The journey

Time to really let loose, "point of no return"

To make a move with a dog to the other side of the globe requires its own chapter, hours of waiting time at the airline´s call center to arrange it all. (You can´t book travel with a dog online) We finally managed to get seats for us and space for the dog on the same flight with KLM at the end of September 2021 (we didn´t want to send our dog Smilla with freight, it would extend the dog´s travel time significantly), but then we found out at the beginning of September that they can´t take the dog with them as they changed the type of aircraft!

Panic was near..., leaving Smilla in Sweden was unthinkable. The Corona restrictions meant that airline traffic was greatly reduced, as unvaccinated (as we still are) against covid, it was not possible to fly via the USA, and traveling with a dog can only be done if you travel all the way with the same airline. We finally managed to find a place with Lufthansa four weeks later, which might have been good in retrospectivet, we probably wouldn´t have managed all the commitments otherwise, and might have ended up in a mental institution.

Despite four weeks extra time, we barely managed to get everything in place, without too many mistakes. Thanks to the help of friends, we have been able to leave some stuff in their storage, things we didn´t manage to deal with before the move and some suitcases going to Costa Rica that hopefully our visiting friends can take with them. The flight was to leave at 0615 am in the morning from Arlanda on Tuesday 26 October, we booked room at Sky City hotel Arlanda airport, so we could go directly to the check-in at 0400 in the morning .

Less than 24 hours before the take off at Arlanda Airport, we were doing the last bit of packing, making sure everything was cleaned, barred and locked at the lodge. At 1900 we drove the last turn with the RIB boat from Bergholmen, to the main land filled with our suitcases, the boat had to be brought up on land and covered for the winter before we left! we were late!!!

The last trip with the suitcases....

Chasing minutes to catch the last car ferry from Tynningö at 10 pm. Kristina repacked and unpacked the last thing, cleaned out of our Attefallshus while Håkon (Torkild´s son) Stowed his car and ours to make room for suitcases and the big dog cage. (The dog cage took half the car!) Torkild was struggling to cover the boat for the winter, clock was approaching 2200.

3 minutes before the last car ferry for the evening, we arrived at the jetty, a strange feeling came over us, point of no return…. What have we missed? What have we forgotten? Did we had the alamt activated in the rock shelter? Did we double lock? Are all the papers with us? Where did the spare key go? A thousand questions swirled, at the same time a realization that now it was too late to do anyting if we forgot something, just breathe calmly and relax!

We arrived at Arlanda Airport 1130 PM, with two cars, 3 mega-sized suitcases, far too much hand luggage, a mega-large dog cage, and an expectant dog, who somehow understood that we were on a long journey. (Dogs have a strange ability to understand humans and what´s going on.) There we stood, in front of the door to Sky City Hotel with basically what was left of all our belongings, about to leave our homeland, our business and our friends, with mixed feelings we said goodbye to Håkon and Mark who drove us with all the stuff in the middle of the night to Arlanda.

Farwell is always difficult...a strange mix of anticipation and sadness at the same time. As "unvaccinated" we didn´t know if it would even be possible to return to Sweden, was that the last time we were in Sweden?

“You always have one foot in two places. You can never be truly happy because, from the moment you leave, you are two selves, and wherever you are one half of you is always calling to the other"

Jojo Moyes

The journey went painlessly for all three of us! Smilla probably had the best ride in the dog-business class compartment where the cow could lie down and sleep on her dog bed, the rest of us had to squeeze into the "monkey class" with the mandatory mask on... But thanks to the fact that we were so tiered and drained of energy - we were more or less unconscious during the journey, that made the trip shorter.

If you are up in the sky at 10,000 feet, sipping on your martini, with the Atlantic below you you can start marvel…. being able to get from Sweden to Costa Rica in one day is a miracle if you think about it. We are the first two or three generations during man´s entire existence of 300,000 years who have been able to fly around the world!. It's cool, isn't it? Commercial flights only started in the beginning in the 50s –From Scandinavia with SAS it took over 3 days, 70 hours to South America with 3 overnight stays and 6 stops. First Class only and cost you a fortune.

Before the air service, it was a boat that crossed the world´s oceans. In the 20th century, the Norwegian explorer Thor Heyerdahl moved with his new wife to Polynesia, they traveled from Oslo to the island of Fatuhiva on the other side of the globe from Norway, where they plan was to settle. (honeymoon one way ticket to their families despair.) The trip first went by train down in Europe, from there steamboat to Asia, with several changes, the trip took a total of 12 months before they arrived in Fatuhiva. Tor traveled light....with following in the luggage: 1 tuxedo, a change of clothes, a machete knife and an expensive wristwatch... He succeeded much better with his "decluttering" than we did….

Feel privileged that at the cost of 8-10 grocery bags from the store you can reach any place on earth you want within a few hours. The question is, for how long time in the future can you do that?…..with the environmental requirements that the UN Agenda 2030, that has signed by allmost all coutries in the world, According to UN´s Agenda 2030, the plan is to limit all long-haul flights, implemented 2030, thats in their plan!.So better hurry on, mybe this is the time to travel before it´s to late