Off on new adventures

The alarm clock wakes us up at about seven in the morning. It’s winter, and here in the Austrian Tannheim Valley a good ten centimetres of snow has fallen overnight. Before the sun has even come up, it’s time for us to get up and out of bed and into the cold white wilderness!

Leaving our chalet is worth the effort when there are so many images waiting for us outside: twisting mountain roads, frozen lakes and the longest suspension footbridge in the world, connecting two mountain peaks at a breath-taking 114 metres from the ground. Even for us seasoned globetrotters and travel bloggers, images like these still take our breath away, and remind us why we love our job so much. Even if it is an icy minus ten outside.

But to be able to capture and share these moments, you need teamwork: Equipment must be prepared and stowed, travel routes must be organised and ideas developed for pictures. While part of the team loads cameras, lenses and snowboards, the others study the map to find the route to the next image. 

The loading floor is remarkably spacious

Despite its sporty appearance, the Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Sport Turismo in which we began our adventure is able not only to comfortably transport five of our team members, but also a whole lot of equipment. While we stretch out in the deep leather seats, there is space for our cameras, snowboards and bags in the luggage compartment. With a storage volume of 425 litres, the loading floor is remarkably spacious – especially for a sports car. And loaded up to roof height with the rear seats folded back, this space can be expanded to a total of 1,295 litres.

The low loading floor and the large tailgate make it easy for us to quickly unload our cameras, tripods etc. for spontaneous stops, meaning that on the way to our next location we are able to capture the wisps of fog curing artfully over the Vilsalpsee before they evaporate into thin air. Usually, it is precisely these spontaneous situations that create the most striking images.

When we’re on the road, we try to internalise the things that the photos cannot convey: The deer that blinked sleepily at us at our second location, only to vanish seconds later into the undergrowth. The tingling feeling of uncertainty about what might await us around the next bend, or beyond the next valley. The wind on our skin as we drive, filming from the open windows. 

It’s an innovative step in the right direction

It often feels almost as if we might take off: Delivering 340 kW (462 hp; Fuel consumption combined 2.6 l/100 km; CO₂ emissions 59 g/km; electricity consumption (combined) 15.9 kWh/100 km), the Porsche Panamera 4 E-Hybrid Sport Turismo has a decent amount of power under the hood. But the real strength of this sports car lies in the composition of this figure: While 330 hp comes from the 2.9-litre V6 bi-turbo engine, 136 hp is supplied by the electric motor.

The sound of this ingenious interplay is the music of the future. This Porsche – which always starts in purely electric mode – can cover a range of up to 50 kilometres and reach a maximum speed of 140 km/h with zero emissions. We are also huge fans of the specially developed “Hybrid Auto” mode: It’s pretty smart that the Panamera independently switches between and combines the two drive sources to make the journey even more efficient.

In our opinion, it’s an innovative step in the right direction. After three days in Austria, we’re off on new adventures. And we are excited to see what is waiting for us around the next bend!