Indians on Vacation

Blackbird "Bird" Mavrias, a retired photojournalist, and his wife, Mimi Bull Shield, arrive in Prague for a vacation. Their trip is inspired by old postcards sent by Mimi's great-uncle, Leroy Bull Shield, a member of the Crow Nation who disappeared in Europe nearly a century ago with his family's sacred medicine bundle, a ceremonial object central to their spiritual traditions. Bird is a reluctant traveler, burdened by chronic health issues like autoimmune pancreatitis and severe leg cramps. He also struggles with internal conflicts he personifies as "Eugene and the Other Demons." Their hotel room is hot and has spiders on the ceiling; an ineffective air conditioner in the hallway offers no relief. As they explore the area near the Charles Bridge, Bird reflects on his medical diagnoses and Mimi's belief that travel will improve his outlook. Concerned about his depression, Mimi had once suggested he get a dog. A sad visit to a humane society led to a compromise: a stuffed dog named Muffy. That night, a thick fog envelops the city, reminding Mimi of a story about her Uncle Everett, who ran away from a residential school.

The next morning at breakfast, Bird meets a mysterious man named Oscar Zoraster Diggs, or "Oz," who has different-colored eyes and wears two watches. As they walk across the Charles Bridge, Bird recalls the full story of Uncle Leroy, told to him by Mimi's mother, Bernice. In the early 1900s, after painting the local Indian agent's house with cow manure, Leroy was given a choice: go to prison or join Captain Trueblood's Wild West Emporium, a show traveling to Europe. He chose the show, taking the Crow bundle with him, and was never heard from again, aside from a few postcards. Later, Bird and Mimi visit the Franz Kafka Museum, where they see a sculpture of two men urinating into a pond shaped like the Czech Republic. At an Indian-themed pizza parlor, Bird suffers a debilitating leg cramp.

Mimi tries to discuss Bird's demons, which she has given names to, but he resists. They visit Old Town Square to see the famous astronomical clock, only to find it is broken. Deterred by a long line at the old Jewish cemetery, Mimi proposes they create a new "Travel bundle" to document their own journeys, using a zippered nylon knife case that belonged to her aunt. Their tour of Prague Castle and its museum of medieval torture devices is strained, and Bird's constant negativity begins to wear on Mimi. Back at the hotel, Bird panics when he wakes to find Mimi gone, but she soon returns, explaining she left a note he missed. She has met a woman who recommended a day trip to Budapest, and she convinces a reluctant Bird to go. The plan reminds Bird of how he first met Mimi in San Francisco and how they connected by sharing their family histories: Mimi's father was killed by a drunk driver, while Bird's father abandoned his family.

On the train to Budapest, they meet a retired American couple, Trudy and Jim Blund. A tense conversation follows when Jim, who worked for Nestlé's bottled water division, defends his industry against Mimi's strong environmental objections. The encounter prompts Bird to recall his and Mimi's trip to Greece, where they followed one of Leroy's postcards to Athens before taking a side trip to Kymi, his own grandfather's village. There, they found the family name in town records and located the old, abandoned family home in the nearby village of Maletiani. When they arrive at Keleti station in Budapest, they are confronted by a massive, chaotic encampment of Syrian refugees. Deeply shaken, Mimi immediately decides they must return to Prague that same night. During a tense wait at a café, Bird has an angry outburst about their powerlessness, which upsets Mimi.

After a silent train ride back, Mimi falls ill with a stomach flu. At breakfast, Oz tells Bird that the Budapest station has been closed to refugees and offers two fabricated stories for Uncle Leroy's fate: one happy, one tragic. While out getting food for Mimi, Bird is accidentally knocked down by a young woman named Kalea Tomaguchi. She and her boyfriend, Bryce Osbourne, insist he join them for dinner. Their relationship is in crisis over Bryce's recent affair, which reminds Bird of his own infidelity with a typewriter expert, Naomi Gallant, during a brief separation from Mimi. He walks Kalea back to her hotel, and she gives him a perfume sample for Mimi. The next day, Mimi, feeling better, orchestrates a meeting with the young couple at their hotel restaurant. She speaks privately with Kalea, learns she is not pregnant, and advises her to reconsider the marriage. Later, in Stromovka Park, Bird collapses and vomits. Two young men, Trevor and Nigel, try to scam them by pretending to be police, but Mimi fends them off with the perfume atomizer and takes their fake cardboard badge for the Travel bundle.

Bird recalls an ill-fated joyride in a stolen car during his youth. Back at the hotel, the excitement of the attempted robbery leads to a moment of intimacy between him and Mimi. They spend the evening eating from food stalls and dancing in Kampa Park. At their final breakfast, Oz announces he is leaving for Amsterdam. He gives Bird a watch and a typed version of the happy story he invented for Uncle Leroy, and he challenges Bird to finish the journalism project on the social-service system's practice of taking Indigenous children from their families, which he had abandoned. Bird and Mimi spend their last day apart. Bird gets a bloody nose after being accidentally hit during a chaotic protest in Wenceslas Square, where he runs into Oz one last time. That evening, they have an expensive final dinner overlooking the city. Bird gives Mimi Oz's story, but she leaves it on the table, unread. As they walk back to the hotel, Mimi suggests that seeing the world from a different perspective can make a difference. Standing with her, Bird feels a sense of peace, realizing that for the first time in a while, Eugene and the Other Demons are gone.