I know, it's been a while. But the fact that I haven't been updating my blog, doesn't mean I stopped travelling.
The short story why I was gone: I wasn't feeling too good.
The short story why I am now updating: Better days are coming.
Back to the travelling stuff.
Last year I went to Antarctica. It did cost me an arm and a leg and lucky me got covid on the ship, so I couldn't enjoy it fully. The weeks after that trip, I was overwhelmed with the feeling that every trip after Antarctica would now disappoint. Just a holiday in Spain? Boring. The next thing needed to be just as life changing as Antarctica. I ruined myself!
I'm happy to tell you that that feeling eventually wears off. Half a year later, I went on a city trip and I enjoyed myself anyway.
But 1 thing stuck with me... The cold never bothered me anyway!
So... When all my coworkers were struggling in their winter depressions, I decided to look for even less sun. I booked a trip to Finnish Lapland!
The days before my departure I noticed that the temperatures were going to be around -30C my first days. So I got all the warmest clothes that I could find and got on the plane. Only to later be wandering around the whole airport (being send from pillar to post) sweating like crazy, because there was an issue with the plane.
In the end, it wasn't as cold as I thought. The bus driver brought me to my hotel and it was time to find the way to the lake, just in case the aurora would show that evening.
My apartment was amazing. From the living room, I would look into the woods. Right behind the building, the walking trails would start. And it was also just 10 minutes away from the little town with the supermarket and multiple restaurants.
The first day, I would take it slow. It was time to figure out the excursions that I would do. I booked a trip to SnowVillage, booked a snowmobile night tour to look for the aurora and managed to find a dog sledge activity. They would all be later during my week, so it was time to do some walking around.
With the fresh snow, the temperature went up to a comfortable -10C. Perfect for a bit of a stroll. I found the winter trail map and decided on a short one, just to test the waters (or ice). There was a nice little bar some 2 kilometers away, so that would be perfect. I crossed the lake and started following the snow walking trail that was also being used by the snow-bikes. The snow the whitest I had ever seen. The trees were covered in it, and I later heard people call them "Marshmallow trees", which is so fitting!
But there was this weird thing... I was pretty sure I had been walking 2km already, but there was no sight of this bar! I asked a hiker that came from that direction and he told me it was some 2km uphill. This was the moment I realised that I was duped. But I decided to continue and get myself that hot chocolate that I deserved.
In the end, it turned out to be almost 5km. So that day, I walked 15km where I intended to take it slow and only walk 4. It was all worth it though, but these Finnish people really need to get their distances sorted!
Snowmobile
I had very very high hopes for my snowmobile activity. But according to the aurora app, no northern lights were going to pop up that evening. But it was going to be fun regardless.
After we all got our snow-overalls, we received a crash course in snowmobiling before we hit the snow. Man, this was so amazing! At some point I was picturing myself living there fulltime in one of those cute chalets, doing my grocery shopping with the snowmobile. That night, I started searching for houses for sale in the area.
Halfway our route, it was time to warm up in a kota. Just in the middle of nowhere, there was a tent with benches and a nice warm fire. We drank some warm berry juice and ate a sausage and then continued our journey.
This is addicting!
Snow Village
My next excursion was to Snow Village. Just a massive igloo with fun lights and ice-artwork that melts in spring so that the next winter, they just build a new one with a different theme.
This year, the snow came a bit late, so they didn't have as much time as they'd wanted. But it was still so impressive. And did you know you can sleep in their hotelroom for only 4500 euro a night? Seems a bit cold for that price.
The theme this year was Underwaterworld as you could already have guessed from the photo next to this. We drank shots from ice glasses and went down a slide made of ice. I waited half a hour before I was alone in a room to make some cute photos of the honeymoon suite.
It's impressive but a massive tourist trap, of course. I'm happy to have visited, but it won't become a new tradition, I guess.
Dog sledge
Final activity, dog sledge! I booked the shortest trip (5km), since it was more about the experience than the distance for me. But before I knew it, we were already finished! 5km is NOTHING for these dogs!
They are just addicted to running. When you step on the brakes, they look over their shoulders to tell you to stop braking. But if you don't brake, they would just run into the group ahead, so it's for a reason.
I was lucky to be in one of the first groups, because I heard other people had to dodge the splashing snow with dog-pooh.
After the ride, we did get a presentation about the dogs and as a finishing touch, we were allowed to cuddle with the puppies!! Well, only if you managed to grab one. Boy, are they quick!!
The rest of my week there, I explored the area on foot. But next time, I for sure will bring the snow shoes to go into the deeper snow. I will skip the cross country skiing. That looks so hard! Maybe I'll try the snow biking instead.
Aurora hunting!
To be honest. The main reason that I went to Lapland was to see the Aurora. This winter was going to be a good winter with massive solar activity. However, I learned that large amounts of fresh snow don't go that well with the Aurora. It was just too cloudy to be able to see anything. But I wasn't very disappointed. All the gorgeous snow made up for that!
Back on my couch in Amsterdam, it did sink in that Lapland was an amazing experience. And I wanted to go back straight away. I started looking for other trips this March, but it was so expensive that I let it go.
Lapland just has something. And I think it is the first time ever that I am booking an accommodation a second time. Next year, I'll be there again. And that is saying something! It all started on the snowmobile...
