Who? What? Where? When? WHY???
23 juli, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F
Russell and I are heading off on a Competitours.com adventure. We did this 10 years ago, and had an absolute blast, so we are looking forward to this immensely.
This is a 10 day trip around Europe.Läs mer
Leaving SFO
25 juli, Förenta staterna ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
In an effort to speed up my adjustment to jet lag, I woke up at 4 am for our 5:30 PM flight to Dublin, Ireland. My goal was to be so sleepy by the time we boarded that I would just sleep the entireLäs mer
Dublin: Historic home and street scenes
26 juli, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 66 °F
The flight was somewhat empty so Russell and I ended up in 4 seats between the two of us. Which made it possible for me to relax and stretch out and actually get some sleep. Russell however spentLäs mer
Nametag challenge
26 juli, Irland ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F
We had one last task before we start the Competitours part of the trip and that was to come up with name tags that identified us as individuals and our team. It didn’t take long before we came upLäs mer
Dublin last day
27 juli, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
We are both still fighting jet lag so we didn’t wake up until 10:30. It was noon by the time we checked out, far too late to get a traditional “full Irish breakfast.” So Alex, Adrian, and ILäs mer
Day 1: Kilkenny (Kilkenny Castle)
28 juli, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F
After another very bad night’s sleep, we woke late and barely had time to get coffee and stumble down to the hotel lobby for the official start of Competitours Europe 2026.
Ari (our fearlessLäs mer
Day 1: Kilkenny (Hurling)
28 juli, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 73 °F
After lunch, Tommy led us on a short and leisurely (neither) stroll (hike) to a hurling field (pitch?). There we were introduced to the Irish sport of hurling. This is similar to lacrosse or fieldLäs mer
Day 1: Kilkenny (Pulling pints)
28 juli, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
After hurling, we had a more leisurely paced walk back to the pub where we had a new challenge!
This one was testing us on whether we could pull a perfect (or at least pretty good) pint of 3Läs mer
Day 2: Kilkenny (Irish dancing)
29 juli, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 63 °F
The next morning we had to get up and packed and checked out and breakfasted and luggage dropped off and down to reception by 10 am. Which wouldn't have been so hard except once again it was 3 amLäs mer
Day 2: Kilkenny (Irish drumming)
29 juli, Irland ⋅ ☁️ 72 °F
Our final Irish challenge was an introduction to the bodhran (rhymes with SOW-lawn), which is a handheld Irish drum. Since it is a relatively small instrument, we could each hold one in ourLäs mer
Day 2: Kilkenny to Switzerland
29 juli, Schweiz ⋅ 🌙 79 °F
We had to rush the end of the drumming not so much because we were in danger of missing our plane, but rather because the bus driver had someplace to be after dropping us off. This meant we have noLäs mer
Day 3: Lac Léman (Swiss chocolate making)
30 juli, Schweiz ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
The next morning I was really dragging due to an entire week of sleep deprivation.
However some of that tiredness evaporated when I walked into the breakfast room and saw the stunning view of LacLäs mer
Day 3: Lac Léman (Fondue dinner)
30 juli, Schweiz ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F
After the chocolate adventure, they drove us to the village of Gruyeres, which is obviously famous for their cheese.
We wandered around the little village and ended up at a nice little restaurantLäs mer
Day 4: Lac Léman (Sheep herding)
31 juli, Schweiz ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F
The next morning we had to be packed and checked out and on the bus by 8 am (again!). We were warned that we might get dirty but none of us guessed what our activity would be: sheep herding!
We metLäs mer
Day 4: Switzerland to France
31 juli, Frankrike ⋅ ☁️ 88 °F
After our morning of sheepherding we got on the bus and headed to the nearby town of Ouchy. Alex, Russell, & I joined a father-daughter team for lunch at a restaurant that served mussels. RussellLäs mer
Day 5: Annecy (Orienteering)
1 augusti, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 75 °F
The next morning I woke up with a sore throat and so groggy from sleep deprivation. And the whiskey. Let's not forget the whiskey.
We rode a bus out to a forest on a mountaintop and discoveredLäs mer
Day 5: Annecy (Lunch & Raft Building)
1 augusti, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 86 °F
Our next stop was a restaurant right by the beach. Ari treated us all to lunch and we had a lovely time resting up for the afternoon challenge.
After lunch it was time to get dressed for the nextLäs mer
Day 5: Annecy (Visiting The French Laundry)
1 augusti, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F
I was exhausted so as soon as we got back to the room I assembled the dirty laundry, passed off to Russell and headed to bed.
He took it off to the nearby laundromat. Soon he was joined byLäs mer
Day 6: Annecy (Via Ferrata)
2 augusti, Frankrike ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
I woke up feeling better. We didn't have to meet the bus until 10 am. Then it was about a one hour ride out to another mountain. Today is the Via Ferrata day!
The Via Ferrata is a way toLäs mer
Day 6: France to Italy
2 augusti, Italien ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F
After we all met up back at the bus, we had a long drive into Italy. We stopped at a rest area to get sandwiches to go.
The Via Ferrata wore everyone out and even Steve and Ari zonked out on theLäs mer
Day 6: Tremezzo (dinner)
2 augusti, Italien ⋅ ⛅ 81 °F
Dinner was a short walk away to a table on a terrace overlooking Lake Como.
An anonymous donor (OK, it was us) wanted to pay for a really nice dinner for the whole group. The setting wasLäs mer
Day 7: Via Ferrata marketing videos
3 augusti, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F
We didn't win any points for actually doing the Via Ferrata because they don't want to encourage us to even edge up to something unsafe for the sake of points in this competition. So our only pointsLäs mer
Day 7: Bellagio (Art)
3 augusti, Italien ⋅ ⛅ 82 °F
The next morning we once again had a relaxed start time (10 am!) and we weren't checking out of the hotel, so we got a decent night's sleep, except I kept waking up in pain every time I swallowed.Läs mer
Day 7: Swimming in Lake Como
3 augusti, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F
It was a hot and sticky day so when Ari suggested heading to a nearby public beach, he had quite a few people wanting to join him.
Ironically, Ari got distracted by playing beach volleyball andLäs mer
Day 8: Tremezzo to Sarnico
4 augusti, Italien ⋅ ☀️ 91 °F
We had to get up and check out again this morning, but wasn't an early departure. We checked out and got on the bus around 10 am and then drove to our next (and final) city: Sarnico.
We wereLäs mer







































































































































have a great time!! [Kathy]
Have fun! I’ll be following your posts. [Ronni]
Love the video! It is silly and adorable. You guys have an amazing trip. Don't spend so much time with your mascot that you forget to go to your next destination!! [Alan & Shirley]