Long Time No Posts, but I’m Alive

It’s been a while since my last post. I kind of fell back into normalcy after I got back home in the beginning of December. Some things at home felt nice and easy, like warm water coming from the tap practically instantly and having an oven for example. But the winter and darkness was not something I had missed much…

A recap of the winter

Snow. Darkness. Cold.

…

Ok, it was not that bad. Seeing family and friends was really nice. It was also cool to go to the office to see colleagues face to face after a long break and I’ve kept the habit of working from the office for a day/week on average.

Ana came over in January as planned and it was interesting for me to see how the dark and cold winter can actually be interesting and beautiful for someone who isn’t used to it. In March I went over to Portugal for two weeks and managed to do some surfing there too. It really was cool to get out of the snow and darkness for a while.

Ana and I no longer are a couple, but we are still good friends and keep in touch regularly. We both learned plenty of stuff from each other and that’s something we both value a lot.

Naranja spent three months in my friend’s garage close by and I went to get it back in the beginning of April. Everything works just fine after the long break. I was a little concerned about the water pump and pipes still having some leftover water that might freeze and cause issues, but luckily that wasn’t the case. I’ve been doing some smaller tours with it already and I really missed it!

I got myself a new travel companion too. I bought a Brompton folding bike that really is a dream to ride (even though it looks like something clowns use in circuses). I’ve been using it as my primary bike for the past two months now and so far I’m impressed. Of course it’s not meant for super long treks, but for the basic work commuting and grocery tours it has been really practical.

Plans ahead

The apartment is going! I will take the final step into being a full vanlifer in the end of July. I’m really quite excited about this even though it means losing this nice place I have called home for over five years. I still have a lot of emptying, packing and so on to do the next six weeks, but luckily there’s still time. I’m getting rid of a lot of stuff that really isn’t that pretty and new any longer. Some things I’m going to store at my dad’s and some at a friend’s place.

In August I will leave Finland again just like last year. This time I’m taking a bit of a detour though. I bought tickets for the athletics world championships in Budapest so I’m heading there for a couple of weeks. After that I plan to drive to Portugal taking a route south of the Alps. I have no plans to drive back until after I no longer need winter tires (most likely early April). Then I plan to keep living the same life, but in Finland for the summer at least. After that I will see if I’m ready for another apartment or whether I still feel like continuing the lifestyle.