Status Update : will be away from today to August 24th

Hi guys, just thought I’d let you know, I am (finally !) taking some vacation for a coupe of weeks camping in Austria...
Hopefully, I will come back "fully charged" and ready for action, I have been a bit under-performing lately this will definitely be a bless !

Have a nice vacation too if you take some
See Ya

And I am back, incredible what a couple of weeks away from work and a computer screen can do for you ! Fresh mind and eyes lol...
Especially when you enjoy such landscapes (taken @Vermunt Stausee in Austria) and fresh mountain air



Anyway, lots of nice suprises too lots of things have move forward in a couple of weeks, I have a lot of catching up to do !
Once I do, I’ll get down to adding my contribution

That is indeed a beautiful landscape David. Welcome back! Now you have me unmotivated and yearning for a trip into the mountains myself! Are you a backpacker David, or was this a "car camping" trip?

I was a backpacker once (and loved it !), that is when I didn’t have a driver’s licence and/or a car, but yeah it was a "car camping" trip... car + tent is my usual m.o I confess.

I have done this in Italy (North and Tuscany), Spain (Andalucia), Scotland (the whole tour !) and Austria. Next year I plan to go to Norway via Sweden and Denmark (this year the cost was too high for me to finance, north european countries are expensive for us french - but I am saving for next year !). I love driving, this time we did about 1 500 miles in two weeks, quite a bit of it was beautiful mountain roads.

I drive across countries I want to discover, and move every two/three days max. I like the freedom (not to mention low cost) of camping. Plus, you get to meet people way easier and it makes for some interresting encounters at times, sometimes local people sometimes travellers from all around the world... Yet you can’t camp everywhere (at least with a tent, which is what I prefer). Austria has plenty of camping which means you can improvise along the way where and how long you want to stay.

Back to hiking in mountains, that’s a great way to exercise, get fresh air, enjoy nature’s landscapes... I love Paris but the air is heavy with pollution here   You have quite a few great mountain landscapes in the US, lots of which I still have to visit by the way...

Did you take some vacation this year ?

I almost did not due to unexpected costy roof repairs on my building, but then I reminded myself of the last time I did this - 3 years without vacations - which ended in burnout and changed my mind. A week-end here and there doesn’t make a real break from work and productivity and morale can’t stay up too long without a year’s break at least IMHO... in the long run not taking a vacation is not good math !

On a sidenote, gas is way cheaper in Austria (1,84 dollars a liter eq. approx 6,96 dollars a gallon) than it is in France (around 2,14 dollars a liter eq approx 8,10 dollars a gallon ), though it’s nothing like the prices you pay (around 3,7 $ is it ?). Granted our cars are more efficient on the average, with 1,5 gallons I can do 62 miles with mine. Can’t wait till they mass produce affordable hybrids or hydrogen powered cars, but that’s another debate...