One, two, three, let´s go! Adios Germany. Well, at least for a while. A year, two, forever? Who knows. Some of you might have read I´ve quit my job, after a long consideration. Yesterday it was my last day at the office and yes, it felt a bit strange but so good at the same time.
So now what? First, we´ll do some travelling. Yay! Up and down around Europe. Enjyoing the free day today and starting our adventure tomorrow, we are off to Scandinavia!
Once we return to Germany, we will drive back home to SLOVENIA WITH LU, finally home after 6 months yay! It is always good to be back and I really can´t wait that I will not have to count the holidays days this time. We will squeeze in a proper beach holiday in CROATIA as well. Quickly back to Germany for Lu to start his new school year and then back south, all the way to GREECE, through the BALKAN COUNTRIES. Would love to take Lu with us on the whole trip, but the German school system is very strict and it is almost impossible to get even one single day off during the school. But more about the Balkan part of the trip some other time. So, where exactly, how and why are we going up north in the first place?
WHERE EXACTLY ARE WE GOING?
We have around 5 WEEKS TIME and lots of kilometers to drive. Our first days will be spent in DENMARK. We´ve visited Copenhagen last December and liked it a lot, so we are happy to go back to our northern neighbors. We have a few days before we catch the ferry to NORWAY, spending our first night on RØMØ island. We will skip Oslo this time and focus on the mountains and fjords around STAVANGER and BERGEN area first, before visiting the LOFOTEN ISLANDS. If there is enough time and good weather, we might drive up to NORDKAPP, otherwise we will cross northern SWEDEN, before moving on to FINLAND. The ferry will take us across to TALLINN in ESTONIA, further on we are driving through LATVIA, LITHUANIA and POLAND back to Germany. After that as mentioned already, direction south. Beach, sea and vitamin D!
old photo taken during our Scandinavian road trip many years ago in Lofoten islands in Norway
WHY SCANDINAVIA?
Scandinavian countries, Norway especially, are known to be one of the most expensive ones in Europe and yes, that´s a good reason to start the trip here. I am still waiting for my June paycheck and getting some money on the account seem like a great thing while in Norway. Since we will travel for more months and only return home for very short periods of time in between, we can totally empty the fridge and take all the food stocks with us. We will not have to buy so much groceries while on the road in Norway.
The best time for a road trip
Summer is here and these months are the best for travelling in northern Europe. As it is still June, we might also escape the crowds. The days are very long and the dark nights are short to non-existing which gives us loads of sunlight, ideal for long distance driving.
Nature, great outdoors and landscape
We can´t wait to be somewhere at a lake or in the forest, with a good book by the fire. Doing some hiking and catching fresh air instead of sitting in the car and office 10hrs a day. We are also bringing a fishing stick (you do not need a permit to fish in Norway in the sea) so we are hoping for some yummy free dinners.
Wild camping
In Norway, Sweden and Finland it is allowed to camp out in the wild as long as you are not in an urban area. As we can sleep in our car, we are quite flexible regarding our route and except two ferries we really see no need to prebook anything. Waking up in the middle of nowhere is the best ever, really can´t wait for that.
Bringing back memories
More than 15 years ago, we did a family trip with my parents all the way up to Nordkapp already. A car and a tent, 10k kilometers in 2 weeks time. We will have much more time now and a bit less kilometers as we are starting in northern Germany and not Slovenia like last time.
WHY THE BALTIC COUNTRIES?
On the way back we will drive through 4 countries I have never been to before, so I´m also eager to see what they are like. Obviously, by the time we get there we will be out of food and drinks stock so we are looking forward to maybe check out some restaurants over there as they are much less expensive as in Scandinavia. We really do not know so much about these countries and since they are not so overrun by tourists it could be a great adventure.
HOW WILL WE BE TRAVELLING?
With our 19-year old LR DEFENDER which we bought in February this year. We spent the last months rebuilding, renovating and converting it into a CAMPER, so that it now has everything we need for a comfortable ROAD TRIP. A small kitchen, a sitting area which transforms into a bed, all sorts of electric plugs, extra water and diesel tanks, rooftop terrace, solar panel, storage room, an outside shower and and and. We can easily live in a remote place for a couple of day. More details, photos and a full description of the conversion is coming up in a new blog post.
Comments 2
Hello! Impressive! This summer I plan to visit the Baltic countries. Thanks for sharing!
Author
You´re welcome, the Baltic states are wonderful, have fun 🙂