NORWAY 27

There comes a point when thinking about a road trip stops being enough.

You open the map. 🗺️

Zoom out.

Then zoom out again.

And your finger starts wandering north. 👆⬆️

🇬🇧 Staffordshire.

🇳🇱 Netherlands.

🇩🇪 Germany.

🇩🇰 Denmark.

🇳🇴 Norway.

Then further north.

🏔️ Fjords.

🌊 Atlantic Ocean Road.

🧭 Arctic Circle.

❤️ Lofoten.

Then east...

🇸🇪 Swedish Lapland.

And suddenly what started as:

has turned into something considerably bigger.

📅 Target: May into June 2027 ⏱️ Duration: around 30 nights 🌍 Countries: 6 🚐 Vehicle: Vanilla, my VW T6.1 campervan 🚁 Air support: NIX drone squadron 🎥 Ground support: DJI Action 4 📸 Objective: Drive it. Photograph it. Fly it. Film it. LIVE IT.

And there's one overriding rule.

This isn't really a holiday to Norway.

Vanilla has quite a bit of Europe to conquer before the Norwegian mountains even appear.

The route currently looks like this:

The long run north.

And then...

Kristiansand ⬇️ Stavanger ⬇️ Hardangerfjord ⬇️ Odda ⬇️ Flåm ⬇️ Loen ⬇️ Geiranger ⬇️ Åndalsnes ⬇️ Atlantic Ocean Road ⬇️ Trondheim ⬇️ Helgeland ⬇️ Mo i Rana ⬇️ 🧭 ARCTIC CIRCLE ⬇️ Saltstraumen ⬇️ Bodø ⬇️ ⛴️ ⬇️ ❤️ LOFOTEN

Then east...

Narvik ➡️ Björkliden ➡️ Abisko ➡️ Kiruna ⬇️ Jokkmokk ⬇️ 🧭 ARCTIC CIRCLE AGAIN! ⬇️ Östersund ⬇️ Swedish lake country ⬇️ Gothenburg

Then...

🇩🇰 Denmark 🇩🇪 Germany 🇳🇱 Netherlands ⛴️ North Sea 🇬🇧 Home.

Six countries.

Thousands of miles.

Several ferries.

Two Arctic Circle crossings.

One campervan.

And probably enough diesel to upset my bank manager. 😂⛽

Before going any further, this is the sort of country Vanilla is heading into.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Norway+road+trip+4K

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Norway+campervan+road+trip+4K

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Norway+National+Scenic+Routes+4K

😂

May isn't an accidental choice.

I could go in July.

☀️ Warmer.

🏕️ Everything open.

🚐 More campervans.

🚐🚐 More campervans.

🚐🚐🚐🚐 Lots more campervans.

That's precisely what I DON'T want.

I want Norway when there's still a little winter left in its bones.

Down at fjord level, Norway is waking up.

🌱 Green valleys.

🌳 Trees coming back to life.

🌼 Spring.

💦 Rivers filling.

💧 Waterfalls exploding down the mountainsides.

Then look upwards...

Snow.

Mountains still wearing their winter coat.

That means one photograph could contain:

🌱 Spring 🌊 Fjord 💦 Waterfall 🏔️ Mountain ❄️ Snow 🚐 Vanilla

That's basically a NIX photograph waiting to happen.

All that melting snow has to go somewhere.

DOWN.

Norway's spring snowmelt feeds its waterfalls and rivers.

And that's exactly when I want to see them.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Norway+waterfalls+spring+4K

Imagine Vanilla crawling along a fjord road.

Water on one side.

Vertical mountain on the other.

Waterfalls dropping hundreds of metres.

Wipers occasionally going because Norway has apparently decided to throw some of the waterfall directly onto the van.

The further north I travel, the more ridiculous the daylight becomes.

By late May around Lofoten...

🌅 Morning arrives very early.

🌇 Evening refuses to leave.

And above the Arctic Circle...

This is going to be completely new for me.

Imagine looking at the clock.

🕦 23:30

Looking outside.

Still daylight.

Well...

Camera back out. 📸

Drone batteries checked. 🚁🔋

Boots on. 🥾

We're going again.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Lofoten+midnight+sun+4K

For photography, that's absolutely glorious.

This matters.

