Hello everyone 🙂
alongside work, my travel year 2017 continues with some great adventures. Already just before I left for my interrail trip through Eastern Europe a good friend asked me if we couldn’t do another road trip together this summer. Always up for an adventure, I suggested to figure out details when I get back. By then, we set a date and only some months after my great interrail trip we packed up our bags, went grocery shopping and gathered everything we needed to survive sleeping and living in a car for a while.
In mid June, our journey to the north started. We had 11 days and a rough idea what route to take. The only goal was to visit a friend of mine studying in Uppsala and stop at her mom’s place on the way back to Cologne.
The Route
Passing through Hamburg, we made it to Flensburg for the first night and enjoyed a lovely walk along the local harbour. The next morning we found a little cosy village right at the sea and just before the Danish border to have a breakfast with a view. During the following days it became a constant and reoccuring struggle to find a good sleeping spot at night, preferably with a toilet around and on our best nights we even discovered some nature paradises off the big streets.
However, in the end, we’ve always had a good place and slept quite well. For such a trip, it comes in very handy that Sweden allows any stranger to camp wild as long as you don’t disturb anything, take your garbage with you and be attentive in terms of the surrounding environment. Additionally, there are also many parking spaces along bigger streets or at national parks where you’ll find picnic areas, sometimes even toilets or fire wood. The toilets along the streets are usually pretty clean as well, much better than many highway places in Germany.
The streets took us to Copenhagen, over some expensive bridges to Malmö and Lund, up the coast to Bildal and Göteborg and further on to Örebro. Then meeting my friend in Uppsala, taking a short break in Stockholm and celebrating Midsommar in Bolmen, before we were hitting the road back to Germany.
The Atmosphere
The constant change between cities, rural areas and pure nature were the essence of that journey. You experience a very special atmosphere in the Northern countries during the summer when it’s barely getting dark at night. Even though, this circumstance is logic and common sense, it makes a difference to see and feel it yourself. My body and mind reacted to this seemingly weird light conditions and it was kinda crazy to wake up at 6am in the morning with bright sun shining in my face.
In general, concerning weather, the North is very comfortable for a roadtrip in the summer since you don’t feel like melting in your car any second and the long nights allow you to see where you go and explore your area even later in the evening. Together with the easy chance to find good places to camp, it’s a nice area for trips like we did.
…just relax
When I think back of those days in June, I feel so much peace and joy. Despite the daily driving and moving from one spot to another, it’s been a completely different way of travelling compared to my interrail trip in March. Having a car and deciding when to leave and where to go, gives you a great freedom. Along the way we found so many little spots to take a short break and enjoy the nature. Travelling by train or bus, those moments are much rarer. Even though, I love travelling in general and it’s great to see different cultures and ways of living, the stillness of nature offers so many ways of relaxing and filling up your energy reserves.
I’d very much recommend anyone to go out and experience this wonderful peace by yourselves. To give you some more ideas and impressions for the moment, I finish with some more pictures and wish you all the best – until next time.
Best, Anna
