The European Chronicles 2026

April 01, 2026

The European Chronicles 2026 - Prologue

Two Months Out

I wrote last year's Prologue during The Tariff Tornado; this year it's the Iran War. The war in Ukraine also rages on. The world is under stress, physically and economically. It is an unnecessarily chaotic, bumpy, dangerous and therefore incresingly sad time - it feels odd to write about travel. I was hoping to be done with that dichotomy. No luck there.

Understanding your place in the world is one of travel's main benefits so, on the one hand, travel now as an American will, almost by default, be educational. On the other hand, the way we are "projecting" onto the world is not in keeping with my own principles nor, I would argue, in concert with true core American values. It has never been more important to me to NOT be the "Ugly American."

The purpose of this blog is to chronicle our travels...good and bad. It sucks when we're the bad. This post is mostly for me, to remember the context of our travels. To remember how lucky we are and how good we can be, as well as how stupid, mean, selfish and cruel. I can only hope that my fellow citizens will come to their senses, and soon.

When I toured the Mercedes Benz museum a few years ago one thing that struck me was how they put the cars on display in the context of world events. As you spiraled down from the top, the cars were in the center and along the walls were pictures, newspaper clippings, videos and posters of the history around them. It was a glimpse into the people who made and used the cars, their lives and times.

As I type, from the NY Times:

The Guardian:

Reuters:

The BBC:

Sky News:

It appears we're about to walk away from the mess we've made, crippling the world economy and having an outsized effect on the EU. We have lost our morality.

Nevertheless, we're going, this time for 88 of the 90 days we can stay in the EU. And we're going to do our best to be good ambassadors.

The Alps and Dolomites continue to be our jam: France, Bavaria, Switzerland, Italy, Austria. A beautiful red band...

Krisanne's never been to the French Alps, so we'll be spending some time in La Thuile, Italy, right on the border with France, and at the foot of the Petite St. Bernard pass.

Numerous French Alps passes are within reach, like the Col de L'Iseran, the highest paved pass in the Alps.

From La Thuile, we'll head to Andermatt, Switzerland, this time staying in town at a great hotel right off the roundabout and walkable to everything, the Alpenhotel Schlussel. I'm hoping the weather cooperates this year and we can do the iconic Swiss passes: Furka, Grimsel and Nufenen.