Vienna, With Love & Surprise (August 24, 2025)
Love surprises? I think we can safely say that we all love the kinds of surprises we want more of in our life. That’s certainly what Stefan Wurzer had in store for me the morning of Sunday, August 24th. The first question of the morning was, “Are you okay if we go for about a 20 minute bike ride?” I’m MORE than okay, as I love biking and hadn’t done it since Denmark with my friend Else Johnson. Woo Hoo, another day starting out great!
Not knowing where we’re going was awesome. Just “follow the leader” and enjoy the scenery. For twenty minutes, I just took it all in. Occasionally, Stefan would point out that this land was originally owned by the Catholic Church, and that more and more of it is being turned into high rise buildings and apartments. Or that this field can be rented by residents to grow vegetables. But mostly, I just loved being out on the trails riding on Vienna’s bike freeways. Or at least, that’s what this felt like since so many bike paths were so well designed.
And then we arrived.
With a gate opened and a guide to meet us, we were given our gloves and paddles and walked to our canoe. Yep, we’re going paddling today. Time to give those legs a rest and work that upper body. And what a beautiful day to do it.
Stefan and I stopped for lunch and then for ice-cream on two different spots where we could tie up our canoe with VIP boat dock “parking.” The views continued to be spectacular as we enjoyed this hot summer day in Vienna. We took our time, savored the many incredible moments and deepened our friendship while being recharged by all that surrounded us.
And I wish that’s how we ended our day. It certainly was how we both intended. We got back to his apartment mid afternoon and I began to work on my blog posts having fallen behind. Stefan went over to his girlfriends house and left me to have some productive time.
There was just one thing nagging at me. My stomach had been hurting now for the past few days and the pain was increasing. Initially, I thought I had just over-worked-out as I sometimes do. Muscles get sore, no big deal. But this was different. The pain felt more localized than my whole abs — it was one spot in particular. Wait. Hold on. Is that? Could that be? Oh damn, yes it’s a hernia.
Okay, quick Google search. Damn. It’s not just a hernia, it’s inflamed and could be problematic. Even though it’s Sunday, I call my primary care physician and get the nurse on duty who says the only thing she can recommend is to go to the hospital to confirm it’s not a high risk and needs immediate surgery.
Well, that was not part of my plan for today.
I call Stefan and let me know I’m headed to the hospital — mostly so he doesn’t worry about me and knows where I am. I explain that it’s probably nothing and just want to be sure. Despite my requests to keep his plans, he and his girlfriend make a bee-line back to me to take me to the hospital. Part two of the adventure begins.
First, I’m fine.
After a few hours at the hospital, they confirmed that I have an epigastric hernia that has been irritated by some of my fat being pushed through a weakness in the wall of my abdomen and formed a lump. The pain is being caused by the fat being pinched by my abdominal wall and aggravated by days and days of active activities including increased weight lifting, pull-ups, sit-ups, and as of today, paddling and lifting the canoe.
Do I need surgery? Yes. Urgently? No. If it was an urgent matter, they would have done it right there and were prepared to do so, but the way the European healthcare system works because this is not deemed “urgent”, it’s something that must be scheduled and prioritized and likely to take 3 to 6 months to have done here.
So now I’m faced with a new question about my next 10 month journey. Eventually, I will most certainly need surgery to repair this hernia. Do I trust myself enough to “take it easy” and not push myself? Honestly, I need to sit with this question because historically, the answer is “no, not at all.”
Once the surgery is complete, it takes about 1 month to fully heal and a total of 3 months to be as active as I am today. Already that’s 3 months of forced rest and relaxation. The question I am currently in, is when to begin that part.
I have the option of stopping now (or anytime from here on on out). It certainly isn’t what I spent the last 18 months planning, but then again NONE of this is what I had originally envisioned with both Violet and me traveling the world together. What’s the expression again? Oh yeah:
“Want to make God laugh? Show him your plans!”
For this week, I’m going forward with a much, much slower pace. Really minimizing my exercise and daily activities. Weight-lifting officially on pause. Gentile, light stretching still okay (light Yoga, yes!). Hiking still okay. Just not vigorous scaling of highest peaks and jumping up / off big rocks which I historically have loved to do.
Simply put, slow and steady if I want to “finish” this race. Otherwise, the next hospital visit will likely be the surgery I didn’t have last night, then a mandatory 3 month recovery — like the music stopping and finding a chair in whichever country you happen to be in at that moment.
Or, alternatively, go home with Elena and Violet when they come out to see me in Italy, Greece and possibly Japan, Thailand and Vietnam. My current goal would be to get at least though November in the Philippines to see fiends there, but that’s just the thinking from today. My long-term health is still the priority and it that means cutting this whole trip short and going home, that may be what needs to happen.
And, if that’s the case, know that I’ve had an epic two months and can try again now with all this new knowledge the next time around.
“Who knows what is good and what is bad?”
