I am drifting in the mountains of the Alps, to wherever the wind blows, and to wherever people send me. I am hiking alone. This is my story about the most precious gift I have ever given myself: Time! The freedom to go with the flow!
January 2017:
I am caught in my personal rat race: Torn between a longing for easiness and the commitments of adulthood. Torn between freedom and my secure job. Welcome to my journey eight years ago. “What if…” I asked myself. What if there was no daily plan, no set goals but a vast amount of time? Time reserved only for me and my awareness? What if I just started walking for as long as I wanted in nature? What if I draw from the beauty of the Alps?
A growing call: During the past years I built my career and lived a happy life, however, I always had a plan and a never ending to-do list. Often, I went to bed, feeling that there was not enough time for myself and for the really important things of life. Like for my passion and my main source of energy – the mountains.
The final impulse was a sports accident. It could have ended much worse. It made me realize that health is a gift that can never be taken for granted. Finally overcoming my need for financial security, I quit my well-paid job in my mid-thirties and lived my dream. I packed one backpack for an indefinite hiking tour for an indefinite amount of time. It included four shirts, a long and a short pair of pants, a vest, a jumper, a rain jacket and a sleeping bag.
August 2017:
I started my journey with no destination in mind. As an experienced mountaineer, my intention was to hike alone, and find remote mountain ranges without the crowds. I wanted to stay at higher altitudes to avoid knee-tiring descents and the summer heat. For shelter, I slept in huts or bivouacs each night. These mostly came as recommendations of hut wardens or from people I came across along my journey.
In short, for four weeks I discovered different parts of the Alps, mostly along the Main Alpine Ridge. I even crossed the Alps twice – north south and back north – sometimes walking in circles. My path started from the Kaisergebirge in North Tyrol, via the Lasörling Group in East Tyrol into Italy via the Umbaltörl. From the Ahrntal in South Tyrol, I hiked along the Pfunderer Mountains. I crossed back into Austria via the Rifugio Europa, which runs close to the Brenner Pass. Spending more time in the High Zillertal Alps on the Austrian side, I finished my mountain track in the Bavarian Karwendel Mountains.
I left the huts, when other hikers still had their breakfast. Often, I hiked all day, sometimes I took detours, or climbed a high peak. On other days I didn’t walk for more than three hours, spending my time sitting in a hut reading or enjoying inspiring encounters with the locals.
Going with the flow, however, made me leave my comfort zone – I was, after all, completely alone. My diary entry, from somewhere in South Tyrol, illuminates my mixed feelings: “This is freedom! Time! To just be myself – in this very moment, in this beautiful vast nature. Green and fertile. At an altitude of more than 2,000 meters there are lakes and streams everywhere.
The freedom not look further into the future and BE where I am for the next few hours… Will there be a thunderstorm, or is the weather good enough to continue? Asking the hut warden where he would recommend to walk to next. Is it crazy what I am doing here? Not to have a destination in mind? Indeed, it is not always easy. Sometimes I feel lost, sometimes I feel stressed. I crossed the Steinkar Ridge at almost 3.000 meters altitude yesterday, only a couple of minutes before the heavy thunderstorm started. In the pouring rain, I reached the Brixner Hütte just in time. Coming from the Edelrauthütte, I had already been walking for more than 12 hours, as I had to take a detour. Definitely one of the scariest moments of my mountain track so far. I have never felt that alone. Exhausted. Has a warm soup ever tastedas wonderful?
Today I left a note in the little summit book along the way: “Julia says thank you.”
September 2025:
It has been eight years now. Even now, I can still recall how these special weeks felt. Immediately, the thought fills me with peace and gratitude. Hiking alone made me feel alive and present in the moment like nothing has before. If you have ever thought of hiking alone – try it! Whether for a week or just for a single day. Whether in the high mountains or along a flat walking track starting from your door step. Every day you will have the opportunity to give yourself a present: Time!
“Because time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart.”
