Sweden → Norway

Unfortunately, rain was then forecast for Wednesday afternoon… for the first time since I’d set off. So I packed everything up and headed for the next bigger „town“ to somehow spend the day there. In the evening the sun was supposed to come out again. Nearby I found a kebab shop, or rather a café. A fancy kebab shop, you could say. So I waited out the rain there. There was free water and salad. German music was playing too, only sadly along the lines of WDR4… Nena – 99 Luftballons, for example… I was even offered coffee… but I gratefully declined. I planned the next few days a bit. Since the off-road day had taken me a bit into the middle of southern Sweden, I spontaneously decided to visit Stockholm as well. Since I’m nearby anyway… For this I’d contacted Gabriel from bunk-a-biker. Bunk-a-Biker (bunk-a-biker) is the worldwide version of free-beds-for-bikers (www.free-beds-for-biker.de). So free beds for motorcyclists, translated. You can register there and offer other motorcyclists a place to sleep. You can choose either a bed in the house and/or pitching a tent in the garden. As contact info you can then add a phone number, email or Facebook profile. A few emails later, I was standing at his door. Gabriel lives with his family about 45 minutes from Stockholm. The estate looked a bit like a film set. All the houses looked the same and were the same size too! I was welcomed warmly and immediately told that dinner would be ready any minute! A short while later I was sitting with the family at the kitchen table. He does a lot of motorcycle trips himself. He’s already been to Romania and to the North Cape too! In the evening we sat together on the couch and, of course, talked about motorbikes. When we got onto the subject of insurance, it turned out that Sweden has very good terms. Gabriel’s bike had a crack in the frame after a fall while riding off-road. So a write-off, economically speaking. Through his insurance, though, he was provided with a new bike. Not the same one — in fact the successor model. That the whole thing was sorted out within just 2 months really did amaze me. Now Gabriel has a new Tenere 700 Rally, fully kitted out, sitting in the shed. You could say I was pretty overwhelmed by the hospitality! For Gabriel it was absolutely natural for a stranger on a motorbike to stay over at his place… and, by the way, that his daughter had to give up her room for a night in the process. After a delicious pancake breakfast, I said goodbye and rode towards Stockholm.

Since I could only check into the hostel in the afternoon, I did some sightseeing on the bike. Stockholm is built very centrally. I noticed straight away that many sights are close together and you can explore pretty much everything on foot. For the next day I’d arranged to meet Sarah. She’d contacted me via Workaway (https://www.workaway.info/) — a website where travellers can find a job in other countries. You can also share your travel plans there and, if you like, find a so-called travel buddy. We met in a café and started our tourist tour of Stockholm from there. I thought Stockholm was amazing! Everything is walkable, very tidy and clean! Lots of little alleys, but also huge royal buildings. We were also lucky enough to catch the changing of the guard at Stockholm Palace. A whole playlist of folk music was played, marching, walking the horses in a circle and shouting some commands in Swedish. Very impressive! As a professional tourist I photographed everything, of course, and naturally also tried to push my way to the front! Here are a few impressions of Stockholm:

Late in the evening I got back to the hostel and fell straight into bed. The next day I packed my things, refilled my drinking-water canister and set off towards Norway, to Oslo. Sweden is beautiful, but slowly I did want to get to Norway. During the week on the way to Oslo I wild camped for a few days again. I also stayed two nights by a lovely lake and cooked for the first time on the trip on my hobo stove.

In Oslo I’d arranged to stay with Felix until Saturday. Since bunk-a-biker had worked out so well, I thought I’d just try it directly again. Gabriel had also told me that he uses it very often on his trips and it always works well! Crossing the border into Norway wasn’t really spectacular. Somewhere in the forest a sign suddenly appeared: „Riksgrense Norge“. The whole thing watched over by 3 cameras. Quickly took another photo and into Norway!

Only a short time later… I mean really about 15 minutes on Norwegian roads… a moose was standing at the side of the road. It was truly unbelievable! It looked as if it was waiting for the traffic so it could then cross the road. You could simply tell I was in Norway. In my opinion Norway is very different, because the nature is so varied. It’s a bit like riding up to the first mountains in the Alps. Just something else. Near Oslo I then stood at Felix’s door. Only, sadly, he wasn’t there and couldn’t be reached either. I’d told him roughly when I’d arrive, and now I was standing in front of his garage. After some time had passed and I still hadn’t heard back, I spontaneously decided to spend the night somewhere else after all. Spontaneous decisions about where to sleep near big cities can sometimes end up expensive. So I rode to the nearest petrol station and did a bit of research on the laptop to find something suitable. I’d also let Felix know by email that the situation somehow felt odd to me and that I wouldn’t be staying with him now. I decided on an Airbnb with Tariq, a little above Oslo. Tariq offered his washing machine and dryer for free. That worked out well! Once at his door, he didn’t open up either. A problem, since the accommodation was already paid for. When I tried to contact Tariq, he didn’t pick up his phone. What a silly situation. Drove back and forth all afternoon and still no place to sleep. Just as I was about to report the incident to Airbnb, full of frustration, Tariq called back. Tariq was new to Airbnb (I think I was even his first guest) and didn’t know how to turn off the Airbnb feature that lets people just book themselves in. Normally you first send a request and then get an acceptance or rejection from the host. Completely flustered, Tariq assured me he’d be home in 30 minutes. After apologising several times, I ended up sitting at his living-room table that evening, eating spaghetti bolognese together. I was even allowed to park my bike in his little garden. Tariq was super nice and accommodating. So the day took a good turn after all!

Compared to normal everyday life, it’s struck me more and more often on this trip that there’s no structure and that things can change from one moment to the next. On the one hand, the thing with Felix from bunk-a-biker was of course a shame; on the other, it gave me the chance to get to know Tariq. It’s an up and down. In the evening I saw that Felix had replied after all. He wrote that I could just go ahead and pitch my tent in his garden and wouldn’t have to wait much longer for him. He was still at the music school with his son… The next morning I folded up my clothes, said goodbye and rode out of Tariq’s garden to Oslo. For Oslo I’d only planned one day. Since the sightseeing tour in Stockholm on the bike had worked pretty well, I looked at Oslo only through my visor. Since you can also ride the bike on pedestrian paths, you can get pretty much anywhere. And as a foreigner you don’t understand the signs anyway… Oslo in pictures:

Late in the evening I left Oslo and rode to a nearby campsite that I’d already picked out and saved the evening before. I’d actually wanted to wild camp, but then had an email from Workaway in my inbox. I’d applied for a position at a hostel that was looking for someone for new promotional photos. It was one of my favourites. The hostel was near Preikestolen and Kjeragbolten. Just one tunnel drive from Stavanger. After a quick exchange of details, on Friday evening I had a swift „interview“ to discuss all the necessary basics. My first day of work was on 30/05. We’d discussed and planned three to four weeks on site. On the one hand to create the photos, of course, and on the other to explore the landscape and go hiking. So after four weeks I had my first real appointment again. That I’d have a job so quickly — and one where I can take photos, no less — is something I wouldn’t have imagined on the day I set off either…