It’s almost like a right of passage for college students studying abroad to travel to Interlaken, Switzerland for a weekend and after I went there I 100% understood why.
After a full day of traveling from Paris to Interlaken, with a few hours in Geneva to explore, my roommate Casie and I found ourselves in the heart of the Swiss Alps. Our hostel was right on the water of Lake Brienz and whenever we looked, everything had a blue glow. The water was so clear that the mountains reflected onto it and there was a sense of peace in the world. It is almost impossible to be unhappy there due to fresh, clean mountain air and the local people smiling everywhere we turned. It was a huge contrast from smelly, depressing Paris we had left behind for the weekend. Although everything was 5x more costly than Paris, the atmosphere made it all worth it.
Interlaken is a mountain village is known for its hiking trails and extreme sports like mountain biking, snowboarding, paragliding, hang gliding, and sky diving. Although I was not up for the complete thrill of sky diving (I am just not that daring), Casie and I set up to go hang gliding with a company called Hang Gliding Interlaken. Hang gliding is where you are basically suspended in the air, flying with an airplane type thing- it looked sorta like a paper airplane. Now, if you’re nervous about these types of adventures, as I was, these two Aussie’s are the way to go. The company is owned by “Birdman” Bernie and he is an expert in this territory for knowing exactly where to take off and land. He along with his sidekick Ed, drove us up the side of the mountain to our take off spot. They told us stories and cracked jokes the entire way which give me a chance to forget about my fears about trusting this flying contraption and POSSIBLY running to my death.
At one point they stopped the car about halfway up the mountain and said that we could either jump here or go further up the mountain to get better, longer views.
Casie looked at me since I was the nervous one (she had already gone sky diving and loved roller coasters). I thought about it for a second before I thought, FUCK IT! I would be dying if something happened either way, so I might as well die looking at a better views (for the record: I was COMPLETELY over reacting. I’m a baby). So further we went up the winding trail to the very top with a bunch of other hang gliders and parasailers. The car stopped randomly as the road did, so we had to hike up the rest of the way which proved to be more difficult due to my body being quite out of shape and the air being quite thin due to the high altitude.
Once we reached the top, to my surprise Bernie had me help me prepare the hang glider which I believed was a TERRIBLE idea. But it was a good tactic because it helped me to forget how high we were and it kept me present in the moment instead of freaking out about the jump. Then it was finally time to run off the cliff in the middle of the Swiss Alps mountain range. It was now or never- at this point I wanted it to be never. But we ran right off the mountain and suddenly we were soaring!
The first thing I thought of was the old Disney ride called Soaring (it was replaced by Star tours), because it felt EXACTLY like that. I felt as though I could fly with the wind flowing through my hair and being higher than the clouds. We flew over the mountain tops and with the lake beneath us, it is a sight I will never forget. I felt invincible as 
we drove through the air with the views of the Swiss Alps all around us with little houses dotting the roads. All the cars looked like ants from thousands of feet in the air. It was incredible to feel so in the moment and present in life. The day before I had woken up in Paris, and now I was soaring high above the Alps in Switzerland, truly incredible.
Before I knew it, it was time for us to return to land and the small objects below grew. Suddenly, we were hovering above the ground until the wheels touched the grass and then we rolled to a stop. I was shaking with adrenaline and immediately wanted to go again (although my wallet said no). I was so proud that I had accomplished a bucket-list activity. Casie and I drank beers as we handed over 300 Swiss Francs (this included the flight, plus many pictures and videos) for the thrill of a lifetime.
I spent the rest of my day traveling farther up the Alps towards a town called Mürren, where I hiked along the 
panoramic trail. It was amazing to be alone and to spend time with nature in its purest form. I was able to look down on the clouds and the small mountain villages in awe. I would have never thought I would be as lucky as I was just then. I was fully present in the moment without thinking about my future plans or what I wanted to do with my life. It was all about making sure I was taking in the views and being at peace with myself. I had found my balance once again and I felt truly happy. I hope to explore more and experience the natural beauty of Mother Earth. Where are some places on Earth that have natural beauty that you’ve traveled to?
Happy travels, Cynthia
The hostel we stayed at: http://www.lakelodge.ch/
Check out “Birdman” Bernie : http://www.hangglidinginterlaken.com/
Girl Wandering, Not Lost 