41 days…

What once was an adventure that seemed SO far away all of a sudden is only 41 days(!) away. What was a huge dream is slowly turning into reality. I am soon leaving Sweden for my biggest challenge so far, and my mind is a perfect mix of excitement, fear, determination and happiness. In only 984 hours I’m on a plane with my life in a backpack.

So – am I done with my planning? H*ll no.
What some of you don’t know about me is that I’m not an experienced adventurer…or even a hiker. Not at all. You probably can’t imagine how much you need to read and learn for a thru-hike like this when you’re not that used to being outdoors. Every awake minute is spent on thinking about my upcoming adventure and I even dream about it at night.

Which tent (my home for a couple of months) is the best? How do I use a compass (haven’t used one since in school when I was 10)? Stoves…how do I cook in the most efficient way? How do I charge my phone when I’m out of electricity for 10 days? Where do I find water and how do I make it clean and pure enough to drink? How much food is enough food to carry when I can’t resupply for many days? Down sleeping bag or synthetic? Ten thousand questions are flying around in my head and it’s a full time job to make them all calm down and relax a bit. I’ll manage.

Luckily I’ve got a lot of help along the way and made some new friends…people that I owe big time and who make this planning so much easier. Former Te Araroa thru-hikers like Eef and JP. Patrik and Hanna at Silva. James (kiwi living in Sweden) at Kajaktiv. Thomas at Hilleberg. Fredrik and Johan at Haglöfs. The super twins Annie and Linnéa at Gococo. Locals who have emailed me for inviting me to their homes. The list is not even complete yet, I still have a few meetings left and I feel like I’m gonna be well prepared on October 25 when I board my plane to London for the first airborne step towards Auckland. THANK YOU each and everyone of you that have helped me this far, I can’t even explain how much it means to me. Still I have a million things to do before I leave, but I’m slowly and steadily getting there…

I’m far beyond excited and have a huge respect for my trip. And most of all, I am deeply thankful for everything you generous people have done and still are doing for ->my fundraising<- to Swedish Cancerfonden and their work for cancer research. We’ve raised over SEK 61000(!!!) already, and I’m feeling hopeful about reaching my SEK 150000 goal. You are all amazing! Let’s make a gigantic difference together and taking one step closer to fight and destroy cancer. Forever.

Hilleberg Enan
Hilleberg Enan – my home along the trail.

24 thoughts on “41 days…”

  2. Be prepared for strong sunlight!

    If you’re starting in Northland then consider a hat with a wide brim (and a cord to keep it secure in the wind), good UV blocking eyewear, and sunscreen. The first week is fairly open trrain, so you’ll get lots of sun off that beach and coastline. Once you’re in the bush the trees will protect you from the sun.

    Good luck.

    Reply

  3. Hej

    Sen kommentar, men jag hoppas du läser den ändå. Så här i efterhand så undrar jag hur du trivdes med tältet? Hur var det storleksmässigt, hur enkelt var det att sätta upp och ner och bara lite allmänt hur tältet var.?Jag är på jakt efter ett nytt 1-pers tält och efter att ha velat fram och tillbaka mellan olika tält har jag mer eller mindre bestämt mig för ett Enan. Jag tar dock gärna emot erfarenheter från folk som använt tältet så mycket som du gjort.

    //Axel

    Reply

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