Austria is by far my favorite place to travel to. This is a picture of me a few years back rowing a boat on an Austrian lake called Heiterwanger See. Things can hardly get better than this, rowing a boat across a crystal clear lake surrounded by green mountains and blue sky. We rented two rowboats and had a certain time we had be back by, and then we set off. My Dad and brothers went in one and were a bit ahead of us. My mom, younger sister, and I all took the other boat. It took us a while to get to the other side of the lake.

The oars moved through the water like a knife, and soon we were moving at a fast pace. There was also a big tour boat that went from one side to the other. There were some people that passed us…but they were in motor boats! I thought to myself as they passed by with their roaring engine, “I’m glad I’m not them! I wouldn’t have missed this opportunity for the world!” We had brought some food along as well.

But once we got to the other side we had to turn around and go back! Beacause of our time limit, we could only go for two hours. So we took turn rowing and ate our food in the boat on the way back. Then the tour boat passed by, sending huge ripples in the water our way. We turned the boat to the side so we wouldn’t get tossed around when the small waves hit. We made it back to shore. While dad paid for renting the boats, we children played at a park nearby while Mama watched us.

If you ever go row boating, I recommend taking four hours or so, instead of two. Then you can take your time and explore instead of having to turn around without stepping on the other side.

Katie Wellman is a member of the Youth Travel Blogging Mentorship Program.

Photo courtesy and copyright Katie Wellman