Destination: Finland

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Finland

List of Countries I Have Visited … Plus a Photo for Each

Rational Matthew, Glen Affric, Scotland

I awoke from the deepest, darkest sleep on the softest pillow and found myself staring out the window of a hotel in disbelief as the last red rays of the sun drifted below the clouds. Wow, I thought, that’s the most beautiful sunset I ever saw. But the bed was unfamiliar and it was far too early in my mind for the sun to be setting. Hang on a second, I thought- where am I?

I am often asked where I have been. But over the years I have done so many oodles of trips that the answer is blurry- several countries I have been to several times, with little rhyme or reason- sometimes I’d need to travel for work, sometimes I followed my heart someplace and sometimes my heart yearned for someone I’d met on a distant continent. I make this list as a little catelogue of memories and moments as much for myself as for you. Read more →

Dogsledding in Finnish Lapland

Things heat up as the dogs head down the hill

We arrived at the farm early one morning to find hundreds of dogs in kennels going quite beserk at the prospect of going sledding with strangers. Wow, what an exhilirating way to travel the white tundra! The dogs would race like crazy along the flat or downhill, and you had to work hard to keep the sled under control. Respite would come as the dogs headed uphill, huffing and puffing and not stopping until they had reached the top. Alex rode the sled in front of ours and our dogs followed his- usually. Read more →

Chasing the Northern Lights – Aurora Borealis

A typical green curtain of the aurora.

It’s funny that with arctic locations, the peak season for visitors is generally the middle of summer. While I accept that midsummer in these cold parts of the globe is crazy good fun due to parties, saunas and the general excitement of the local people who become set free from the extreme climate that traps them for most of the year, I never really understood why you would visit a cold, icy, mountainous part of the world and then try to avoid the cold, ice and mountains. Sure, in the colder months the North is dark and forboding and the extremely good looking inhabitants are obscured by excessive clothing. But on the plus side, you experience life as it is most of the year in these parts…. and you “might” even get to see the Northern Lights. Read more →