Day 29: Kemi
Heyaaaaa. Yup, I didn’t write anything yesterday but I did what I told myself I’d do from the start and what is a big part of this adventure. I did what felt right in the moment. And yesterday I needed a mental break and rest, some “me time”. Why? Well I started from the camp ground in Oulu very early as I woke up at 6.15 already. I already knew that it would be a tough day, with 130km ahead, most of them on the E75, a big and busy road, used by loads of trucks. I wanted to get to Tornio, just because the fact that the city is basically cut in half by the border to Sweden seemed quite curious. I did not make it to Tornio in the end. I actually don’t want to go too in depth about what happened, some of my closer friends and family reading this might know about certain difficult symptoms and situations regarding my mental condition. All in all I could summarize the time on the road as an incredibly hot one, to the point of it being very uncomfortable and physically oppressive. I didn’t even want to take any water or food breaks anymore because without the wind whilst cycling I’d legit feel myself getting a heat stroke on the spot. That coupled with the big road with all the trucks barrelling by me already made for quite an uncomfortable time. Luckily the side strip was quite broad and I didn’t feel unsafe. Until my best friend, the roadworks came back to visit me. It looked like they were building a second lane, but whatever they did, they blocked off the side strip forcing me onto the road. Now the trucks and cars drove past me with incredible speed so close that I don’t think I could’ve had any broader bike bags or they’d touch them. Incredibly stressful. Eventually I had a very uncomfortable encounter with the biggest truck I’ve ever seen that trigger some things in my mind that made the 50km to the next city where I could actually catch a break hell. And that is why I ended up stopping in Kemi for the day. Mentally in an awful and totally drained state I decided to not go further and seek shelter and comfort for the night, booking the cheapest hostel I could find. It turned out to be the best decision, even if it bummed me out as I was trying to cut down on my expenses a bit to make room for more activities in Rovaniemi. But I really needed a retreat and time to just rest my head. And that I did. The hostel was an incredibly cute, old and traditional house with a warm and intimate feeling. Later in the evening I had a wonderful encounter with a woman sharing the dorm with me. We ended up talking about Finland, Family, language, travelling and much more. Maria, if you read this, thank you so much! You don’t know how good that talk was for me just then! You got me thinking about going on a pilgrimage as well some day.
I closed off the day with another wonderful moment of togetherness calling a person close to me whilst walking to the sea and having such a fun, relaxing talk and catch up. Considering how bad of a friend or family member I was for the longest of time due to my mental struggles, I can only consider myself blessed by the beautiful souls I have surrounding me. Even if I made it all the way into Lapland today. It’s good to not feel alone.
- Route: Oulu – Ii – Kemi
- Distance covered: 116.29km
- Total distance covered: 1672.74km
A cute little seal statue in a lake outside of Oulu 
The church in Kemi 
The harbor in Kemi 
The beautiful evening sun 
Tromsø is just 500km away. I’ll have quite a bit to go though.
Day 30: Arrival in Rovaniemi
I am so excited about today. Or happy. Or proud. Just all of it! I mean think about it! I made it to the capital of Lapland with my bike all the way from Helsinki. Knowing where I was at mentally just one or two years ago and having had my last big back surgery just this January, it’s all just so empowering. And of course it’s also just very exciting to arrive in a city I was looking forward to exploring for a long time. Home of Santa, capital of Lapland, end of the Finnish railway network, it is truly north now. What a milestone! So how was my way there? Exhausting. My legs have quite a big kilometer count on them over the last few days and I definitely felt that. But still it was not too bad as for once the temperature was extremely comfortable with clouds covering the sun for most of the time and the roads being very flat. Only for the last 15 kilometers – as if some divine power was trying to bully me – the sun came out to roast me once more just as the steep climbs came back as well. And now they’re getting longer as well. I knew they would though, considering that Lapland has this interesting mix of depressions and quite high elevations. But there really isn’t much more to say about it – the scenery was still mostly forest as I drove on the E75 for the whole time, just the lakes are more sparse now and the trees are less tall.
Arriving felt absolutely wonderful though! I was looking forward to the cheaper apartment I rented for the next two days so much, knowing I was going to be able to truly relax for a time, do laundry the easy way and have a proper shower. And buy snacks that didn’t need to fit into my full backs. Exciting times! But truly, I’m so very excited for the next two days. The same friend that helped me with my card issue in Kuopio is now in Rovaniemi and give me some amazing suggestions on what to do and what to see and even invited me for dinner tomorrow! It’s going to be a good, good time. And with this I will leave you so I can go devour my snacks, catch up on my journal, do laundry and then relax. Extensively.
- Route: Kemi – Rovaniemi
- Distance covered: 118.56km
- Total distance covered: 1791.3km
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