Our First International Trip Since 2018 | Arriving in Bavaria & Finding Our Rhythm in Munich

This is the first episode in our Small Planet Big World series about our November 2023 trip to Bavaria.

It was our first international journey since 2018, and our first time traveling abroad together since before the pandemic. After returning from an October eclipse trip out west, we had just two weeks before boarding a plane from Chicago to Munich — with a memorable stop in Dublin that included walking across the tarmac and climbing stairs onto the aircraft.

In this episode, we talk through those first few days in Bavaria: arriving in Parsdorf, settling into hotel life, fighting jet lag, discovering German food (and alcohol-free beer), reconnecting with travel, and slowly finding our rhythm. We also share how meaningful it was to experience Munich through local coworkers — culminating in a walking tour of central Munich and a lively beer hall dinner that finally made us feel acclimated.

We filmed this conversation over a meal at a local German restaurant in Chicago and illustrated it with footage from the trip.

This episode ends on Wednesday night in Munich — the moment when everything started to click. The Bavarian Alps road trip begins in the next video.

⏱️ CHAPTERS

00:00 – Filming in Chicago & introducing the Bavaria trip
00:48 – First international travel since 2018
01:19 – Chicago → Dublin → Munich (tarmac boarding & arrival)
02:34 – Renting a car & first impressions of driving in Germany
03:03 – Staying in Parsdorf & Hotel ERB (saunas, comfort, details)
04:14 – German food arrives (potato pancakes!)
04:38 – First night in Bavaria & schnitzel dinner
05:47 – Hotel breakfasts & eating well in Germany
06:26 – Vegan options & alcohol-free beer everywhere
07:35 – First workday & pizza with coworkers
08:06 – Meeting Stephan & Suzanne (and the road trip seed)
09:11 – Dinner at Alte Utting (a boat on a bridge)
10:00 – Jet lag struggles & finding balance
11:02 – Train into Munich & walking tour with a local
11:32 – Medieval history, music studies & being there
12:31 – Wednesday night beer hall & feeling acclimated
13:26 – Reflections on the first half of the trip
16:49 – Teasing the Bavarian road trip (next episode)

General travel
#SmallPlanetBigWorld #TravelVlog #InternationalTravel #FirstTripBack
#SlowTravel #TravelStory #CouplesTravel

Germany / Bavaria
#Bavaria #Munich #GermanyTravel #VisitMunich #BavarianCulture
#BeerHall #GermanFood #Autobahn

Series / channel growth
#TravelSeries #RoadTripComing #TravelAfterPandemic