Hiking through the mountains

AFTON – Audrey Bolinger followed her heart and it changed her life forever.

She now keeps, as a memento, a map that chronicles each of her treks through an unfamiliar country that served as her home for six months. It serves as a reminder of her life-changing experience as a student and explorer in Austria.

It's a journey Audrey says she'll never forget. But even the journey toward becoming a student overseas happened in an unconventional way.

After graduating from Creston High School in 2012 as a state champion hurdler, Audrey, the daughter of Amanda and the late Clint Bolinger, attended Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville, Missouri, where she studied financial services and competed in track and field.

Audrey finished her undergrad work at Northwest Missouri, but began work toward a master's degree so she could use her final season of eligibility for track and field. She eventually had hip surgery and didn't compete in her final season of track.

With an adventurous spirit and a desire to study abroad, Audrey created her own opportunity to embark on that journey, registering for undergrad coursework so she could travel abroad.

"I just had that idea in my head. I knew I wanted to achieve that dream. Once it was in my head, I did everything I could to make that a reality," she said about studying abroad. "I had my master's, but then I reapplied for a different undergrad degree in order to study abroad."

By the time she returned to the United States in December 2016, Audrey had completed her master's degree and had achieved one of her biggest dreams.

"It wasn't the typical study abroad experience, but it was so changing," she said. "I put myself in the setting I wanted to be in. I enjoyed studying; I enjoyed living at the base of a mountain. I followed my heart there and I believe that was the path I was supposed to be on."

Austrian adventure

Audrey eventually found herself living in Dornbirn, Austria, a city of about 48,000 people in western Austria, near the borders with Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

The city is nestled on the edge of the Eastern Alps, near Lake Constance. Audrey lived at the base of the mountains.

"The area was perfect because it had the different settings," Audrey said. "The mountains, the lake, kind of a city nearby. It was a good location, accessible by train so I could travel to other places, other destinations."

While studying in Austria, Audrey took six different weeklong classes, leaving a majority of her time living in Austria open for traveling and exploring.

Not one to waste golden opportunities, Audrey made the most of her time by either hiking in Austria or traveling throughout Europe on almost every free day she had.

Each morning, she would wake up, look at her map and find the correct – or sometimes incorrect – bus to the next town, and hike Austria's mountains without any cell phone signal or other connection to the world around her.

For Audrey, it was all about the simplicity of being in nature.

"That's my favorite part is being connected to nature, being connected to God," she said, "having that peace, that tranquility."

Outside of Austria, Audrey traveled to London, Ireland, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Hungary, Greece and Italy, among the 13 countries she visited.

But no matter where she traveled to and no matter what she observed in her journeys, there was still no experience for Audrey quite like climbing the mountains that became such a big part of her life.

"That feeling when you get to the top, it's breathtaking," Audrey said. "One of my favorite hikes, my day started off slow because I missed the bus I needed. I read the bus schedule wrong. I got to my beginning town. I hiked this really hard mountain and it was basically drop-offs on both sides and I was on my hands and feet climbing it. At one point, I was climbing on the side. It was crazy. I finally got to the top and it was no words. I have that feeling of tranquility, that feeling of being close to God, being thankful for the opportunity I'm given."

Audrey's older brother Austin, a 2011 graduate of Creston High School who is currently at helicopter flight training in Fort Rucker, Alabama, after graduating from the United States Air Force Academy, said seeing Audrey chase after her goals has been inspiring.

"What's inspiring about that is she found what she likes, found the best way to do it and still goes back," Austin said. "She's been able to set goals and achieve them."

One of the biggest challenges for Audrey was learning an unfamiliar language. She spent her flight to Austria studying a list that included German words and phrases.

She still found herself in some strange situations because of the language barrier, however, like when she found out toward the end of her stay that the German phrase for "good day" was used as a greeting rather than a farewell, like how she had been using it the whole time. Or the time she pressed an emergency button on a bus, thinking it was a button to open the door.

"I tried to stay hidden and not be the American who didn't know German," Audrey said. "I didn't want to be that stereotype, even though that was me."

She also had to fully recover from two hip surgeries before she could even make the journey to Austria.

"Not only has she been able to take the steps toward attaining [her goals], but when she gets something thrown in her way, she overcomes it," Austin said. "She likes to hike and she was in track, but track led to sports injuries and she worked through that. I don't know how she overcame two hip surgeries so quickly to get back to hiking."

Life lessons

The time away from home in a foreign country, surrounded by nature and God's creation gave Audrey the time for self reflection.

"It was difficult to be away from family, but I emailed my mom regularly and always had my dad watching over me, enjoying the views as I did," she said.

Along the way, she learned valuable life lessons and her entire outlook on life changed.

"I learned to always follow my heart. I learned I can tackle anything. I can be in a completely different country where I don't know the language and I can make it," Audrey said. "It changed my goals I have in life. It kind of changed the direction [of my life] and, again, I talk about God, but I feel like that was God's plan."

Audrey, who works at Great Western Bank in Creston as a lead teller, encourages everyone to take an opportunity to travel abroad. She says the biggest thing stopping most people from chasing that dream is making excuses.

"I think everybody has the opportunity to do it. By making excuses, that's denying your opportunity," she said. "Get out of your comfort zone. That was huge for me. Nothing grows in your comfort zone. You have to broaden your experiences in order to grow."

Austin has been able to learn from Audrey's adventures as well, and can relate to things she's experienced.

"She's actually chased her dreams," he said. "Just the ability to make friends wherever she goes. That's something I've learned in my experiences. It's about the people you know."

When she's not traveling halfway around the world, she still gets her fix of adventure at home on the weekends, either with trips to Green Valley with her dog, or finding other spots in nature to reflect on God's beauty.

Audrey grew up spending time at her grandparents' cabin in the country, exploring the land surrounding the cabin and riding 4-wheelers.

She continues to take advantage of those opportunities, while also swimming, kayaking and paddle-boarding when she has the chance.

"She likes to be doing things. If she's not doing something, she's working toward doing something," Austin said. "She's very determined. If she does set a goal, she doesn't like giving up on it. That's not her personality. She's also smart about the goals she does set. None of this would really happen if she didn't have this sense for adventure."