hope my sample has shed a bit of light on what it's like there. This has been my all time favorite pictures, because I got to be so creative. Now I need a pinup name lol Help me out!
P.S. If you want to see even more pictures head over to my Instagram @this_travel_diary. Thanks for your time ~ Tania |
AuthorTraveling makes my heart happy. My mission is to use words and pictures to inspire you to get out there and take in the beauty of our world. Archives
December 2019
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