He arrived at Innsbruck Airport. During the flight he was able to sleep for a few hours but yet he still felt tired. He sighed and stretched and when he heard the sign he unbuckled his belt and got up from his seat. The passengers left the plane and headed for the luggage belt to collect their luggage. Brian followed the crowd and put on his phone in the meantime.

There weren’t that many people who knew he went on retrait. His parents, Kevin, management and his neighbours offered to take care of the mail and watering the flowers and that was about it. It was a conscious choice to be selective who he informed. Brian had been feeling burned out the last couple of months and his voice suffered from it. Of course, they all had felt the stress around the latest world tour. It wasn’t just the dancing, singing and everyday routine. They all had their own issues and personal lives with lots of stuff and drama going on. He and Leighanne broke up a couple of months prior to the tour. He hadn’t heard from her since, which he found hard to deal with. He had been with her for almost 16 years and in a split second it was over. Just like that. The guys tried to support him but, and he perfectly understood why, at a certain point the understanding and support went down for him. The news went old. Simply because other stuff happened. Nick and Lauren got married, AJ and Rochelle where expecting their second child, Kevin and Kristin just got their second child and the same was for Howie and Leigh. So he sucked it up and went on with the show like everybody expected him to. He went on an on until the end of the tour. Smiling and joking around but inside feeling tired, sad and bored of pretending to be someone he wasn’t any more for quite a while now. So with the end of the tour in sight they all agreed to take a break for a couple of months.

The phone bleeped a few times and he received a few texts. Kev, to ask him if he had arrived safely. His parents asking the same thing and a “welcome to Austria” from the telephone provider. He grinned, finally he was here. Austria, the country where he was able to feel pure freedom. The mountains where beautiful and there were lots of possibilities for outdoor activities.

He waited at the luggage belt to collect his luggage and when that was done he headed to the car rental offices outside of the airport. He identified himself, paid the deposit and got the keys from the rental car. The guy from the rental office guided him to his car, checked for damages and after it all was taken care of the car was his for the next 3 months. He stuffed his luggage in the bag of the car and programmed the navigation. His destination was Serfaus – Fiss – Ladis and specifically Serfaus. He’d heard about it from others who’d been there skiing in the winter, but also spent their summers there. It sounded perfect.

He reached the highway and Queen blasted through the speakers with the song Breakthru. Brian sang from the top of his lungs. It felt like such a relieve. “If I could only reach you, If I could make you smile, that would really be a breakthru”. Freddy Mercury and Queen had always been a big influence.

After an hour of driving he reached Ried in Oberinntal where he took the road to Serfaus – Fiss – Ladis. It was a beautiful road with a few sharp bends through some impressive high mountains. After another ten miles he reached Serfaus. A beautiful little village in the heart of the mountains.

He drove into Serfaus and at the border of the place a traffic controller gave him a card he had to put behind the window stating that he stayed in this village and on the back explanation about why it was prohibited to drive in town. From there it was a five minute drive to Haus Marina. He arrived, parked the car in front and went inside to check in. While standing at the reception desk a young lady came to him from the other side of the hall. “Gruss Gott” she smiled warmly. She had brown hair, bright brown / green eyes and sun kissed skin. She seemed young, maybe halfway twenty. “Hello” Brian smiled “I want to check in. The name is Littrell”. She didn’t seem to know him. Or if she did she didn’t let him know. She handed him the keys, told about the possibility to have fresh baked bread delivered every morning and gave him random information about the village. Brian thanked her and she showed him his apartment for the next three months.

The apartment was amazing. Nice typical Austrian style decorated and is had a nice atmosphere. Beautiful view over the mountains and perfectly situated near the cable cars. He took a little time to enjoy the view outside on the balcony. After a little while he unpacked and when that was finished he got into his hiking gear. He then went down the reception to get a sightseeing map and went outside.

