Finally, my idea developed to a plan, and my plan emerged as a test last April and now I am doing it! After two days of constant walking from the outskirts of Gdansk in northeast Poland across the shores, through the villages and on the walls of the Wisla delta, I reached its eastern city of Elblag yesterday afternoon. Not to damage my knees and feet, I took a break today but will be anxious to get going again tomorrow morning, the sooner the better. Direction Paslek. There are numerous pictures to be published soon. Poland has been extremely welcoming. The people, the landscape, the weather. These two days I have started my walking around 9.30 or 10.00 and following the advice of my friend Björn I take a break every hour (with few exception) to have some bread and Kavli's soft cheese plus a sip of water. Six-seven hours of effective walking has not proved to be to much so far. 25-30 kms per day. Let's see what tomorrow will bring to that piece of statistics.

Hello everyone of you who have been asked to look into my blog for m\"more information".

To quote some of the modern equally provoking artists - everything in this project is art and experimental - I haven't a clue what to expect BUT tomorrow I will start walking on real in Europe (for some of us, Sweden is still not Europe, not the 'continental' anyway). To navigate a blog site in Polish is difficult so I hope to be back with more information and pictures to prove my route along the coast, across the Wisla river etc

Walking to the Mediterranean was from the beginning five years ago just another wild idea. But having tested my body, especially its legs and certainly its knees, I can say that the show has begun! 80k in Skåne in April confirmed my desk operation model of four days 20k each day. Now, flight tickets are booked from Göteborg City Airport Säve to Gdansk in September for five or six days of walking, crossing Wisla at its mouth heading for Elblag and Olsztyn. My friend Björn will join during two of those days. Any tip or suggestion where to stop, to eat, to sleep is welcome!

Fler och fler av familj, vänner och bekanta (nya och gamla) känner nu till min plan att vandra till fots till Medelhavet. Testvandringen i Skåne klarades av i april, 8 mil på fyra dagar. Startpunkten på kontinenten har varit bestämd sedan länge, ja, ända sen jag drog det första strecket utmed linjalen: Gdansk - Thessaloniki. Gdansk, alltså. Trodde först att jag skulle behöva sätta av ett par dagar bara för framresan med tåg och färja) men sic det går direktflyg med Wizzair från både Sturup och Säve. Det blir från Säve dvs officiellt heter den Göteborg City Airport, där gamla F9 låg. Det viktigast är redan inköpt: liten lätt ryggsäck (50 liter) och joggingskorna (Saucony Guide 5) med anatomiska sulor. Nu gälller det att se över övriga utrustningen, främst kläderna. Kanske det behövs ett underställ. Gamla joggingdojorna får bli reservskor, de anatomiska sulorna passar även i dessa. Vattenflaskan. Regncapen. Tips är välkomna! 

Preparing for Poland - in September

My start "from Gdynia in June" has changed to "from Gdansk in September". More friends, old and news ones, say that they wish to join me on my longwalk to Greece. And you are all welcome. What you need is strong legs or a wheelchair and a desire to put some 20 kilometers per day behind, 2-4 days per stage.
If the weather is right, my legs and feet are fit I hope to reach at least Elblag and maybe even Olsztyn by mid-September. Any tip where to walk, where to stay will be appreciated. If you think this could be something for you, do comment and write where and when you'd like to join, preferably after Elblag around 10th September. Or later, e.g. 2013 south Poland (Lublin), 2014 western Ukraine (L'viv, Ivano-Frankivsk).

