Road trip: Into the Arctic

VOMAC2008_209sI have long been a Volvo fan. My first car was a Volvo (343) and I have had several Volvo’s over the past decades. Volvo is proudly Swedish. So when I got an invite from the Swedish Volvo Owners Club to join one of their events in the Arctic I only hesitated shortly. I asked my father to join me and together we registered for a 4 day Arctic driving experience. To add some more Scandinavian fun, we decided to drive up to Northern Sweden via Denmark and Sweden, but return via Finland, after crossing the frozen Gulf of Bothnia by ferry. We would visit the cities of Vaasa and Helsinki and return by another ferry over the Baltic Sea. An epic European road trip in the Arctic winter! So here it goes: Continue reading

The best 5 road trips in the world

MGLive09_065sThis post was not entirely my own idea. I was totally inspired by a short blog post by fellow travel blogger We Are Travellers, who wrote about ‘the five coolest cars for a road trip‘ recently. Her post immediately reminded me of the many very cool road trips that I have done over the past years. It even made me realize for the first time that I am actually a real road trip travel addict. Many of my most epic trips were road trips and I still prefer taking the car wherever I can… or can’t… Let these road trip ideas inspire you: Continue reading

Winterhike blog – Skarvan og Roltdalen 2013

Intense Arctic Expedition III

Norway Skarvan Roltdalen 2013 09This was the third Intense Arctic Expedition that we organized since 2011. The ‘intense’ concept means that participants have a very short, but intense arctic experience. Three nights of hiking and camping in the snow of a challenging wilderness is enough to have a lifelong impact. It is also intense because it brings you from inside your comfort zone to ‘outside your comfort zone’ – there where the magic happens – in just a few hours. Our favorite location is the rugged Skarvan and Roltdalen National Park in Central Norway. It is close to the Trondheim-Vaernes Airport, which offers several daily direct flights from Amsterdam, by KLM. It is also the northernmost destination you can fly directly from Amsterdam. Perfect for this short experience!
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Greenland 2012 blog – Ice

The title really describes the essence of Greenland: Ice. We know it was a big mistake to call Greenland green. Even Iceland is greener than Greenland. If you like green you go to Ireland. But if you like white, this is your destination. 82% percent of the vast landmass of Greenland is permanently covered by a thick icesheet. Glaciologists don’t refer to this ice as a glacier, but rather call it an icesheet. Officially this refers to an ice covered area larger than 50,000 km2. There are only two icesheets on the planet: one in Antarctica and one here in Greenland. Continue reading