He immediately went to the cable cars and took the cable car (named Komperdellbahn) up to 1454 meters high. He then went into the Lazidbahn that brought him up to 2351 meters. He got out and was surprised it was that cold. Down in the village it was warm enough for t-shirt and shorts but up here a hiking jacket was definitely a necessity. Fortunately for him he had been shopping at home for the appropriate clothes. Same for the shoes. He’d forgotten to buy the sunscreen and the sunglasses but Kevin told him earlier that Serfaus had some great local shops where he could get anything he needed for outdoor activities. He enjoyed the view up there for a while and went back down to the village. He was a bit tired of the flight and the mountain air also had its effect on him. He picked up take away on his way back and walked to Haus Marina.

In front of the front door he searched for his keys. “I’ll open the door for you” he heard a sweet lady voice behind him. He turned his head to see her when their eyes met. Brian couldn’t help but smile “thank you, I’ve must have put them in my backpack”. For a moment her eyes pierced his and Brian noticed the change of energy between them instantly. The second he noticed it it was already gone. She gave him a shy smile and opened the door. When they walked through the hall she suddenly turned around “Herr Littrell”. Brian stopped “please call me Brian”. She continued friendly“have you already decided if you want fresh bread delivered tomorrow?”. Brian scratched behind his ear “Yes I’d like to. Can I have 2 croissants and two “Semmel”. It’s called “Semmel” in German right?”. She smiled “yes, that’s right. I’ll make sure it’s there tomorrow”. “What’s your name?” Brian asked. For some weird reason he felt a little nervous for asking. Her smile became a bit wider “I’m Geli” she reached out her hand. Brian introduced himself and they chatted a little while. She then had to go back and he went back to his apartment.

He ate his dinner and after he took a shower he watched a little television. He texted those who he’d promised he would and around ten he took off to bed.

The next morning a knock on the door woke him up. He quickly stood up, jumped into a pair of jeans and rushed to the door. When he opened it he realised he hadn’t put on a shirt. “Hi, eh good morning” he stumbled with raspy voice, when she appeared in the doorway. As soon as their eyes met he was mesmerized. “Good morning. I hope they taste good” she smiled shy. She handed him a little basket with bread. “I’m sure they will” Brian reached for it “I would like to offer you coffee or something but I realised I don’t have any”. Was she blushing or did his eyes played tricks on him? “Oh well thank you but I can’t. It’s not my coffee break yet. And today is going to be busy because we expect a lot of guests to arrive” she sounded a bit disappointed about it. “But maybe we can have coffee tonight, after my shift is over”? Brian brushed his hand through his hair, being very conscious of the fact he stood there with messy bedhead and no shirt “Sure, I’d love to. What time are you done?”. “Well I’m done by five” she said. “Five is perfect” Brian’s heart skipped a beat for a second “Shall I pick you up or are you coming to me?”. “I’ll knock on your door, is that ok?” “Sure, perfect” he smiled. “Geli” he heard a male voice from downstairs yell up. “Yes dad” she shouted back. She blushed “It’s my dad, I have to go back to work. I see you at five” she smiled and went downstairs.

He went out for some groceries like bread and coffee and then took off to go hiking. He had a map of the area and as he went into the cable cars, the Komperdell Bahn, he checked the map to see where he wanted to go.

He decided to do the “Panorama Genussweg”. It was a family trail with beautiful views. Halfway down the trail there was a little mountain restaurant which he wanted to go to for lunch.

