Goodbye Sweden - thank you very much!

Wow, how time flies! We can hardly believe that our first weeks are already over. We have been on the road for about 3 1/2 weeks now.

It would probably be too much to list all our stops here. There were quite a few and most of them simply breathtaking in the middle of beautiful nature - for free! 

But of course, there were also nights when we simply stayed overnight in a parking lot without any magic, and that's okay and sometimes just more practical.

So far, we have been incredibly lucky with the weather! Mostly sunshine and summery, warm temperatures - not quite usual for a Swedish summer. Our luck, as we could always jump into a lake to wash ourselves. That's why our outdoor shower in the van has not been used yet.

Otherwise, in the first few weeks, we have noticed a couple of things on the Sprinter that we definitely want to fix or change at home - but overall, we are very satisfied so far!

We already had our first stone chip, but we quickly got an appointment at "Ryds Bilglas". Luckily, there was no need for a new windshield right away, who knows if this will be the last stone chip.

And where have we been roughly?

We zig-zagged through the country - through Småland, to Stockholm (where we spent another great time with Vivi & Jocke), a little up the east coast, then across the country again over Lake Siljan, further west to the "highest" waterfall in the country (on our only rainy day) and then further north. 

It's really crazy, the further north we go, the less dark it gets. Actually, it doesn't get dark at night anymore! 

In between, we were a bit sad that we haven't seen any moose yet, but then our evening came! First a reindeer, then another one. Pretty cool! And then on the same route, we also saw a female moose and a male moose! So awesome :) Now we can really check off everything that Sweden has to offer! Probably because of the time of day. We rarely drove in the morning or later in the evening. But on that particular day, we did and boom - there they all were!

One planned destination was Åre. It is located in the mountains of Sweden.

At this point, I have to mention how diverse this country is! Lakes as far as the eye can see, the sea with its countless archipelago islands, and mountains. You can't ask for more!

Åre is mainly a ski resort most of the time, but in summer it is also a hiking and mountain biking area with a large bike park. When we arrived, Jannis first tested the bike park on his own, Fiete and I hiked up the mountain. Without a proper hiking map, I eventually realized on the way that a. I took a different route than originally planned and b. I have been hiking uphill on a black route the whole time. Very exhausting - but it was worth it!

After hearing Jannis' opinion and seeing what I saw on the mountain at the bike park, I decide not to join the next day. It seems quite challenging. If Jannis prefers blue trails over red ones, I better not take the risk - I still want to experience the rest of the trip!

Åre is quite close to the Norwegian border, and the plan is to slowly drive over to Norway from there. But before that, we quickly take Fiete to the vet. In order to enter Norway with a dog, you have to have them dewormed by a veterinarian. Probably the most expensive deworming ever - equivalent to 52€.

Now we just have to wait another 24 hours, and then we can go to Norway. We use the day for a big shopping trip (it will get even more expensive in Norway) and to visit the "biggest" waterfall in Sweden. Afterwards, we find a place to stay overnight near the border by a river, we go fishing (successfully - there will be brook trout to eat), and we encounter another reindeer. According to stories, we will probably come across a lot more reindeer on our journey.

We are grateful for the wonderful time in Sweden and now we are very excited and looking forward to Norway!