What am I up to here really? Rushing around to places like Wyoming, Brazil, New Mexico, Argentina and Rome. Having tickets booked for Istanbul and can’t let go of the thought of sailing in the Caribbean in January, hiking in Bhutan in March or bringing my purple beauty on a road trip to Croatia. Or why not getting back to places like Wanaka, Melbourne and Mendoza as quickly as possible?
What happened to home? And what happened to Sweden? Does everything need to happen so far away? Do I sound like my mother now?
Got a real eye opener just before my last offshore hitch. Just when I thought I’d run out of social quota and when my packed schedule seemed to slide more and more towards the just-too-much end of the scale instead of the fun-with-a-lot-of-things-planned end, I decided to try and recharge my batteries in Gothenburg with some top-quality social company. Just the train ride to get there made my blood pressure come down to an acceptable level and once I was sitting on my friend’s sofa with a beer in my hand I started to come back to civilization again.
The next day was spent in the pristine archipelago of Gothenburg. Hard to admit for someone who’s always spent the summers in the archipelago of Stockholm, but Gothenburg has got some good stuff as well, really. Fresh seafood and bubbles for dinner didn’t make the day any worse. 
A couple of days later, southern Sweden kept on climbing on my want-to-visit list. After a morning dip by the beach in Magnarp, breakfast while watching butterflies and a quiet stroll watching cows and horses – eh, ok, a one year old was involved in those animal activities there – I took the bike for a de-tour on my way back to Copenhagen. Lunch in the harbour of Höganäs, coffee in picturesque Mölle and an amazing ride up to the lighthouse in Kullens National Reserve. 
Tarmac smooth enough for roller skis and this fantastic light you get when driving through a forest in sunshine. Conclusion, Sweden shouldn’t have to wait until I’ve bought myself a camper van and retired from working. Think I need to fit a couple of road trips in north from here in between the far-away-land plans. Having said that, at this very moment, the bags are almost packed, weird looking toy money has found their spot in my wallet and the Malaria prescription has been changed out for a whole bunch of white pills. Extra memory card and cleaning kit for my favourite toy has been purchased and packed together with the tri-pod. A high-clearance pick-up (fingers crossed for a Hilux), tent, camping kitchen and hostel for the first night in Windhoek have also been sorted. In other words, feels like I’m pretty set for the trip of the year and I’m sure Namibia will show Andy and me it’s very best sides during the next few weeks. Can’t wait to see the sand dunes in sunrise, spot some big game at a water hole, watch the wrecks along the Skeleton Coast and visit some villages where people live in a different era still. Counting on returning with thousands of photos, even more memories and hopefully some good stories to share.
And even if there’s absolutely nothing wrong with Sweden at all, I’ll keep my travels through home country on the to-do-list for another little while… Next year perhaps… Or the one after that…
