Two Weeks in the Alps

A Return to the Alps 🙂

Recently, I got back from my vacation in the Alps. It was a fantastic two weeks filled with a lot of hiking and even a bit of climbing. Previous summer I used my Galaxy Watch for hiking (check “Galaxy Watch + Komoot + Hiking: Battery Usage” for details), but this time, I had my Garmin Venu3 with me.

Coincidentally, this vacation turned out to be a bit sportier than last year’s. I don’t think my watch influenced this.

My Vacation by the Numbers

Thanks to modern technology, I was able to collect data throughout these two weeks. Here are some numbers that sum up my vacation:

• Duration: 14 days
• Distance driven: 1750 km
• Distance hiked: 69 km
• Recorded total ascent: 4116 meters (highest single hike ascent – 1070 m)
• Registered climbed “floors”: 1018, including a personal best of 179 in a single day – a nice contribution to the Everest expedition.
• Swum distance: 4100 m
• Photos and videos: 1517 taken, 12GB in size

In addition, I earned eight Garmin badges during my vacation.

I also used Komoot on my watch and can now compare this experience with the WearOS version. I’ll publish a detailed comparison separately, but as a spoiler: it’s better, though not without issues.

Testing My Battery Life Theory

Another topic I unintentionally tested during this vacation was my view on watch battery life, which I described in the article “Smartwatch Battery Life: What’s Truly ‘Good Enough’?”. The use case I titled as “Hiking or Running a Marathon or Something Like That” is absolutely real, and it happened several times during these two weeks.

Here’s what has happened:
Day one: I spent the day outside, returning back closer to the evening. During the evening, I needed my watch to check the time, get notifications, and perform other usual tasks. I had around 20 or 30 minutes before bedtime to charge my watch, and then I needed it on my wrist to track my sleep (not crucial) and wake me up the next morning (very important).

Day two: I woke up using my watch alarm, was busy with preparation for a hike (no time to babysit my watch), did a 6-hour hike using the watch, returned to my vacation “home,” unpacked, relaxed a bit, and then went to a fireplace and enjoy “grilling” until late in the evening before heading straight to bed. There was no way or desire to squeeze in watch charging that day.

Days like these aren’t common, but they’re absolutely real!