I don't want Lofoten to feel like the M6 services with prettier mountains.

May gives me a chance of:

🛣️ quieter roads 🏕️ quieter campsites 📸 quieter viewpoints 🚐 fewer motorhomes 🧘 more space

Some places will still be busy.

Lofoten stopped being a secret rather a long time ago.

But I'm deliberately trying to arrive before peak summer.

After Denmark, Vanilla rolls onto the ferry at Hirtshals.

Destination:

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Hirtshals+Kristiansand+ferry

This is going to be one of those little moments.

Drive down the ramp.

Norwegian road underneath Vanilla.

Sat-nav says:

And I'll probably say:

Two nights.

No rushing.

Stavanger.

Lysefjord.

And...

604 metres above Lysefjord.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Preikestolen+Pulpit+Rock+Norway+4K

📸 Camera: YES 🥾 Walking boots: YES 🚁 Drone: rules checked first 😳 Looking over edge: MAYBE

Then Vanilla heads towards Odda.

Two nights.

This is where Norway starts becoming properly Norwegian.

🏔️ Mountains.

🌊 Fjords.

💦 Waterfalls.

🛣️ Roads squeezed into impossible spaces.

🚇 Tunnels.

⛴️ Ferries.

🚐 Vanilla.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Hardangerfjord+Norway+4K

📸 NIX MISSION: Vanilla beside Hardangerfjord.

Two nights.

This is another place I absolutely refuse to rush.

🚂 Flåm Railway 🌊 Aurlandsfjord 🏔️ Aurland 📸 Stegastein ☕ Vanilla coffee stops

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Flam+Railway+Norway+4K

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Stegastein+Norway+4K

The Stegastein viewpoint sticks 30 metres out from the mountainside.

650 metres above Aurlandsfjord.

Who designs something like that?

Norwegians.

Obviously.

Then comes somewhere I'm already ridiculously excited about.

Two nights.

🚐 Vanilla 🌊 Water 🏔️ Mountains ❄️ Snow 🌱 Spring

I genuinely think this could produce some of my favourite photographs of the whole expedition.

And then there's...

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Loen+Skylift+Norway+4K

And nearby...

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Briksdal+Glacier+Norway+4K

Glacier.

Campervan.

Drone.

Camera.

This trip is getting silly.

Then...

And perhaps...

There's just one small problem.

SNOW.

I'll be there around the end of May.

Trollstigen might be open.

It might not.

So Wilder Trips gets:

Road open.

Road closed.

Alternative route.

Coffee.

Carry on.

I'm not allowing one Norwegian snowdrift to ruin a 30-night expedition.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Trollstigen+Norway+drive+4K

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Geirangerfjord+Norway+4K

If it's open...

Vanilla is absolutely going up there.

Next comes one of THE roads.

The Atlantic Ocean Road.

Bridges.

Islands.

Ocean.

Norwegian weather.

And Vanilla.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Atlantic+Ocean+Road+Norway+4K

I want photographs:

🌅 early ☀️ daytime 🌇 evening 🚁 aerial where permitted

This is pure NIX territory.

Two nights.

And this isn't merely sightseeing.

It's:

⚡ EHU 💧 Water 🚽 Waste 🚿 Shower 🧺 Laundry 🔋 Jackery charging 🚁 Drone charging 📱 Phone charging 🎥 Action 4 charging 🍺 John charging

Then...

There are two options.

Fast E6.

Helgeland coast.

Ferries.

Islands.

Ocean.

Mountains.

Tiny roads.

Photography.

Hmmmm.

Difficult decision.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Helgeland+Norway+Scenic+Route+4K

I think we all know what's going to happen.

Eventually...

Vanilla reaches:

This photograph is mandatory.

🚐 Vanilla.

🧭 Arctic Circle.

📸 Camera.

😃 Idiot standing beside van looking extremely pleased with himself.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Arctic+Circle+Norway+E6

Then onward...

One of the world's strongest tidal currents.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Saltstraumen+Norway+4K

Then...

Bodø.

Ferry.

And the moment I've been waiting for.

Vanilla boards the ferry.

Norwegian mainland slowly disappears.

Then...

somewhere ahead...

mountains begin rising from the sea.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Bodo+Moskenes+ferry+Lofoten+4K

I already know where I'll be.

