Grand Adventure in Finnish Wilderness

Especially in the wintertime I’m often torn between the decision whether to travel somewhere warm to soak in the sun, or to enjoy all the fun snow can offer. On beautifully sunny days I’m 100% happy to stay put in the winter wonderland we have here in Norway, but there are the days when the thermometer drops way below −20C (-4F), my car won’t co-operate in the mornings and I wonder just what am I doing here??

Still, when I thought what my dream holiday and Grand Adventure would be right now, I knew immediately where to go: even further up north for a late winter/early spring adventure.

The Norwegian mentality of bit of hardship for deserved enjoyment seems to sit well with me, or maybe it’s something us Finns have in us too. Hence just stretching out on a beach doesn’t go well with me (we surfed in Portugal, remember?), there needs to be bit of effort to make those unforgettable experiences and memories.

Hence right now the combination of words “arctic ski expedition” put me on a dreamy mode where I am transported to the Finnish Lapland, where in my mind the northern lights paste their stunning colours across the night sky and the snow gives softly under the skis as I make my way across the snow fields and up and down rolling mountains. A Grand Adventure.

But how to make this dream come true? The basics of it are pretty easy, really. There are thousands of kilometres of cross-country skiing tracks up in Lapland, and if you are feeling bit more adventurous, you can easily forget about the tracks and head for the mountain huts off the beaten paths. Most of the mountain huts are gathered under the www.outdoors.fi website, from where it is easy to plan your journey in the outdoors.

If you are wondering what this Grand Adventure is all about, it is a competition. And it is all about dreaming big and planning your own adventure of a lifetime, while exploring the frugal side of living whilst still having great time. The big question is, how far would £1000 take you on your adventure? By choosing to stay outdoors, I know mine is all about frugal living. If I budgeted £10 a day for food (I’m talking about carrying my own food, no Mc Donalds’ on the way) which I think is little on the high side, stayed in a tent or open wilderness huts I could go for hundred days. Hundred. I think I might miss my lap top, warm bed, shower and cuddles from my daughter and husband before the 100 days was over!

However, if I added bit of extras, like actual 3-day “Basics of Nordic and Arctic Winter Travel” with fellow Finnish outdoor enthusiast and blogger Jaakko Heikka, who is also behind the outdoor life blog “Korpijaakko”, that would eat roughly £200 into my budget. And clearly some help could be needed, if you read the previous post on our little cabin-to-cabin adventure you know exactly why. So bit of training would probably go far on this mission.

Still, even after the training I could have eighty days in the wilderness. That’s quite enough, what do you think?

Having said that, with this budget I might splash out and do couple of other fun things too that Lapland has on offer from husky expeditions to staying in a bit more equipped mountain hut with a sauna (essential), dipping in the hole in the ice and snowboarding for some days.

All these would definitely make for a Grand Adventure, for me.

So what would you do with £1000 for an adventure?

All images by Visit Finland, photographers: Riku Pihlanto, Antti Pietikäinen, Rafael Pérez, Elina Sirparanta.