There isn’t really that much to report today; it was blissfully relaxing and uneventful, which was just what I needed. I took a long, slow morning to recover from yesterday and let my stuff dry in the sun, because even under a tarp, everything not directly packed in plastic bags as a precaution, had managed to get anywhere from slightly moist to soaked.

Thankfully my phone is dry enough to be mostly functional again, and no meaningful rain hit all day; that is, not until I had set up camp and sat down inside my tent to write this. Thank Artemis for weather with a sense of humour.

I packed up camp and got going around half past one, and for the rest of the day I indulged in what I like to call restitution cycling: just letting one’s legs move steadily with minimal resistance to get that blood flowing and build up resources while using as little as possible of them. Any actual distance covered was purely a bonus, though in the end I still made it a bit over 30 km, from east of Eskiltuna to Tumbo and beyond. Besides, my legs were jelly after yesterday; it wasn’t hard to tell how easy I had to take it, and many a hill was walked up rather than biked. Yet even so, there is something deeply reassuring about knowing that in half a day and with minimal effort, I still ate up 5% of the total distance. And while tomorrow’s plans are ambitious, I have all the more confidence in them now:

There is something deeply satisfying about every cross I pass on my map, and about seeing that little dot move further and further along. Almost a third of the way now! My mind has always been very motivated by numbers and fractions.

I also passed a bunch of cool sites today where I had to stop, get off and admire the view. Notably one of the biggest ancient grave fields in Sweden, dating back to the bronze age:

And an abandoned quarry:

While taking photos at the quarry, I heard screams and animal sounds from down by the water, and was just about to run over to offer my assistance when I saw them moving at a very relaxed pace. Turns out… children just scream sometimes? Who would have guessed. I still stuck around waiting for them to come up, though, juuuust to be sure they were safe. The mother asked whether I was out camping, and we chatted for a bit. When I mentioned this whole project, she seemed dumbstruck for a moment, before saying a) that she was proud of me, and b) that now she wants to do that too someday. Now there’s some motivation to carry me through! ^^

Having set up camp for the night, though, I wanted to talk about a cultural pillar of Scandinavia; a universally recognised right that has been passed down since ancient times, to the point of not even having needed to be codified in law until relatively recently: Allemannsrätten (lit. “Every man’s right”), or “the freedom to roam”.

Basically, so long as you’re not an obvious bother to anyone, show basic courtesy, don’t litter or destroy anything, and don’t enter someone’s garden, you can more or less roam, camp, forage and be merry anywhere in Sweden and Norway — be it deep in the woods or on the king’s personal estate.

I love this principle. It feels like such a cornerstone of Scandinavian culture, on top of which is built an understanding of equality and of respect for the land. And on this journey, it is serving me very well — whenever I want to set up camp, I need only seek out a spot far enough away from anyone’s houses to not be a bother (and from the road and railways to not lie awake all night).

So today’s camping spot is this beauty:

So yeah. That’s day 3 done, and I’m still feeling great about this! Aborting is always an option should unforeseen circumstances arise; but with almost a third of the way done in three days, this feels more doable than ever!

Progress:

Day start: East of Eskiltuna

Day end: South of Tumbo

Distance: 35 km

Total: 165 km

Remaining: 417 km

Elapsed: 28%

Further note: Google maps, which I still check each night to cross-reference my notes, has finally ticked under 24 hours for its time estimate for the remaining distance. Progress!

Mood: Adventurous!

Until tomorrow,

— Lexi