My idea of walking from Sweden/Poland to Greece has begun to materialize. In the morning of 24 April I left from Malmö Central Station at 09:36 to walk my 'test' distance of some 80 kilometers in four days. And, guess, I succeeded! Not exactly as I had planned (see maps in previous news). The first day, I got bad skin from my new (jogging) shoes and there was no available room after 20 k for the night as planned, so I cut some kilometers by bus and then extended my first day to Trelleborg where I slept rather exhausted at Svea B&B. Thanks to that, I could visit my fathers birthplace Västra Tommarp and my parents grave and the churchyard that same day instead of the next. I had left my excessive luggage in a locker at the train station and with that also my camera (!). So, the only pictures that can prove my walking is from my simple cell phone. I think, they will do. Day 2, my friend Björn-Anders showed up out of the yellow bus from Lund. We met at the Church of Gylle and I told him of my roots in the region 'Söderslätt' with farms lika Tågarpsdal, Torshög, Gylle boställe, Rockhög, Haglösa kungsgård, Gustafsberg etc. We visited Ingrid, my second cousin's widow at Rockhög, a farm house built in the 18th century and very much kept the same way as it was built. - OK, let's see if I can manage to get this published. The pictures will come later.   

Winter behind?

Some training in my near neigbourhood through the winter months of February and March. Could have been more k's. But now is April and 10 km's to twin city Trollhättan really seems nothing anymore. Unfortunately, still too cold (only +2-4°C). Have started looking for new appropriate shoes and other pieces of outfit: sticks, breating cloths etc.      First leg will be a test walk in South Sweden (Skåne): 3 or possibly 4 days of each 20-25 km's.

NO MORE WALKING?

The suddenly up-coming winter with much cold and snow everywhere in Sweden has hampered my walking preparations. But hopefully there will be a change soon to the better. In the meantime, swimming is the thing.

More kilometers

Preparing for a long walk (I mean a looong walk, like 2400 k) is not just about walking. After my first test walks to Trollhättan, a mere 10 k each, two weeks ago I biked 20 k in the cold (buyng food at WiLLY:S http://www.willys.se/  and back) and then came some snow ten days ago and I could ski some 10 k on Hunneberg http://www.algensberg.com/  known for its many elks, however I did not see any that day. During the week I finally manage to walk a full 20 k* - just my hands and fingers got really really cold**.  Last Sunday and tonight I have done some swimming 750 and 500 m. Altogether, I hope this will contribute to a better fitness i.e. a better body&soul.

*The river offered very nice colours.
**Some pain in my right foot arouse after two days - it will trigger me to study the anatomy of the feet and legs. They are, indisputeably, very important.

Test walk no.2 today Vänersborg to Trollhättan

Before 2 p.m. today I managed to find my walking sticks and get going the same 10 k as last Monday. The wet and stormy weather with westerly winds of Wednesday had changed to northen rather cold ones which meant however that I had the wind in my back. Today I used rather the same amount of time as last Monday 2:20 including a banana bite intermission at Överby shopping mall. Just in time for a bus back I decided to walk along the canal toStrandgatans Bistro for a cup of hot tea and a blueberry muffin taking returning by a later bus. No sun today but the same plain and gloomy day as those prevailing from late December (solstice). Here, in south Sweden, still two thirds is dark and only one third i.e. eight hours is light.

Walking model

2400 k is some undertaking even not regarding my age (67+). Why not bike? Or just use the ordinary public transport facilities of trains and buses? Well, have you once travelled 10000 k Sweden to Turkey (Bodrum) and back by car, you can certainly imaging how much of experiences you missed. People, places and smells - the small things. Thus, the road is the goal. Of course, it cannot be executed in one long walk but rather divided into more comfortable stages or legs. My friend Björn's experience with his walk from far south to the far north of Sweden tells me to manage a couple days of walking at a time. As it looks now, my intention is to walk 20 k per day or 10 k in the morning and 10 k in the afternoon, as simple as that. Starting, say, a Thursday walking also Friday, relaxing Saturday and Sunday, and advancing another 20 + 20 k on Monday and Tuesday making 80 k in total within a week including arrival and departure on Wednesdays. Each stage will be open to walking friends, one or two at a time, the exact stretch of each stage to be jointly determined beforehand. My physical condition will determine how many stages to be manageable per year. If three (spring, summer, autumn) it will take at least ten years to cover my plan (2400:3x80=10 years) but perhaps it will be possible to do four per year and/or walking two consecutive weeks once a year - (2400:5x80=6 years)? Any ethic principles? All k must be walked! Or is a ride offered by a local on his/her tractor or in a truck allowed in bad weather? Or a bus to get out of towns a bit? The second test walk will take place in Skåne in April between Malmö and Ystad some 55 k straight and some 75 k through the historical farmland of my father's family near Trelleborg. The first stage on the continent (if no fog to speak with the Brits) will start end of June or early July in Gdynia (> Coat of arms above). Open for discussion.
Packing. What about packing? A minimum of weight is priority no. 1. Food and shelter should be purchased on site. Hardly any extra or any 'spare parts'. Extra clothes (dry) yes. Extra shoes? Mobile phone yes. Laptop or Ipad or neither? Water bottle yes. Open for discussion.

