The last few days I've made a lot of kilometers. I've been steadily riding down the coast of Finland, getting closer to Helsinki. I've passed the 7000 km mark now.

And I'm still loving it. There has not been one day that I didn't want to get on that motorcycle and ride around. I must confess I didn't expect that. There would surely come a point where I would tire of it, right? Wrong. Which will be giving me something to ponder about in the coming weeks and months.

Anyway, I've been riding around a part of Finland called Ostrobothnia. It's basically a few medium sized towns on the Bothnian coast with a lot of pine forests in between. Sometimes that has been as boring as it sounds. Those pine forests do go on for a long time, and they do not seem half as interesting as the eternal forest of the high north. But the coast can be beautiful, looking out over the hundreds of islands that are dotted around the Gulf of Bothnia.

And the main towns are reasonably interesting as well. First up, Oulo. Oulo is the first major town that you encounter coming from up north (sorry Rovaniemi, but Santa's village really does NOT count). The specific attraction that Oulo offers are the old harbour warehouses, that have now been converted into cafe's and shops. It's a fun place to hang around for an afternoon. Especially to catch some late summer sun.

Then comes Vaasa. This is the first place since the high north that has a city feel to it. To my surprise I'd missed that somewhat. And Vaasa offered me the opportunity to lounge for a while in the local branch of Espresso House (a favourite of mine since Malmo). Bring forth the cinnamon rolls!

I liked Vaasa very much, but my favourite moment of the last few days has to be my pitstop at Parkano, where I happened to walk into the diner of Meya and her husband. It had been a particularly rainy ride the last few hours, and when Meya saw that I had arrived somewhat drenched, she welcomed me with a hot coffee, a fine cheeseburger and a warm heart. Turns out she and her husband had been touring around Europe themselves, on a VFR (my first motorcycle). They hadn't been able to tour anymore since the Covid thing though, because their diner had run into difficulty because of the lockdowns (I've heard quite a few similar stories on this trip). Seeing me riding into town brought back some happy memories which she wanted to share, and off course I duly obliged. When we said goodbye, I thanked them for their hospitality and wished them every opportunity to tour again.

I realise how lucky I am to have had the chance to make this journey. Sure, I put a lot of preparation in it, but there's so much more that had to come together to make it possible. Not least to mention, the huge support from my wife Monica. But more about that next time. That will also be my last entry in this travel journal, as I will be heading home!