If you’ve been following my blog then I’m sure you were expecting Part 3 of my recent series about why I’ve moved to Switzerland. But, we have to keep things in order here. There were some big things that happened between Tuscany and getting back to San Diego and I can’t forget about them.
In my last weeks in Slovenia I squeezed in as much as possible. With the discovery of my new found love of the Julian Alps during my Canyoning and Rafting trip, I wanted to spend most of my time outdoors. Luckily I had made some great friends to enjoy it with. The highlights of my last few weeks included a weekend stay near Lake Bled, a weekend hike at Triglav National Park, and another weekend in Bovec for some more canyoning.
My final adventure in Slovenia took me back to the small mountain village of Bovec. I knew I had to return after my first weekend there. I had left feeling like this was a place that I would love to spend my life. My tour guide Deni and I had become Facebook friends and so I messaged him to let him know I’d be returning. He kindly helped me find an affordable place to stay for the weekend. When I arrived, there was a little festival in the square and I sat outside with Deni and some other tour guides and tourists drinking beers and listening to some live music. It was a great way to start off the weekend. Deni acted as my host and invited me along on the tours he was working. He had another friend in town with his wife and child and so the five of us went on a canyoning tour together. It was just as fun as the first time except with the smaller group we made it down the canyon much faster.
After canyoning we enjoyed lunch together and then parted ways until we met up later for a zip line tour. The zip line park was so new in Bovec that a news team was in our group to film the experience. The tour was about three hours long and started with a ride up the mountain in the open back of a 4×4 military style vehicle. This was a thrill in itself as it offered amazing scenery and a fun bumpy ride. It was a much bigger group this time joined again by the family from canyoning, Deni’s son, the news crew, and quite a few other adventure seekers. I didn’t imagine that I would be so nervous for the zip lining but I’m pretty sure the kids were less scared than me. I guess that’s probably normal though as kids usually aren’t afraid of much. After a training session on a small zip line course in the woods we hiked up to the first platform.
The zip line is apparently 2.5 km total in distance, 130 m above the ground and you reach speeds up to 40 km/hr! I hovered in the back of the group letting others go while I attempted to calm my nerves. I honestly felt sick to my stomach and could feel my heart beating in my chest. This was the first time it was truly apparent to me that regardless of the fact that I like to cliff jump I am in fact afraid of heights. The buildup and adrenaline rush prior to the ride was actually more intense than the ride itself. Once you’re flying across the valley its actually a release of all that adrenaline. When you’re out in the middle of the valley you just scream as loud as you want, look out at the view and feel lucky as hell that you’re experiencing something so awesome!
After the long day we stayed up late into the night drinking pretty hard at the local bar. Deni and his friends were incredibly fun and it felt like I’d known everyone there for a lot longer than a weekend. While Bovec is a place that instantly feels like home to me, I realized that if I actually lived there I would have a really hard time keeping up with the amount of partying these people do. Especially after a long day of physical exertion! My last weeks in Slovenia were some of the best experiences of my life. I was really sad to be leaving but the 3 months changed me and I was excited to see what else life had in store for me. With one more week left before my flight back to the States I headed to Helsinki, Finland to visit my friend Tiki.
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