Now we at FREEDOMtravel have reached a record low! We will tell you more about this, of course, while we can tell you a little about our week in general. We are currently travelling in northern Sweden, where we have met a travel blogger colleague, tasted field berries and much more ...
Table of contents
Bottom record
We have reached a record low! We have visited more "bottom" landscapes than ever before! This summer we have visited:
- Ostrobothnia: Kristinestad, Närpes, Vaasa, Oravais, Jakobstad
- Central Ostrobothnia: Karleby
- North Ostrobothnia: Kalajoki, Brahestad, Oulu
- Norrbotten: Haparanda, Kalix, Luleå, Piteå
- Västerbotten: Skellefteå, Umeå
It has been really interesting and very nice to travel around the Gulf of Bothnia. An unexpectedly good trip! The journey is not over yet, although we are slowly moving towards more homely regions again ...
Meet a fellow travel blogger
One of our most recent stops was in Umeå in Västerbotten, where we met our travel blogger colleague Gunilla from the wonderful travel blog. 4000 mil. We have known each other for a long time and also travelled together, for example in the Czech Republic and Hamburg. Very fun and nice to meet again! Of course, we had all sorts of things to discuss, and Gunilla also took us to the nice place Sjöbris, by the Ume River.
More Norrland
We're seeing more and more of Norrland, but as usual, we're a little behind on our reports. So far, we've had time to tell you about the awesome Kukkola Rapids and about the delicious art experience Van Gogh Alive. The latter is touring around different places - we saw it in Skellefteå but it's moving to Malmö soon - so we thought it best to tell you about it without tying it to any particular destination. A great experience anyway, highly recommended!
Otherwise, we have travelled through Haparanda, Kalix, Luleå, Piteå, Skellefteå and Umeå. In the pictures below you can see our free camping at Skellefteälven in Skellefteå. We found here via the app Park4Night and here we had super nice motorhome neighbours, which made the stop in Skellefteå even nicer!
Lots of sun ... and some rain
We have had fantastic weather this summer. I don't know if it is provocative to say (we know the weather has been bad in some places), but we have had sunshine almost every day, and the rainy days have been very few. But sometimes even we have had rain! The top picture is from yesterday. The picture below is two or three days old.
Berries and mushrooms
We are really enjoying berries and mushrooms during our trip! We've found chanterelles in the forest (a small amount) and supplemented with chanterelles from the town square (a larger amount). So good!
We have also bought berries in the markets - raspberries, blueberries and cloudberries. Absolutely delicious! This is a luxury that we are indulging in right now!
We have also bought a jar of (expensive!) gooseberry marmalade. We found this at Rabarberiet (AlterHeden's farm shop) in Piteå. Interesting to try, and very good, with a little more character than, for example, raspberries! So far we've tried it with "regular" cheese on the breakfast sandwich, but we're keen to try it with dessert cheese as well... Have you tried gooseberry or gooseberry marmalade? What are your best tips?
Best this week
Best this week? That we are still on a roll! That we meet such nice people! That we often see the sun in the sky! What has been the best part of your week?
The week ahead
We continue our journey in Norrland, slowly heading south. At the same time, we will now start publishing more articles from the places we visited in northern Sweden. For example, tomorrow it will be about Haparanda and Tornio here at FREEDOMtravel!
Did you miss the last Happy Friday? Read the Norrland adventures and preparations for the Elmia trade fair
Lena - good for the soul says:
Congratulations to you for the nice weather! Yesterday was the day when we had sun here in Enköping, hehe. We were sooo happy to have a holiday and be able to enjoy the day!
How nice that you could meet Gunilla with the nice well-written blog! Always fun with different dates.
Hug Lena
18 August 2023 - 8:47
Helena says:
Yes, we really think we have been lucky with the weather this summer, and it is wonderful! Nice that you had sun, but hope you had more sun than that!!!? And yes, great fun to meet other bloggers from time to time, very nice to meet Gunilla! Agree, we like her blog a lot!!!
18 August 2023 - 19:59
Annar Aas says:
I look forward to that. You are wonderful travel writers.
18 August 2023 - 9:00
Helena says:
Thanks for your nice comment Annar, it's encouraging! Wishing you a nice weekend!
18 August 2023 - 21:09
bmlarstravellingblog says:
You have really enjoyed the weather during almost your entire trip around the Gulf of Bothnia, which makes it an even more wonderful experience. Here it has been a week at home but with different activities and wonderful meetings every day. Soon only one week left until our autumn trip hopefully begins.
18 August 2023 - 14:37
Helena says:
Exciting, where does the autumn trip go? Nice trip regardless!!!
19 August 2023 - 18:06
BP says:
A really "eye catching" headline:-)
Have never been north of Umeå, so following your bottom record was really interesting.
Weather-wise, I can only agree - we zero eights, at least those of us who live north of the city, have had and are still having a fantastic summer.
18 August 2023 - 18:31
Helena says:
Haha, yes, the title was Peter's idea 😉 Glad you like to follow our bottom record, completely new territory for us too!
19 August 2023 - 18:07
Seija Viitamäki-carlsson says:
I am very impressed with your journey from Åland and the big cities on the coasts and then every small town, village or beach along the coast of Finland. I have never experienced or seen so much of my home country. You should get the Crystal for the digging you do in each destination. Homework for me. You are the best travelling storytellers. And the Philippines before, fabulous ❤️❤️❤️🥰👍🇫🇮
18 August 2023 - 20:19
Helena says:
Hi Seija! What a nice comment! You should know that it warms! Hugs to you! Wishing a continued nice weekend!
19 August 2023 - 18:08