La Grande Vadrouille ENG

For the past few weeks, we’ve been experiencing a wonderful sense of well-being, a kind of Nordic dolce vita... This may be becasue of what is called Allemansrätt in Swedish, allemannsrett in Norwegian, jokamiehenoikeus in Finnish, and igameheõigus in Estonian. In each language, the word refers to the same concept: the right of public access to nature. This legal right allows everyone to enjoy the beautiful natural surroundings and their bounty, even on private property (under certain conditions, of course).  Not only is nature accessible to everyone, but great care has been taken to organize and equip places so people can enjoy it to the fullest. For nomadic travelers like us, it’s a little paradise. It’s easy to find wonderful places to settle without restrictions, sometimes even equipped with a lovely picnic table, a small barbecue for grilling,  and a supply of firewood along with an axe and a saw available for use—everything needed to build a campfire. Absolutely fant...

Our journey north continues, kilometers are adding up on the odometer, we’re now at 26,700 km since we left on July 31st last year. The days are getting longer and longer. The first light of day appears around 4 a.m., and true darkness doesn’t arrive until about 11 p.m.  We really can't forget to close the blinds! As for the temperatures, they’re still a bit chilly for our liking. It’s true that we’ve now crossed the 57th parallel, but we still wouldn’t mind a few extra degrees. Still, we entered the Baltic countries under beautiful sunny skies, starting with Lithuania, the first of the three on our route. As soon as we crossed the border, we headed straight for the Baltic coast without stopping in Vilnius, the capital, because we wanted to make the most of the good weather with outdoor activities rather than city visits. We did have to make a “small” detour though, because the most direct road would have taken us through Kaliningrad, a Russian territory. Not exactly recommended t...