Category Archives: Background

Visiting Norway …. Summer Cycling or Winter Auroras

Background, Year 6

I have a few hours to kill before Molly and I catch our coastal ferry, Hurtigruten, to steam up and over the top of the Norwegian Arctic to Kirkenes. We will be on the ship for four days and three nights. This bicycle tour is the fourth time I have visited Norway, and I thought I would post advice on planning a trip to this fair land. While my excursions have involved physical activities, cycle touring and cross-country skiing, my advice will be for any visit.

1. First and foremost, Norway is very expensive due to taxes. A good trip plan will reduce costs by purchasing package deals which often already include meals. Having alcohol with a meal really drives up the price of a visit. Purchasing food and drink at the local grocery store will dramatically reduce your costs. Have a picnic either outside or in your hotel room.

2. The best way to travel large distances is by boat. We prefer the coastal ferry (small cruise ship), Hurtigruten, which sails daily both north and southbound between Bergen and Kirkenes. This boat option is more desirable than cruise ships, which only tend to come into port once per day and move out beyond the 12 mile limit. Thus, on Hurtigruten you see much more of Norway because it takes the inland passage up the coast. However, Hurtigruten is not a cruise ship. You will not find spas, casinos, shows, etc. Your entertainment is the scenery. You may purchase a food package or pay as you go for meals. One option that is very reasonably priced on Hurtigruten compared to cruise ships is wifi.

3. Molly and I like Arctic Norway. Bodo, Norway is above the Arctic Circle and may be reached by passenger train. From Bodo, one may easily use ferries to reach the Lofoten Islands and / or Tromso. As a foot passenger, one may always get on ferries, but if you want an overnight cabin, or have a car … reserve ahead on the major ferry routes.

4. For the summer, visit in August. There will be much fewer Europeans around, and the weather is still nice. However, even on August 21st, be aware that although the midnight sun has set, the night skies are too bright for chasing the Aurora.

5. For chasing the Northern Lights I recommend late February, to the first week or so of March. Even in the Arctic, if you stay near the coast temperatures are not too cold. The Gulf Stream warms things up. However, as you head inland and gain elevation it gets cold fast. As a reminder, I live in northern Minnesota and I am used to very cold weather.

Here are some links which will help you better plan your visit.

Links to my own content:

Links to companies I have used, and recommend:

Finally … a photograph that Molly took of me two mornings ago. In a remote region of the Arctic we discovered a grocery store! Rather than going hungry for breakfast and lunch, we dined upon granola with berries! Life is good. Enjoy Norway! It’s time to walk over to the ferry dock.

Read Audubon and Outdoor Photographer Offline Legally w/o Charge!

Background, Year 6

Sounds to good to be true. Read two top magazines offline legally without charge. What if I told you that with just minor setup and configuration time invested by you, my reader, in addition to these magazines you could legally and without charge also read magazines such as:

  • Arizona Highways
  • Cosmopolitan!  🙂
  • Life
  • National Geographic
  • The Economist
  • And hundreds more!

It’s true, and all you need is your public library card. As I am getting ready for my Norwegian bicycle adventure I am loading up on magazines and Kindle books on my tablet. When I have free moments on the plane and while bike touring, I will have lots of reading options.

A few days ago I received notification that the latest issues of both Audubon and Outdoor Photographer were now available. Yup, one of the configuration options using the service RBdigital is to be notified by email whenever a new edition is available. Thus, I don’t even have to look for content, magazines which I specifically requested come to me automatically. If one enjoys reading lots of titles, the cost savings potential is HUGE. As noted, the only cost to me is having my local public library card. Here is Minnesota, I know both the Duluth Public Library and the Hennepin County Library (Minneapolis) have online magazines available via RBdigital.

Either via your library’s web site, or with a visit to the physical library (ask the reference librarian for help) you can easily get set up.

Finally, the magazine’s format (remember, one may download and read offline) looks 100% identical to the print version. Here are some images from my own tablet as I checked out both of these magazines.

Note: I posted on this topic a few years ago. All those much more detailed instructions still work. The only difference is the new name of the company, RBdigital. Off to Norway!

All the screenshots in this blog post are from my Samsung Galaxy Tab S2 Android Tablet. The experience would be and look almost identical on an iPad.

I am notified via eMail about new issues

I am redirected to my account on the library’s web site and complete the process

Here are a couple of images from my post back in 2015 … I was reading BirdWatching.

Norwegian Arctic Islands Tour

Background, Year 6

Where do folks who live in northern Minnesota near Frostbite Falls where temperatures drop to -40F in the winter (not including chill factor) go on their summer vacation? Obviously the Arctic! Three years ago my wife, Molly, and I traveled to Tromso above the Norwegian Arctic Circle to enjoy some cross-country skiing and Northern Lights. We loved the area, and vowed to come back sometime when it was warmer.

That sometime has arrived, and in one week we travel to Tromso. For the first time we are not touring 100% self-supported. Due to the lack of accommodations and the fact at age 63 I do not wish to sleep on the ground every night in a tent, our tour combines a locally provided self-guided tour from Tromso down through the Lofoten Islands, followed by four additional days on a route near Bodo designed by me. Using the local tour option allows us to bunk out in private fisherman’s cabins.

The other difference is for this trip we are renting bicycles. When we toured in Scotland TSA messed up my bicycle at the airport. In the private security area unbeknownst to me they very poorly unpacked, inspected and repacked my bicycle. Upon arriving in Scotland I discovered a TSA Inspection Notice inside my bike box. I decided given the cost and hassle to getting our own bikes to Norway, we could live with rented bicycles for 18 days. Our tour ends with four days on the Hurtigruten Norwegian Coastal Ferry over the top of Norway to Kirkenes near the Russian border.

As a fyi … posts will be fewer and farther between over the next 2.5 months. I will be spending most of this time bicycle touring in Norway and then the United States. I will definitely both “bird and bike”, posting when I have time plus a decent web connection. Finally, we have some friends staying in our home. Thus, I do not mind letting people know we are out of town.

In some other cycling news, Molly was just published yesterday in Adventure Cycling (the national magazine for touring cyclists). Read her article …