Here is the news: my first guide published via Buggl titled ‘Beyond the Arctic Circle‘. I’m very excited about it! All my previous travels to Swedish Lapland are gathered and described here. All useful tips and ideas how to make this trekking pleasant and effortless are shared on pages of this short guidebook. Also my pictures collected throughout the years are used in this guide to show you where exactly they were taken. If you have ever considered a hike in wilderness but you still have some doubts this is a perfect guide for you. It brings you through the basics and makes your planing easy. Lapland guide The guide ‘Beyond the Arctic Circle‘ consists of two parts: “Itinerary” and “Local Secrets”. Local secrets get you through all sleeping locations, best views and also places where you can enjoy the local food. Itinerary brings you through the trail from Abisko in the north to Nikkaluokta to the east day by day. All sites are pinned on a map so you could get a general idea of this track. This part of the King’s Trail described in a guide is perfect for a week hike. I walked it many times from the north to the south and from the east to the north and enjoyed every time I was there. The weather in autumn is unpredictable so if you decided to go there read about the necessary precautions first. Local transportation is described to make your planning easier. You will find external sources of information under the section “Local Knowledge & Cool Perks”. I really hope you’ll find this guidebook useful and that the pictures published will make you plan your first trip to the Swedish Lapland. And who knows, perhaps one day we’ll simply meet there? And now you can listen to the story about Lpland here, on Amateur Traveller, episode #456:  

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Courtesy of Jeff from EuroTravelogue my guest post about Lapland has been published. Jeff is a huge fan of river cruises in Europe and Scandinavian countries. His blog is full with stunning photos and great stories. I especially enjoyed the one about train ride in Norway. You might think I wrote about Lapland so many times it’s all the same but surprisingly: I prepare a new post from the scratch and it is never the same. I really enjoy writing guest posts because it is a good opportunity to look back and feel grateful for all I have and experienced. So visit Jeff’s blog and enjoy his marvelous stories about travel around Europe.  

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New Year, new guest post. Courtesy of Jenny who I met in Dublin a post about Lapland has been published just this morning. This is sort of summary and good advices. If you have ever thought about going there you should read it first. Watching the pictures and reading it made me think that I miss Lapland quite badly. So, hopefully I’ll be able to organize a trip this year. Keep your fingers crossed please and visit Jenny’s blog Hikercise.  

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I miss Lapland a lot! Especially in autumn time this feeling becomes difficult to deal with. For years, I was heading towards north by plane, bus and train and bus again. I was already getting cool in Stockholm- the first stop along the road. And then, traveling with a night train to Kiruna, Abisko or Gallivare was a terrific adventure itself. The first breath after getting off the train was freezing my lungs and was a sure sign of being close to the last wild area in Europe. Far north, over the arctic circle, close to the North Pole (let’s be honest: relatively close is better said, as it is still about 2500km from Kiruna to the North Pole). This year, my missing Lapland is worse than ever because I didn’t go there. The reason is explained here in details but even if it sounds reasonable and still keeps hope for next year I miss Lapland. Badly. To deal with it I was browsing my pictures taken throughout the years spent there. I have like thousands of them so at some point I thought I’ll pick up the best ones to show you how beautiful it is. I wish all of my readers to visit this site in person. This is one of the most beautiful places I have even been to. This collection contains only 20 pictures taken in last few years, however, there are more on the Flickr website. The gallery shows Lapland in autumn mainly, because that was always the time I went there. I really hope that the next May I’ll bring some winter photos to share with you. But before I will enjoy the ones taken just at the very start of winter. And here is my recent (February 2015) interview about Lapland! Listen to my story here:  

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It all went surprisingly different! My travel plans, I mean. This is an excellent example of how changing circumstances affects travels in a positive way. We usually consider changing plans as something negative, that ruined our schedule but here is my story that show dreams can come true even if in a twisted way. First, I thought I’ll be in Lapland this autumn. As always. But I’m not. The reason why is related to my other dream of visiting Sweden and the King’s Trail in winter (What’s King’s Trail?). As the trip is long and bit expensive I can’t visit Sweden twice a year therefore a decision was made. I decided to postpone my lappish trip until May 2014 when, hopefully, I’ll take a night train from Stockholm to Kiruna again and ski from Nikkaluokta to Abisko. So far no bad news. And that’s how it goes because even my travels planned for the second term of 2013 are very different from what I planned they are far more exciting at the same time! No harm was made. I knew in advance that I’ll visit Ireland again from the moment I registered to attend a Tbex conference. But there is a surprise connected with this event as well. I applied and got accepted to one of the post conference trips. And guess what! I’m going to visit another small island called Inishnee (population 28 sounds already fascinating) near Galway! I have never thought I’ll visit Galway the same year twice but here we are. The trip called Wild Atlantic West Coast includes a half day trip to Inishnee plus visit to Connemara that I hadn’t have an opportunity to visit the last time. Thus, what else? Oh yes, I thought I’ll walk the Way of St. James this autumn. I was SO sure I’ll walk it this year! I know that at some point I will, however not this autumn, and that’s quite certain. Why? Because I bought a plane ticket to New Zealand! What a surprise! New Zealand was always one of my dream destinations but this is SO far away I thought I need much more time to decide, organize, book and buy than 3 days! This was sort of impulse: I was checking RTW tickets and discovered amazing offer of New Zealand Airlines that I couldn’t resist. So, this November I’ll fly from London to Shanghai, further to Auckland and finally to Christchurch. And back, of course. It looks like an amazing autumn to me. Most of all, I am happy that I’ll spend rainy European November in a place where spring begins! I’m thrilled with this idea and very happy that I’ll bring a totally new strand to my blog: New Zealand! Off to Dublin tomorrow and my first Tbex conference. I’ll publish the first post from my trip just when I get back! Stay tuned!  