Outside.

Camera.

Probably freezing.

Don't care.

Four nights.

Minimum.

Because driving all this way and rushing Lofoten would be criminal.

First night.

Then:

🏘️ Å ❤️ Reine 📸 Hamnøy

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Reine+Hamnoy+Lofoten+4K

📸 NIX SHOT: Hamnøy bridges.

Then...

Two nights.

White sand.

Turquoise Arctic water.

Snow-covered mountains.

Vanilla.

This could be absurd.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Ramberg+Beach+Lofoten+4K

If I can't get a decent photograph here, I'll sell Nemesis, Zoom and the cameras and take up bowls.

Then east.

Explore:

🎣 Henningsvær 🏘️ Kabelvåg ⚓ Svolvær

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Henningsvaer+Lofoten+4K

And then...

Vanilla turns EAST.

Narvik.

Mountains.

Border.

Then:

Norway has spent weeks throwing cliffs, ferries, tunnels and waterfalls at me.

Sweden should feel different.

🌲 Forest.

🌊 Lakes.

🛣️ Huge roads.

🏠 Red timber houses.

🌌 Enormous skies.

Nearby:

🏔️ Abisko 🚂 Arctic railway 📸 Lapland landscapes

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Abisko+National+Park+Sweden+4K

Then one of the strangest places on the entire journey.

Kiruna.

A town that's literally being moved because of the mine underneath it.

▶️ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Kiruna+Sweden+moving+city

That's exactly the sort of unexpected story NIX loves.

South towards Jokkmokk.

And...

Again.

Vanilla + Swedish Arctic Circle.

Two countries.

Two crossings.

One very well-travelled Transporter.

This part deliberately stays loose.

No obsessive timetable.

No "must arrive at 17:32".

I want one particular evening.

🌲 Trees.

🌊 Lake.

🚐 Vanilla.

🔥 Food cooking.

🍺 Cold beer.

☀️ Sun refusing to set.

No attraction.

No ticket.

No schedule.

Just...

That's campervan travel.

This trip will also be the biggest test yet of Vanilla's upgraded electrical system.

The three-week solar experiment has already shown me what's possible.

Now we're taking the laboratory to Scandinavia.

Obviously I'm not taking NIX Drones to Norway without...

the drones.

Every flight will depend on:

⚖️ local regulations ✈️ airspace 🌦️ weather 🦅 wildlife 👥 people 🚫 local restrictions

Sometimes the drone stays in Vanilla.

That's fine.

Norway is quite capable of looking spectacular without my assistance.

And this expedition won't just become photographs.

I'll capture:

🚐 driving ⛴️ ferries 🏔️ mountains 🌊 fjords 🌅 midnight light ☕ coffee stops 😂 disasters 🌧️ Norwegian weather ❤️ the tiny moments

Because sometimes the best part of a road trip isn't the enormous viewpoint.

It's opening the campervan door in the morning and thinking:

The whole expedition will live inside Wilder Trips.

Every day gets:

And the campsites get:

So I have a plan...

without being imprisoned by it.

Put everything together and May makes perfect sense.

July would probably be easier.

But easy isn't really the point.

And then the long road home again.

Six countries.

30 nights.

Thousands of miles.

Ferries.

Fjords.

Glaciers.

Waterfalls.

Atlantic islands.

Two Arctic Circle crossings.

Lofoten.

Swedish Lapland.

Midnight Sun.

Campsites.

Coffee.

Drones.

Vanilla.

And probably enough photographs to crash the NIX server.

I've done big road trips before.

But this one already feels different.

Maybe it's Lofoten.

Maybe it's the Arctic Circle.

Maybe it's taking Vanilla so far north.

Or maybe it's knowing that one morning I'll open that sliding door beside a Norwegian fjord...

look upwards...

see snow-covered mountains...

put the kettle on...

and realise:

There are still things to solve.

⛴️ Ferries.

🏕️ Campsites.

🛣️ Mountain roads.

🚁 Drone regulations.

🇸🇪 The perfect Swedish lake.

⛽ A frankly alarming amount of diesel.

But that's part of the fun.

Every big NIX journey starts the same way.

A ridiculous idea.

A map.

A campervan.

And four extremely dangerous words:

Well...