Circumnavigating the Baltic Sea

After my time working at the University of Karlsruhe, I set off on a voyage of discovery and entertainment across Scandinavia and the Baltic states.  My mission was to see as many interesting places and meet as many interesting people as I could.  I gave myself three weeks, a Eurail pass, and an itinerary to follow.  Through some serendipitous connections I made on CouchSurfing, I was able to stay with kind and gracious hosts across Scandinavia and into the Baltic states.  In Latvia and Poland I was lucky enough to have friends and families of friends to visit and stay with.  Aside from an attempted robbery via a spiked glass of water, the trip was a smashing success.

• Leaving Germany: I left my cheery little shared apartment in Karlsruhe on the last day of August bound for adventure.
• Denmark: I visited Copenhagen on a particularly nice and sunny day.
• Norway: I went up the length of Norway from Oslo to Narvik.
  • Oslo: I visited a Viking cemetery, saw a wonderful outdoor air museum that preserves Norwegian buildings, and got a taste of the world of Beowulf.
  • Trondheim: I stopped over in Trondheim for a day and a night with a lovely couple I met on Couchsurfing.org.
  • Rognan: In Rognan I stayed with a guy named Frode and his family who i met on Couchsurfing.org.  He is a super cool guy who showed me the sights of the area.  I hope to go back and visit again someday.
  • Narvik: Arriving in Narvik, I was fortunate enough to stay with a nice man from Couchsurfing.org who showed me around town.  He had been to over 100 countries!
• Sweden: After stopping off in Narvik, I barreled across Sweden on the way to Finland.
• Finland: I managed to make two major stops in Finland on my relentless pursuit of circumnavigating the Baltic sea.
  • Rovaniemi: I went to a nice arctic museum, walked around in the rain, and finally saw a little sun just before boarding the night train to Helsinki.
  • Helsinki: In Helsinki I partied with Alexi and was properly exposed to Team America.
• Estonia: With only minutes to spare before I had to be on a bus bound for Latvia, I didn’t get to see much of Estonia.  Someday in the future I will have to go back for a proper visit.
• Latvia: In Latvia I had a little more time to stop and smell the roses.
  • Riga: A walk around downtown with Dmitri’s mother.
  • In the Countryside: The countryside of Latvia is beautiful.  Small churches, caves, and castles dot the landscape.
• Lithuania: Severely pressed for time, I was forced to make a mad dash across Lithuania on the way to Poland.
• Poland: In Poland I had the chance to visit two cities and two friends.
  • Warsaw: Arriving in Warsaw I found myself without a host and alone on a train platform at night.  Things became much more interesting from there.
  • Poznan: Maciej, a friend from my time in Tunisia, welcomed me to his flat in Poznan.
• Leaving Germany Again: One last trip through Karlsruhe and Freibourg before heading back to the states exactly one year to the day from when I departed.

And thus ended my year overseas.  I visited many countries, cultures, and people.  All across Europe and North Africa I made friends that I am sure I will be in contact with for years to come.  The only real problem with this year of travel is that my appetite has only grown for exploration and travel.  I now know that I will never be able to truly settle down in one place.  I will always wander and explore.  And that is a good thing.