Tales and adventures of a Belgian lady and her fourteen furry friends
A decade is a really long time. Yet when I think back about all that's passed and all that's been done since I left Belgium my departure feels even longer ago. First Sweden. Then Norway, New Zealand, Australia, more Sweden and Norway, Nepal. As I sit and write around the bonfire while darkness engulfs the… Continue reading Ten Years an Expat
We saw the bus leave, waved goodbye to Alec and then there was only two of us again. It was really nice having another person there and being a small team, short as it lasted. It was a beautiful day again, not a breeze of wind and not a cloud in the sky. PJ and… Continue reading Padjelanta and Sulitjelma
Last week the sun hit the village of Abisko for the first time. Yes, we are still here, biding our time and patiently waiting for the conditions to be good enough to continue. This great wait will proceed until the end of this month, as we are now working and have a contract until the… Continue reading The Great Wait
On the first of January we left Abisko for the King's Trail, loaded with 22 days of food and fuel, enough to reach Sulitjelma in a single push. On January 4 we were back in Abisko, defeated by a wall of snow, having had a storm over our heads yet again, disquieted by signs of… Continue reading Polar Night
Grey days came. Grey days went. Kilpisjärvi was a quiet place in late autumn, seemingly existing only of empty hotels, dark cabins, a sports shop (surprisingly) and a supermarket. Only on Saturday night there were people to be found, when all the Norwegians crossed the border to get their parties going on slightly cheaper beer… Continue reading Øvre Dividalen
Three seasons in Swedish Lapland have gone and passed. Every season has come with an abundance of mixed feelings. Already in summer I decided it would be my last trip to the Swedish north. One to end it, one to close the chapter, one to enjoy driving sleds in Kiruna one more time. It didn’t… Continue reading Another day in paradise
Coming to the end of a winter season feels very similar to coming to the end of a long hike: it's an intense period and it seems that it will never stop, then suddenly it's all over. People who were automatically around go their own ways. Life as it is stops right there. My last… Continue reading The end
Spring always represents a clean break in the season. Suddenly I wake up early in the morning because the sun is piercing my eyes. It's so warm outside that I only need a fleece jacket to go around. God forbid, I have to take sunglasses on tour, I need them for driving, I need… Continue reading Spring
For the past five days I have been so incredibly tired that all I felt I could do, was sleep. Outside endless snow kept falling from the sky. Around 50cm of fresh powder must have been dumped on us during the past three days. When I was driving back PJ's overnight guests yesterday, they asked me if the… Continue reading The beginning of the end
Ever-increasing daylight hours have brought leisure and ease to the forest. All the little things that have to be done can now be done in daylight. Seeing what you are doing makes the same tasks feel much easier and actually much faster, so we have more time on our hands. On guest-free afternoons we can… Continue reading The delight of daylight
Lost in the Hills 