Our “last European road trip” ended in Stuttgart, Germany, where we dropped off our once-new Macan S, named Max, at the Porsche factory for shipment home.

After being on the road for almost thirty days and driving 2,150 miles through Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland, the moment comes when you realize… enough is enough… it’s time to go home!

And on this holiday, we brought back a rather unusual souvenir!

The last driving segment and factory delivery

Konstanz’s journey to Stuttgart was smooth and everything went according to plan. But as we drove to the parking area in front of the Zuffenhausen complex, the harsh reality hit us…this was the official end of the trip and we’re going home tomorrow.

We were greeted by the same Porsche delivery consultant we initially met a month ago, but this time we handed him the keys and he handed us a folder with the paperwork.
Saying goodbye to Max was strange after all the time we spent together and especially not knowing exactly when we would meet.

As we walked through the building, we glanced into the delivery room and saw a collection of new Porsches all lined up, waiting for their owners, and reflected on how excited we had been the night before picking up our new vehicle.

last night in stuttgart

Our trip began and ended at the Althoff Hotel am Schlossgarten, which is an excellent hotel with warm and welcoming staff. Upon check-in, we were upgraded to a magnificent suite with two balconies. The views were exceptional and added a fitting end to our visit.

You know it’s time to go home when…

Despite a lot of pre-trip planning at home, there was still a lot of “local” logistics to work through every day…which gets old after a while.

Simple things become exhausting… Sightseeing and excursion decisions instead of staying and enjoying the local atmosphere in a small cafe. Even the question of what to eat and where becomes challenging.

As we neared the end of the trip, packing became a stuffing event…just roll it up and keep last few days clothes separate and tidy.

Craving a steak and baked potato

In fact, we had a weird craving for plain, basic American food… like a steak and baked potato of all things.

Finding a steakhouse proved to be a challenge as there weren’t many options, but we did find one with decent reviews and it was within walking distance.

The street scene was very different from a month ago, when we saw warm summer weather with hordes of revelers enjoying the Stuttgart Wine Village Festival with over 150 wine arbors and food vendors.

We are now experiencing a cool early autumn afternoon with a light crowd of locals in the wide pedestrian squares. This new perspective had us a bit lost, so we asked what turned out to be a patient and friendly woman for directions.

“Could you tell us where the Block House Steak restaurant is?”

She replied, with a slightly puzzled look, and said, “Why would you go there when we have exceptional Swabian restaurants for you to enjoy?

“We know it and we’ve enjoyed it, but we’ve been here almost 30 days and we’re going home tomorrow.”

With an understanding smile and said… “Oh, okay, then go three blocks down that road and turn right.”

Max’s ride home

We dropped Max off on September 29, stripped the car down to the owner’s manuals and maps, and drove to the German port city of Emden in a transport truck where it was then loaded onto the Goliath Leader, a car carrier. which houses more than 18,000 vehicles.

The ship stopped at a few more ports before heading out to sea. We were able to track her as she crossed the Atlantic, she passed through the Panama Canal and headed for the port of San Diego, where she went through customs and a final check by Porsche.

We finally met up at our local dealer on December 3rd… just over two months later.

So would we do it again?

Taking delivery of a new car is exciting and marks a major financial decision, but when you add a European delivery to the chemistry, you get a totally different and amplified experience.

Driving a high-performance, custom-built vehicle for a month’s vacation through the breathtakingly beautiful European countryside and the freedom to go anywhere without restrictions or car rental fees has a huge advantage.

On the other hand… Driving a new car in a totally foreign environment, along with the paranoia associated with dents and bumps, as well as finding “perfect” parking spots adds a bit of stress to the once-in-a-lifetime euphoric undertaking. . .

Add to the equation the fact that… you’ll be paying for a car you won’t even see for over 2 months while it’s in transit to your home port.

But you know… you only go once and if you were going to buy it anyway, why not get out of your comfort zone?

All of this makes for a great and unique story that gets better every time we tell it!

As described in our “The Last Road Trip in Europe” series, we had an incredible adventure and exceptional memories to reflect on for years to come.

Summary

Looking back, we had a vacation in Europe, Porsche treated us with reduced airfares and hotel rates, special meals, personal guided tours of the world-class factory and museum, and lots of thoughtful and personal touches.

Driving experiences and the freedom to choose your own destinations and timeframes cannot be assigned a numerical dollar value…the untold is coming!
All we have to do is look at all our photos, read our series of travel articles and look in our garage at Max…

After all, what’s the rush… get inspired.

© 2016 Inspired Travel Itineraries with Bob and Janice Kollar