A desk operation

WWII was not won by desk operations but by officers and soldiers operating in the air, on the sea and the beaches and in the fields. Even so, desk operations are crucial to determine the situation and the objectives not to mention the strategies and tactics. Now, I should not draw too much a parallel on my long walk to Greece with WWII but just to emphasise the importance of good planning and preparations. And I think, I'd better choose my route now than at daybreak embarking a ferry in Gdynia harbour some warm day in June or July. So, for planning: i) main route ii) walking model iii) packing iv) physical preparation. Let's start with the main route. Too straight seems to me not of enough interest. Even though it is said that you should rather choose what is attractive than refrain from the not attractive, I would prefer exploring the western Ukraine countryside and hills and still be able to visit the multi-cultural city of Lvov/L'viv/Lemberg after Polish Lublin, both cities of attraction. This means no Slovakia, no Hungary and for sure no Serbia or Macedonia. On the other hand an even more eastern route, say, via Tjernivtsi (Chernowitz) or Moldovian Chisinau may increase the distance far beyond my time line. From L'viv then more southwest through Romanian but Hungarian influenced Arad and Timisoara touching Donau at Turnu-Severin, an exciting focal point of great historical interest. Well, the last stages may remain open.

2400 k - less or more?

How did my idea originate? Walking from Sweden to Greece, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean? Well, there were some core factors: my interest in maps, in the cradle of 'western civilisation' and in the historical secrets of the century long disputed areas of land - of nature and culture - in Eastern Europe closed for decades by the Cold war and the Iron curtain. A simple ruler placed on Gdynia (PL) and Thessaloniki (GR) indicates a mere 1500 k as the bird flies across the continent (Sweden being just the test site for the project). But sure, I will not fly like a bird across the Polish fields. I don't even know what main route I will choose: (A) via Ukraine, and possibly Moldovia, into (eastern) Romania and through Bulgaria or (B) via Slovakia and Hungary into (western) Romania and through Bulgaria. After some computing any of those routes shows a minimum of 2000-2400 k. In my next chapter, I will elaborate a bit on my model for conquering that somehow impressive walking distance - 'a desk operation' i.e.

Test walk no. 1 yesterday Vänersborg to Trollhättan

Finally, after five years of pending, yesterday was the perfect start of my long move to the (warmer and more sunny) Mediterranean. The walk from home across the locks at Brinkebergskulle (lit. Slopingmountainhill) and along the Göta älv moving average 700 kubic metres of water from Lake Vänern per second but this winter probably up to 1 000 kubic metres are let through at Vargön. If my step meter showed correctly the distance yesterday of this very first stage of my 2400 k walk to Greece was 10 k i.e. a very small portion but nevertheless, one has to get going somehow. (The meter stopped at 14 347 steps and probably each of my steps were longere than 2/3 of a meter.) At this time of the year, starting at 2 p.m. it was already dark when I faced the new double track train bridge* at Trollhättan at 4:30 p.m. offering this spooky picture.  *the train bridge is open to ships on the Göta älv/canal when in up-lifted position like the Tower Bridge in London.