Seewalchen, Austria

Arriving in Seewalchen, I realized that it was a cute little town on a beautiful lake. I got off the bus and walked to the closed tourist information center. Baffled that it was closed at noon, I found a map and noticed a campground around the east side of the lake. I started hiking toward it, ready to try out my new Bivy sack I had purchased in Innsbruck. I actually had made up my mind during my walk that I wouldn’t stay in the campground, but rather in the forest someplace for free. So, during the walk in the direction of the campground I kept my eyes peeled for a forested area easily accessible that I could stay at. After walking for sometime with no real good opportunities I came across an abandoned building that was under construction. Walking by I thought about staying in it, thinking to myself, “Hey, its got a roof, and no one would go in there at night.” Then I realized that if you actually consider staying in an abandoned building that is in ruins, you might just be a hobo. Passing up that opportunity I kept heading down the road. Earlier I had bought some tuna and fruit cocktail from the grocery store. I found a beautiful area near the shore to rest and eat my dinner. Yes, just popin’ the tops off can food and eating it in a park, I am almost certain that the people nearby thought I was a homeless man, which technically I was.

A fountain made to look like a map of the lake, the spout out is the river

Abandoned building I thought twice about staying in

Continuing on down the road I finally found an area between two lots that looked promising. Carefully timing it so no cars would see me, I ducted into the forest and headed up the hill. I soon realized that I was between two peoples houses, I couldn’t tell if I was on their property or just open forest. Because of this I tried to keep a low profile. I kept quiet and kept my movements as stealth as possible. After finding a suitable area to set up “camp” I began to clear a place for myself and really start to make the area invisible. I found a bit of white cord buried in the dirt which I used to make a perimeter around where I would be sleeping. I leaned random branches, sticks, twigs, logs, grasses and any other forest material up against the cord in order to camouflage my area. I went into a nearby field to grab several armfuls of grasses for my bedding and to further camouflage my sleeping area. The Bivy sack has a section that needs to be suspended off my head, for this I used a bit more of the white cord and three sticks to make a tripod. Soon my “compound” was complete. I took my bladder bag down to the lake, filled it up, stripped down to my “skivvies” and took a dip. The water was surprisingly warm and pleasant. After swimming and filling up my water supply I headed back up the hill across the road and into the darkening forest.

My camp

My bedding

I did some last minute preparations to my camp, like putting my backpack in a plastic bag, etc and then crawled into the Bivy sack for the night. Quick note: You are supposed to use a sleeping bag with the Bivy sack so you stay warm. I did not have a sleeping bag with me. Just me in this sack made out of nylon. As you can imagine, with no real roof over my head it was tough to get to sleep.

Lying in a dark forest in a small town in Austria I started to second guess what I was doing. I have no idea what kinds of animals, insects, snakes etc there are around here. Am I on someone’s property? Can people see me from the road? It’s just a stone’s throw away. What if someone spots me? Are there bears in these woods? Am I in the middle of their path to the water?  Thoughts like these kept me from getting a good nights rest. Hearing a dog barking in the distance would wake me up and cause me to become alert and thus keep me from getting any sleep. After finally getting to sleep I may have rested my mind of the troublesome questions about the area and the uncertainties for about an hour.

BAM! The next thing I know is that I am being abruptly awoken from my slumber by getting hit in the face, the ribs and on my legs simultaneously. Three big blows to my body at the same time causes me to mentally freak out. I begin to panic. For one, I am trapped inside my Bivy sack and turned around to where my movements are restricted. Secondly, it is pitch black outside. I was basically blind at this point. Thirdly I couldn’t move. All of the original thoughts I had about bears, snakes, animals, people all come rushing back to me. This was the first time in my life that I have actually froze with fear. I was facing the ground, trapped inside my Bivy sack trembling with fear. What happened? Did a bear walk through my camp area and trip on me? Is he still there? Was it a deer? The dog I heard earlier? An angry person? After about 30 minutes of not moving I letting my mind “cool off” and I started to think reasonably again. What could have possibly hit me? I then realized that I was turned upside down and twisted in the Bivy sack, which means that I pulled the tripod and a nearby branch onto myself. That was it. No bears, no wild dogs, just a few sticks.

Scared, ashamed and relieved I decided that my mind was not settled enough for the dark forest. So I packed up all of my stuff in the veil of night and headed down toward the waters edge. There was a clearing/ campsite that I decided to try out for a few hours, which was much more relaxing, until about 4:00am when I awoke to a car door slam and a baby crying. Again, my mind began to race in all the wrong directions, (worst scenario first) someone drove out to this lake at 4 am to kill their unwanted baby! No, too far fetched. Someone was going to come down to the waters edge I figured, and at 4 am I suspected foul play. I got out of my Bivy sack and sat up ready with a small flashlight and a big stick, just in case. I had no idea what I was preparing myself for. I was certainly on edge. Being homeless in a strange place does not calm your mind.

Once light broke, I crept up to the street to see what was up there. Of course, how simple, there was a travel trailer parked on the side of the road. Feeling silly that I had caused myself that much trouble I headed back down the road toward the main area of Seewalchen where the bus stop was. I found a small park by the water where I spread out on one of the benches. At 6:00 am I was one of the only ones out and about in the town. I ate some breakfast, and brushed my teeth, and spread some of my wet clothes out on the bench. I certainly felt like a hobo. After cleaning up, I headed to the bus stop and awaited to be taken to my next destination.