My Trip
From imperial Austrian courts to the American prairie: one man's resilient pursuit of the New World
- Non-Fiction
- Historical Fiction
In 1849, Victor von Goetz was born into the rigid splendor of the Austrian Empire, the son of a Napoleonic war hero. But the weight of tradition could not hold him. After clashing with the iron-fisted authority of a monastery school, Victor traded prayer books for grease and gears, apprenticing as a machinist in a world on the brink of change. Everything changed in a single, violent moment in Vienna. Forced to flee his homeland to save his brother’s reputation, Victor arrived in New York in 1872 with nothing but five dollars and his skills. From the brutal railroad shops of Pennsylvania to the unforgiving winds of the Nebraska prairie, his journey is one of survival, reinvention, and the relentless search for a place to call home. My Trip is a sweeping historical narrative that follows Victor as he navigates the Panic of 1893, the loss of family, and the challenges of immigrant life to become a pioneering photographer and civic leader. It is a profound exploration of what we carry across oceans and what we leave behind in the soil of a new land. Experience an epic transformation from an imperial exile to the heart of the American West.