Randi
Posted: August 14th 2025
Summer in the DACH Lands
TL;DR -
We enjoyed a delightful (2nd annual) month in Innsbruck, Austria, which included a stunning hut-hiking trip along the Swiss-Austrian border.
We then completed a 5-day bike trip in southern Germany, from Ulm to Nürnberg.
Now we are back up in Berlin…though not for too long…as Tyler has quit his job, and thus, we must emigrate away from Germany.
We currently have plans so head to southeast Asia.
The “DACH” region refers to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The acronym is derived from the country codes for these nations: D for Deutschland (Germany), A for Austria, and CH for Confoederatio Helvetica (Switzerland). It’s a term often used in business, statistics, and cultural contexts to refer to this group of German-speaking countries.
Our summer took us across Austria and Germany…with a bonus two-days in Switzerland. The photo album of our summer adventures can be found here:
Innsbruck:
Summer 2024 we spent a month in a charming apartment just outside of Innsbruck, Austria. We enjoyed ourselves so much, we planned a repeat visit for July 2025. As we do not have a proper home, it is a humorous feeling to return to a previous temporary “home” and have all the feels of a “home-coming”. We were once again charmed by the little town, relaxing vibe, and easy mountain hiking access. Though the weather was a bit more rainy, cloudy, and all around less ideal this stay; our apartment provided a very cozy space to watch fog roll across the Innsbruck valley. We did manage many hikes, including one stunning 3-night hut trip along the Swiss-Austrian border. In addition to singing about the hills being alive with the sound of music, I was brought to tears by the spectacular beauty during this hiking trip. The mountains were dramatic and gorgeous.
We have always enjoyed staying in the Austrian hiker huts. They demonstrate an impressive blend of practicality with a bit of luxury (as least in our experience from huts in Colorado and New Zealand). Wild camping is not permitted in Austria. Therefore, any hikers wanting to enjoy multi-day hiking must utilize the hikers huts. While this is certainly an expense, it does seem to ensure the trails and natural spaces of the Austrian alps are well-maintained and sustainably utilized. The huts have bunk rooms where about 6-25 hikers sleep (depending on the hut) and a full restaurant (including meal service and bar). Many of these huts are supplied by supply-cable lines, employees making food runs, and a once-per-season helicopter supply drop. The food is hardy and delicious. As an added bonus we nearly always find other hikers who are happy to enjoy a few games of cards while we swap hiking stories. It is fascinating to meet others from all over the world who have made their way to the same hiking route and mountain hut we happen to be in.
We were also delighted to host my parents for a week and enjoyed showing them some of the Innsbruck mountain views, hikes, and hut-food that we have come to love.
Ulm to Nürnberg by Bike:
After Innsbruck, we took our bikes and slowly started making our way back up to Berlin. This began with a train journey from Innsbruck, Austria to Ulm, Germany. Followed by a 5-day bike trip across 200 miles to Nürnberg, Germany.
Our first two days were a bit rainy and very muddy…but luckily the sun came out by day three and we were able to enjoy the rest of the trip along the amazing bike routes of Germany. We traveled through charming Bavarian villages, fairytale forests, and along rivers and canals. We waved to the folks on the balconies of their romantic river boat cruises. We watched in awe as the loooong river boat cargo ships navigated the locks of the waterways as they went up-river. We even (somewhat shamefully) enjoyed our first European McDonalds after one particularly rainy day of riding, as it was the closest eatery to our accommodation and we were tired and hungry.
We enjoyed the city of Nürnberg for only one night before making our way by train back up to Berlin. When we arrived, we were greeted with a visit by my brother and his family!! We were so excited to show off the city we’ve called home for the last two years.
Bittersweet Departure from Berlin:
After A LOT of heavy consideration, Tyler has decided to quit his job. His company, Memfault, was acquired in June by a large worldwide company based out of Norway. While the acquisition was not the cause of Tyler’s decision to part ways, it did create an ideal time in which to bid farewell. With this very bittersweet turn of events we must prepare to leave Germany, as our residence visas are tied to Tyler’s employment. While we are excited about (slowly) making our way back to the US, we know we will greatly miss Berlin. This has been a magical two-year chapter in our history. We have found new hobbies, learned a new language, biked fantastic trails, and met amazing friends from all over the world (mostly from Turkey…because that’s Berlin). Berlin is a spectacular amalgamation of international professionals working to create a life in a vibrant city of opportunity. We have found the quirks and grunge of this city endearing, the people friendly, the bread delicious, and the urban pedestrian transit unparalleled to any other city we have lived in. We will be leaving a small piece of our heart behind when we go.
Southeast Asia and…Pickelball??…what’s next for us: We know long-term we are planning to make our way back to Colorado…however, we are taking quite the detour to get there…the lesser known route via Singapore.
We plan to leave Europe mid-October with a one-way flight to Singapore. We are tentatively thinking we will be in Malaysia for November and likely Vietnam for December. We’ve heard Pickleball is very popular in these two locations…perhaps we will take Pickleball lessons and finally be able to hang with Tyler’s sister on the court? Tyler is hoping to continue improving his Brazilian jiu-jitsu practice. He has also recently returned to artistic drawing and even got a travel watercolor paint set…he is working on creating a series of one-of-a-kind postcards from our travels! I’m hoping to take some cooking classes and maybe find some Germans or Austrians to speak German with. We really have no idea what to expect.
We might stretch out the travels into January and February by visiting Thailand and/or the Philippines. If you are considering a visit to a southeast Asian country, please let us know!! Maybe we’ll just go where you’re headed!
We will keep an update of where we are going and where we are thinking about going at this link