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If you are familiar with the origins of this blog and my plans for next couple of months discussed under ‘Travel Tips‘ section, or explicitly in one of the first posts ‘Getting Ready‘ you know about my idea to learn another language. As I already know English and Italian, had been studying Chinese and Japanese, I thought it shouldn’t be THAT difficult. The language I picked up might surprised you and I bet that the first thought after reading the heading was: “Why on earth anybody would like to learn Swedish if it’s spoken only in Sweden?” There is a short story behind. As always. Couple of years ago I went to Sweden for the first time in my life.This was not a trivial city walk around Stockholm. I started from Swedish Lapland. And fell in love with this beautiful country the moment I got off the train in Kiruna. I spend unforgettable time walking along the King’s Trail mountain huts. All huts are run by the Swedish Tourist Organization and in order to pay less for each night spent in the huts I become member of this association. Being member of STF entitled me to receive their official journal titled: Turist. And so every year I was receiving all journals published and guess what: even if it was sent to my Italian address it was all written in Swedish! It simply drove me crazy! I mean, the photos were great but I wanted to understand what it says. After couple of years I thought I simply need to learn Swedish. One way or another, I visit this country regularly so there is no waste. While thinking about the way how to learn Swedish I also met one person who was fascinated with this language and it pushed forward my thinking about it from ‘perhaps-I-could-study-the-language’ towards ‘yes-I-can’. BUT I didn’t want to get engaged in any serious or formal language course. Mostly because of my travels and high absence rate. So I thought I will do it totally STRESS FREE. So… Here is what I did First, I borrowed a self-study book to make sure that Swedish is not difficult. I browsed it, listened to the tape, read some dialogues and although Swedish might sound complicated I liked the sound of it. Simply the melody of this language is lovely. Second, I browsed Internet searching for BASIC 100 WORDS in Swedish. It’s simple to find. Third, I completed a basic online course on babbel.com and… …and that’s the best part: I got an e-book of my favorite Swedish tales Emil i Lönneberga and started to listen to it all day long: when jogging, cooking, ironing and when traveling, of course. Now this is experiment and I will keep you posted on the progress I made. My target for this September is to be able to run a short conversation about the weather and general stuff. Before I go to Lapland this year I’ll be able to say hello, ask for somebody’s name, where does he/she come from, and which part of the King’s Trail she/he walked. Keep your fingers crossed!  

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Lapland is a truly unique place. For many reasons. For me my first visit in Lapland was totally overwhelming and since then I visit Lapland at least once a year. There is a short funny story about the whole idea. A story that is known by all my friends too well (sorry guys, it looks like there are more than 200 people following this blog so let’s made it public. Besides, even if it was told hundred times, I still LIKE IT!). So, on a plane to the US I read an article that was advertising an ‘interesting alternative to spend your holiday’. This article had amazing photos of wildlife in autumn colors and a story about an owner of a reindeer herd. The idea was simple: you could get your own reindeer on a leash to make a 5-day walk. Everything was brilliantly organized. A group of 10 people and 10 reindeer were suppose to depart every week from a defined location. The idea seamed to me just PERFECT! I even snatched the page with this article (yes, I really did it!). After months of not thinking about this the day to decide about annual holiday finally had arrived. And I miraculously found this snatched page in my notebook. Gosh! I really, really wanted to take part in this crazy trip. Until I got known the other participants. No offence, but the group departing in a suitable date was made of 8 German 50+ man. The moment I thought about snoring was a turning point. I just knew I would regret it forever. BUT quitting this particular activity didn’t mean I had to resign from my first visit to Lapland. I had a quick look in Internet and found amazing websites on something called The King’s Trail (in Swedish: Kungsleden). THIS WAS IT! From the first moment I saw the pictures made on this trail I knew I have to go there. And I did. The track has about 440 km, it starts in the north in Abisko and ends in Hemavan in the south (or vice versa, depending where you start). It is managed by the Swedish Tourist Organization and every couple of kilometers there is a mountain hut (lodge might be a proper word). Along my way through Sweden I was using an excellent travel guide written by James Proctor and published by Bradt. You won’t find a better guidebook on Lapland. Why I loved Lapland so much? Because this is a rare combination of safety and wilderness.  The track in swampy places is equipped in wooden footbridge to keep you away from water. At the same time you meet wild living animals and listen to the real silence. I totally admire Swedish organization and perseverance: I have never expected so far to the north such a well kept track! The huts’ interior is excellent to keep you warm when it’s cold outside. It is also very cozy and user friendly even if simple and mainly wooden made. This is a model balance between human and nature. Just as it should be. After my first trip to Lapland words ‘silence’, ‘infinity’, ‘wilderness’ and ‘peace’ got totally new meaning. It crushed many of my previous beliefs. I would even say this was one of this journeys which ‘unmade me’, just as Nicolas Bouvier said. Lapland was included to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1996. And now you can listen to the story on Amateur Traveller, episode #456 here:  

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