Vagabond Baker

2017 Plans: Sweden, Norway, Scotland, Sweden!

2017 is a bit of new experience for me, for the first time in a long time, the year has already been loosely mapped out! I can’t remember the last start to a new year where I’ve been able to know where I shall be twelve months from then. It’s a strange feeling!

Living the life I do, each new year has always been an open book: a year of unknown possibilities. I’ve often wondered, as the new year rings in, where shall I be next new year?

2017 began with an explosion of fireworks and sky was painted with aurora. We saw it in down at the edge of lake Torneträsk, knowing that we would hopefully be welcoming in 2018 from Abisko too.

I remembered watching the fireworks erupt across the London skyline the previous year: welcoming in 2016. I had no idea then that twelve months later I would be on the shores of an icy lake in Swedish lapland!

January:

Finland! A week after new year, I waved goodbye to Abisko – and Chris – for the rest of the month and took the night train down to Stockholm. I repeated the ferry journey I took back in December 2014 and sailed overnight from Stockholm to Turku.

My main reason for visiting Finland is to catch up with friends and also to go to the Matka Nordic Travel Fair in Helsinki. I am catching up with Silvia – Heart My Backpack – towards the end of the month, in Helsinki. I’m super excited about it, and there will be more on that in a few weeks!

February to March:

Abisko, Sweden. I’ll head back to Abisko at the end of January and see out the rest of the winter up in the glorious North. By the time I return, the sun will be peeking over the horizon and the mountains again after the long darkness of midwinter.

April to May:

Norway, and the long drive back to the UK. Once the aurora season ends, we shall remount the camper back on the pickup and head to Norway. We’ve decided to take the slow route back home via Norway, specifically heading to Lofoten. I’m already looking forward to being back on the road, and after travelling through the islands of Lofoten last summer we are eager to return.

Summer:

Scotland and England. Once we return home we shall spend the summer split between Scotland and England. We are hoping to head out onto some of the Scottish Islands. Shetland was initially in our thoughts, however we may head over to the Hebrides instead.

It feels like forever since we spent time touring in Scotland, it was right back in the first couple of years we were living in a van and I’ve ached to get back out there!

Autumn and Winter:

Back to Sweden! Once autumn sets in we shall make our way back to northern Sweden for another winter under the Northern Lights. It’s far too early to say what route we shall take, it maybe the most direct or possibly we shall meandered our way north.

I hope you’ll enjoy following along!