scandinavia – Wanderlust Wonderland

The Traveling Bookworm in Iceland

23 March 202119 December 2021Posted in the traveling bookwormTagged Edda, Iceland, Independent people, scandinavia, traveling bookwormLeave a comment

Whenever I am planning a new trip, I always look for literature from the area I’m visiting. Authors that came from the regions or books that are set within certain cities. This way, I get to know a little of the (literary) history of the city. I have found some great books and new favourite authors this way, and I like to share them with you, so you can also emerge yourself into the literary world of… Iceland!

Last year we had planned an extensive trip to Iceland. We would hire a car an drive around the country. Our itinerary was packed with beautiful sightings and we were so excited to go. Of course, things didn’t really go according to plan, but the itinerary (and our travel vouchers) are waiting until we can travel again. I had already read a bunch of books about Iceland to get inspired for our trip. So even though we haven’t gone yet, we can travel to Iceland through books. Time for the best ones!

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Northern Lights guide for ordinary travelers

21 April 202021 April 2020Posted in Europe, Lapland, Travel Guide for ordinary travelers, Travel tipsTagged aurora borealis, aurora borealis guide, guide to the northern lights, Lapland, northern lights, photography tips, scandinaviaLeave a comment

Last week I wrote about how this quarantaine is a way to self-reflect, to think about what you want out of your life. What are your dreams and what has been holding you back to actually achieve them?

Lots of people have the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, written down on their bucketlists and the picture above shows why. The Northern Lights are magical and inspiring and it’s a dream for many a traveler to see them. Since last year, I am lucky enough to say that I have seen them on our trip to Lapland. And it was everything I had hoped for. A worthy bucketlist goal, indeed!

It’s time to start following our dreams. So here’s a guide for the ordinary traveler on the when and wheres of the Northern Lights. And some tips and tricks to take some pictures of this magic!

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Walking in a Winter Wonderland

5 March 201919 November 2020Posted in Cold weather vacations, Europe, LaplandTagged adventure, cold, cold weather, Lapland, planning, scandinavia, sweden, swedish lapland, trips in winter, winter, winter tripsLeave a comment

I don’t like cold weather. When I was younger, I remember my sister and my dad going outside to make a snowman and having fun, and afterwards they came inside and had some hot cocoa (with whipped cream, ofcourse) to warm up again. I just skipped the whole snowy experience and enjoyed my hot chocolate whilst reading a nice book, and being warm inside. If you told me then that I would voluntarily go to a place where it is -25°C (= -13°F), that I would actually be super excited to go there, I would have laughed in your face.

But I did. Our last summer was incredibly hot. It had been 40 °C (=104 °F) for weeks and I work in a place with no air conditioning. Everyone was fed up with it and was looking for ways to get cold. As always, I was thinking about going on a trip and I wanted to plan our next vacation. I started looking for places where it would be cold, even though we weren’t planning on going away again that summer. Just thinking about cold places made me feel better, somehow. And that’s when I found Lapland.

The pictures I saw of Lapland were absolutely gorgeous. Talk about a winter wonderland! Snow and trees as far as you could look. Peace and quiet. The activities you could do there also sounded absolutely amazing. Staying in a wooden cabin in the middle of nowhere. Go on a tour on a husky sled. See the northern lights. Sauna, Jacuzzi. I was sold. Lapland it was!

It took me some time to convince Boyfriend that we had to go there as soon as possible, and it took some saving, but we went there and it was so amazing. And, honestly… not even that cold…