Stranded in Austria, $222 flights to Hawaii, and what making headlines

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We’re writing this from Munich, though that wasn’t exactly the plan. After a few incredible weeks exploring Austria, watching the leaves turn gold, drinking coffee in Vienna coffee shops, and feeling that first real chill of fall, our truck decided it was time for a break. Yesterday, the clutch went out completely.

his morning ,we found a mechanic who could take a look, but as it turns out, he can’t even touch it for a week. Parts need to be ordered. Timelines are uncertain. The kind of news that instantly rewrites your itinerary.
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ut honestly, it’s hard to be too frustrated. This old truck has taken us from the States to Panama, through the UK, and across much of Europe without missing a beat. A blown clutch feels like the tax you pay for adventure. Inconvenient, sure, but not unfair.
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Still, we were at a crossroads. We only have a few weeks left on our EU visa. Do we stay here and wait it out, spending a small fortune on hotels while hoping the parts show up in time? Or do we cut our losses and head back to the States for a bit?

Sara opened her laptop and started searching. Within a few minutes, she remembered a site we’d heard about from some friends, Points.me. This isn’t an ad or a sponsorship. In fact, we literally just signed up for their affiliate program today.

We’ve used Going for years to find great flight deals, and it’s still our go-to for discovering places we didn’t even know were on sale. The difference with Points.me is that it works specifically with airline miles and rewards programs, showing exactly how to book flights using points across multiple carriers. Going helps you dream bigger trips. Points.me helps you make those trips happen for almost nothing.

In less than an hour, Sara found flights straight from Munich to Chattanooga for 40,000 points each on Delta (which traditionally doesn't have great point evaluations). If we’d paid cash, the total would have been over €4,000 per person. After a long day of stress, that small victory felt like a miracle, or at least a good reminder that resourcefulness is its own kind of travel skill.

So for now, the truck’s parked in Austria. We’ll wait for the mechanic to work his magic while we make our way back home for a few weeks, grateful for points, good timing, and the kind of stories that never make the itinerary but always end up being the ones you remember.

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Pro Tip: Hotels never have enough outlets. Pack a small power strip so you can charge everything from one spot instead of juggling adapters or crawling behind furniture. We use this one. (This saved our butts at Ragbrai and at airports) CHECK IT OUT

✈️ Flights We’d Text to Friends

Here are a few that caught our eye this week:

• Boston → Florence for $880, 51% off (normally $1820+). Premium economy seats with extra legroom and better meals make this a solid deal. Florence in the spring with a little extra comfort sounds like money well spent.
• Birmingham → Poznań for $541, 48% off (normally $1050+). Poland doesn’t get nearly enough love. Poznań is full of colorful architecture, great food, and way fewer tourists than Kraków or Warsaw.
• Portland → Kahului for $222, 69% off (normally $735+). One of the lowest prices we’ve seen to Hawaii in months. A perfect time to escape gray skies for beaches, sunshine, and plate lunches by the water.
• Nashville → Brussels for $542, 39% off (normally $900+). A great fare to one of Europe’s most underrated capitals. Waffles, fries, and day trips to Bruges or Ghent make it an easy yes.
• Cincinnati → Buenos Aires for $776, 25% off (normally $1040+). A solid deal to Argentina’s capital. Tango, steak, and late-night café culture make this one worth the miles.
• Chicago → São Paulo for $565, 37% off (normally $900+). Great price for South America. São Paulo’s food scene alone is worth the trip, and this fare gives you plenty of reason to go.
• Chattanooga → Barcelona for $438, 56% off (normally $1015+). An incredible price to Spain’s most colorful city. Tapas, beaches, and Gaudí architecture all for less than a domestic flight these days.

We find all of these through Going. It is worth setting up alerts for your home airport. Most of these deals won't last long, so if one catches your eye, don't sit on it.

📍Worth Sharing

A few things we bookmarked this week

• Delta is adding a new route from Atlanta to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It’ll be the first nonstop flight from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia, starting next October
• Hurricane Melissa strengthens to a Category 5 storm as it nears Jamaica, bringing extreme rainfall and forcing evacuations across the island.
• Next time your washer or dryer finishes, this will be stuck in your head 😂.
• Cotopaxi dropped some new jackets just in time for cooler weather.

📣 ICYMI

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We Finally Understand Belgium

Our final Belgium film is live. In this one-hour travel story, we explore the heart of Belgium from Bruges and Brussels to Antwerp and the countryside in between. It’s not a list of top sights but a slower look at what it feels like to actually be there. Cobblestone streets, forest trails, and a few too many waffles included.

Thanks for reading Field Notes. We’re trying to make this a space worth saving, full of things we’d actually send to a friend.

If you ever want to pass it along, here’s the link to subscribe: chrisandsara.kit.com/chrisandsara​

And if something in here made you laugh, think, or book a flight… we’d love to hear about it. Just hit reply or tag us @chrisandsara_ on Instagram.

More soon,

Chris & Sara

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