Day #1 recap

Odo: 281787
Location: Flensburg (German/Danish Border)

Shopping sucks. Big time. Instead of shopping in Hannover I did it close to the border where everybody tries to rip off the Scandinavians. Not too clever. But by visiting two shops I avoided most of the traps. One issue is beer. You’re allowed to bring something around 90L and there is no refund for the german recycling deposit. You pay like 15 cent per bottle (including the crate) or 25 cent per can. If you’re a permanent resident of another country you can also but beer without deposit in shops near the border. Some people just ask fellow travellers from abroad to buy beer for them. I thought I might do the same even if it’s probably not 100% legal. But then I saw the pricing. You pay at least 1,4€ / L for premium beer. At citti market in Flensburg the only “decent” german beers where König Pilsener and Bitburger. Not exactly my choice. I ended up in legally buying Veltins and Jever for 1,6€/L (including deposit) in glass bottles. I think I will give the empty crates as presents to fellow germans travelling back or bring them to the german embassy or try to get rid of them in another way. Or I put the glass bottles in a recycling container and give away the crates as decoration. We’ll see…

The water pump is still broken. It sounds like it turns but it doesn’t transport water. Even if you suck on the tap until the water comes it’s still not pumping. I started to drain the water tank so that I can open it up and remove the pump. Since the tank has no drainage valve this isn’t exactly fun. I’ll stay in germany for the night because it’s probably more easy to get a replacement pump over here if I can’t fix it.

Day #1, Sweden

My progress was faster than expected. Due to the broken water pump I have to fetch a coffee and take a dump elsewhere.

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Stockholm finally!

At the first glance sweden resembles germany, only that the inhabitants are more friendly. But maybe ikea isn’t the real sweden… We’ll see….

Day #0

Odo: 281501km
Position: Industrial area in Isernhagen, just north of Hannover

I just left. Finally. I’m tired. I try to be smart, so I will stay close to home for the first night. If I forgot something important it’s only a short drive home… It already was dark when I started searching for a spot and I didn’t find a nice place at the nearby lakes. Instead of searching around I’ll stay here, I’m tired any ways. Plenty of truckers around, at least I’m not alone… Tomorrow will be shopping day. Since everything is more expensive up north I should gather as much food /alcohol as I can transport/is legal to import. My preparations were not exactly perfect. Here is some stuff I don’t have:

  • guidebook
  • maps on paper
  • shoes in mint condition
  • decent waterproof jacket
  • a plan what I have packed (I just took everything which seemed worth taking with me)
  • a working water pump (just discovered that one)

(posted the next morning)

Packing my bags

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Having a supermarket next door and an elevator in the building makes loading a car quite comfortable…

Is this representing me? It’s not everything I’m packing but it’s a weird combination of stuff. We have got (from left to right):

  • inner tubes for my bicycle
  • traction chains for the van
  • rock climbing gear
  • snorkel gear
  • camera tripod
  • power drill
  • gas for a soldering iron and a small blowtorch
  • travel hammock
  • slackline
  • eight boxes of misc stuff for having fun with microcontrollers & circuits (mostly arduino/android/raspi related). actually 1/3 of the cart.
  • binos
  • small wood saw
  • low pass filter for a subwoofer

 

The final preparations before leaving

I hate it. I would love to be on the road right now. Every time before I leave for some time I remember everything on my ToDo lists. Stuff is sitting there for ages but I feel somehow obliged to get it done. Of course I don’t do the stuff but I feel bad anyways… The van still isn’t finished. And it won’t be ever. But it’s almost good to go…

I’ve got an appointment in Stockholm by the end of the next week so I gotta get going soon. Now more new projects, finishing what has to be done over here and leave the rest for doing it when I’m travelling. Yesterday I somehow broke the back cover of my phone. Besides the weird feeling of shattered glass in your pocket the camera won’t work probably. Arghh. Whatever, seems I just have to suck it up for now. At least the anticipation of what is to come is growing stronger every day.