End of the journey, 08/09/2017

At exactly 7 o'clock in the morning, the ferry left Trelleborg, bringing us back to German soil from Sweden. Despite the emerging nausea, this six-hour crossing provided enough time to catch up on the sleep of the past night, which was almost sleepless due to a constantly wheezing tent neighbor, to set a new Yahtzee high score (431 points!) and to reflect on our journey together. At first, Leon could only think of his Yahtzee victory, until shortly before the ferry docked in the port of Rostock, he realized that our trip to northern Europe was slowly but surely coming to an end - apart from the drive back home to the Allgäu region. We had covered an impressive 9,500 km in total. Admittedly, Leon spent most of the journey behind the wheel of my Volvo. The right decision! After all, we completed almost 10,000 km without any accidents - and that, considering that this whole driving could become incredibly exhausting over time. Although the fuel costs added up to a considerable amount for this distance, the trip to rather expensive Scandinavia cost us less than expected: less than 50 euros per person per day. Fuel included. And thanks to the excellent onboard kitchen, we definitely didn't eat poorly - to put it bluntly, we gained some weight. However, to be honest, that was the only luxury we indulged in. True to the motto "In the thick of it instead of just being there", we mostly stayed in the tent in the spectacular nature of Scandinavia, which is absolutely breathtaking in the sunshine but can be very dreary in the rain. The clear advantage of our mobile home was the mobility and flexibility that allowed us to move from place to place. A road trip, after all. It was precisely this uncertainty about where we would spend the following night that occasionally drove me to despair. Although we always found a suitable spot, of course. It is precisely these efforts and the low comfort that make the journey incomparably unforgettable and make us proud. After all, we reached the North Cape (check!) and were allowed to approach a beautiful part of our earth - each in our own way: Leon with his camera, me with words. But the best part is that we had each other. In particular, the vast, lonely north taught us to appreciate the "we" and the shared time. We will travel together again!