He got off the cable car at the Mittelstation and soon discovered a sign which said which way to go to the trail. The view was amazing. So awesome. While walking he felt that this was all he needed. The cold fresh air on his skin, the sun was shining and behind every corner there was another different breath taking view. It was like he was there all alone except for the soft sound of cow bells, he heard from a distance. He looked to see if he could trace where the sound came from. Screening the alps he saw a herd of mountain cows grazing. It made him feel happy in a weird way. The sound of the bells had something uplifting and the cows seemed all in peace and happy to have that kind of freedom. They showed pride, like they owned the alps. What a difference it was with the cows back home in the States. He then saw someone with the cows carrying what seemed to be a bag and a large stick. He sat on the grass at the foot of the alp. Brian wondered how it would be, being a cow shepherd. Everyday up on the mountain with a lot of cows, at least in until winter. The fans would definitely go nuts. They would probably follow him up on the mountain trying to talk him out of it and the boys would probably think he suffered from a mental illness, he smiled. But he really did thought of how it would be. Having that lifestyle. It wasn’t exactly something he’d see himself doing but he was definitely interested in who did it, out of curiosity.

In reality there were, of course, other hikers who took the same trail but it wasn’t annoying. All was good. It felt as if the stress and pain he went through slowly started to fade. That was the reason he went down here. Kevin and Kristin had been here on holiday during the period they tried to conceive a second child. Kevin told him the vacation really made him experience inner peace and relaxation. As if he had been meditating all day. When he told him he thought that Kev was exaggerating, but being here up at almost 2000 meters height he experienced the same feeling. He made a mental note to text him about it. After half an hour he reached the cable cart station from both the Sunliner as the Waldbahn. From there on it was approximately another 15 minute walk to the Moseralm Summer Funpark. He really enjoyed the walk. How was it possible. Normally when he went on holidays it took at least a week to release stress and sometimes even longer to let the things of everyday life go, but here it was like magic. He went outside, up in the mountains and in an instant all stress seemed to evaporate. Maybe I should buy a house here, he thought with a grin.

When he reached the mountain restaurant at Moseralm he enjoyed a nice bowl of spaghetti and a fresh salad. The food was great. All you could wish for, they had it. It actually amazed him that there was so much choice. All the supplies had to be brought up the mountain on a daily basis. They probably had a great logistic system which made them able to do it. He wanted to ask Geli about it tonight. That was something he was interested in since he was younger. Most people didn’t knew this about him. The fans certainly didn’t. It wasn’t interesting for them to know anyway, he figured. The same thing with the cable cars. To get them here on the mountain meant somebody (or several people) went up years ago, with danger for his life, to prepare the mountain to install some kind of cable car. All so that the people of the village could go up on the mountain without having to spend so much time actually getting there. Now many years later the cable cars where part of the infrastructure and a central point within tourism in that area.

After he finished his lunch and rested a little, he went further on with the trail. He made sure he took some extra water for the road. Until the Moseralm he’d been walking at 2000 meter height. From there on to the end of the trail, which ended in the little village Ladis, the trail descended approximately 900 meters down. Along with that the view and the environment changed from nice open alps higher up the mountain to beautiful dark woods with pineapple trees further down the trail.

Again he enjoyed the trail. The changing surroundings made him feel like he was in a different world. After a while he arrived at the restaurant at Frommes Alp. He drank coffee there with a local specialty called “apfelstrudl mit sahne”. It was a delicious Austrian pastry with apple and thick whipped cream. He could’ve chose for vanilla sauce, instead of the whipped cream, but today he felt like whipped cream. Maybe tomorrow, he smiled when he thought it. How amazing was that. Tomorrow there was another day like this. Heck, the next 3 months would be like this, awesome. A feeling of joy came up and Brian was thankful for that.

He paid for the coffee and the pastry and continued the trail. There weren’t any restaurants between Frommes Alp and Ladis. Brian finished that last part, and also the longest part of the trail, without any breaks. The reason for the little rush was that if he took more time he wouldn’t be able to make it back in time to meet Geli.

After another hour he finally reached Ladis. A small village at 1180 meters height. He’d really wanted to spend more time there but he had to get back to Serfaus. He went back to Fiss with the Sonnenbahn, which connected Ladis and Fiss with the cable car line. In the center of Fiss he had to walk for 10 minutes to the Waldbahn. From there the cable car would lead him to the Sunliner and that one took him back to Serfaus.

Around 4:30 in the afternoon he was back at his apartment.