The Long Way Back to Swizzyland
Helsinki, Finland´s proud capital, then a long ferry ride to Germany, and endless km before finally reaching Swizzyland.
l
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain
l
Helsinki, Finland´s proud capital, then a long ferry ride to Germany, and endless km before finally reaching Swizzyland.
Finland – very different from Norway. Now it’s mainly about hikes thru endless forests, making friends with the mozzies, and checking out a few towns along the way.
Our journey thru Europe´s northernmost part. Tromsø – the last big city, the famous North Cape – basically a huge parking lot on a cliff, and the peninsulas on the west and east of it – absolutely amazing landscapes and way more interesting.
Our visit to Norway’s northern islands: Lofoten, Andøya, and Senja. A journey thru amazing landscapes, forgotten villages, places overrun by overtourism at its worst, and quiet corners barely touched by visitors.
The long drive along the Atlantic Coast between the village of Holm and the town of Bodø: lousy weather, remote islands, wild coastline, glaciers, and muddy trails.
Despite the rather unpredictable weather, an epic trip thru Western Norway´s mountains. From Kinsarvik to Åndalsnes . All around the massive mountains and glaciers of Jostedalsbreen and Jontunheimen.
l
It all started with an opportunity. We’d been stationed in Lesotho for 4 years. Enough time to develop a dream: to drive back to Swizzyland at the end of our contracts.
In 2012, the dream became a reality. Africa overland in our Toyota Prado for 11 months. 50’000 km along the eastern part of the continent, briefly touching Asia, and finally crossing Europe to reach Laufenburg, Swizzyland.
Along the way, we unexpectedly developed another dream. Not Swizzyland would be our final destination, but rather Ushuaia in Argentina – of course, with a stopover in Anchorage to enjoy 1 of their famous Indian Pale Ales.
In Turkey, at a junction near Ankara, we had to make the incredibly difficult decision of whether to turn right towards Ushuaia or left towards Swizzy’s Laufenburg. Our finances made the decision for us.
We headed to Burkina Faso to earn some money. Until mid-2014 when we definitely liberated ourselves from salary slavery. The much shorter overland trip from Ouagadougou to Laufenburg. 4 ½ months and 22 000 km only – a kind of side trip on the way to Ushuaia.
In June 2015, we started our journey thru Asia on the way to Alaska. However, an urgent family issue in July forced us to interrupt our journey and drive back to Swizzyland.
In April 2016, we resumed our journey towards Ushuaia. Taking the northern route thru Asia to reach Kyrgyzstan. Later, on thru Tibet to Laos and Southeast Asia. In June 2017 further east, crossing China, Mongolia, and Russia to finally reach South Korea. From there, Prado gets shipped to the US.
2018 and ’19, we explored North America, visiting the US, Canada, and Mexico. Of course, not without sipping the famous Indian Pale Ale in Anchorage, Alaska.
We then traveled south to Central America. In February 2022, after a 2-year break due to these Coronies, we finally arrived in South America and reached our final destination of Ushuaia, Argentina, in December. Time to expand our horizons. No longer fixated on Ushuaia as our final destination – but now looking beyond this lost town at the Strait of Magellan.
A year later in 2024, we’ve definitely gone beyond Ushuaia and were making our way thru Brazil, Bolivia, and Northern Argentina. After 4 months, we’ve realized it’s our final trip to South America – at least for the time being. And Prado was tired and yearned for retirement. We’ve almost visited all countries on the continent. Time to set our sights on new horizons.
After a few months of rest in Swizzyland, we started to feel again those familiar “ants in our pants.”. We decided to shift gears from long, continuous trips across entire continents to shorter adventures in different parts of the world. To discover more of Europe with our camper – mostly during the summer – and to venture further afield when the Swizzies are dealing with constant fog – when it’s too warm for snow, and cold damp winter weather keeps everybody indoors slurping Glühwein.
Somehow, we already started touring Europe last year – 2 months in the Balkans and 1 month in northern Spain. Then, the next 2 years France, southeast, and north Europe.
l