Summer memories

While it's impossible to plan travelling right now, I decided to look for memories from last Summer.

This was one of our best memories from last Summer's family trip to Denmark.

Our destination was Legoland Billund, and on our way there we stopped in Hvide Sande. The sand dunes next to the road were great, and when climbing up the dunes we found the Atlantic.

What is greater than sea, sun and warm sand? The kids loved collecting different shaped stones from the beach.

Take a deep breath

When the world is shaking, it's time to concentrate on the good things.

We can find peace, even now.

Focus on your routines, on your family and the things you normally do.

There is still hope.

Take a deep breath. It will all be alright.

We are facing a time when we are learning to respect the basic things in life.

Who cares about how you look on social media right now?

Who cares about career, when you fear losing your health.

Nobody will know what will happen next.

Is it the end or is it the beginning of something new?

PS. I hate social distancing.

A different Monday

The world looks suddenly a bit different this week. Now it's not allowed to travel outside our country. Right now I don't even care about travelling. I just want us to win the battle against coronavirus.

So much has changed in just one week. It's home sweet home for four weeks. And we can go outdoors too. I'm happy that we have so much space around here.

Finland's borders are closing and schools are closing after tomorrow. All the people, for whom it's possible will do remote work.

There is a fear of what will happen.

And still there is a choice to choose peace.

A state of emergency will unite people. I've noticed how many people want to help others and that's great. I've caught myself also thinking how I could help others.

When so many places have closed, there is time to do different things and spend more time at home with the family. Maybe we will get new business ideas and start doing things we haven't had time to for. Hopefully there will be a rise of creativity.

It breaks my heart to think about how the social life will be very limited. And we have to keep distance to others, in fear of infecting others.

I hope we will get through this.

Let us be hopeful.

I saw a ray of light today and had to catch it. Let us catch every ray of light we can.

Road trip and coronavirus

Now that coronavirus has closed some areas, it might also affect our travel plans.

Right now it wouldn't be even possible to drive through Italy. We will see how the situation is after two and a half months. Hopefully the situation is under control, and it's possible to make a road trip in Europe.

There is always a possibility, that the flight tickets can also be cancelled. We will see what happens.

Traffic and road trip blogs

Monday morning and time to continue planning our road trip next Summer. It's March now and there is a hint of Spring in the air. It doesn't feel so bad to drive to work when it's not so dark in the morning.

Monday morning traffic

The most annoying thing is standing in the traffic, with no cars moving.

This makes me think about what roads to choose on our road trip. Is it possible to avoid traffic jam? Maybe not always.

Maps with real-time traffic and weather information are very handy. The maps also show major events, which is useful.

Here is the link for planning:

ViaMichelin

Road Trip Blogs

There is so much information available. I found some blogs, that I will check.

If you know any good blogs about road trips and traveling with kids, let me know.


I will start with these:

Wandering Bird

The Typical Mom Road Trip Blog

Backroad Planet

Back Road Ramblers

Detail Oriented Traveler

It's always autumn

Road trip with convertible car

Time flies. March is very close, and in the end of  May we are flying to Malaga and starting a road trip with kids from Spain to Finland. The kids are now five and nine years old.

Last Summer we did a shorter road trip, driving in Sweden and Denmark. Our destination was Legoland Billund in Denmark. Now we are ready to drive through Europe in a droptop. And the car will become our own, which is nice too.

Road trip car

I haven't actually been thinking much about our road trip car. It's a convertible Mercedes Benz Cabriolet 320 CLK. Is it possible that it can break down on our road trip? This is something we need to think about. And check out in advance, that everything works before we start driving.

What is the best car for road trips? I guess it depends on where you drive and how much space is needed. If there are toddlers in the car, you need to think about car seats and the reliability of the car.
How to Take a Road Trip With Toddlers

Here are some car options for road trips.
Best cars for road trips

Is it different to do a road trip through Europe with a droptop than a regular car? I guess it is.

Here you can find some nice road trips for convertible cars. One of them is about Stelvio Pass at an altitude of 2,757 meters in Italy. It's one of the highest paved roads across the Alps.
The best convertible car road trips

I'm not sure yet what route we will take. That is something we have to find out sooner or later. We have been thinking about driving through the Alps. I will post our preliminary route here when we know. There are still many things to plan for the road trip.

What are the challenges of our road trip?

• We have to drive with the roof down, because of the luggage. Does it take some of the droptop driving feeling away?

• There isn't much space for luggage. Can we pack the things needed? This requires planning. What to take, and what to leave.

• The car can break down. I hope it happens (if it has to happen) in some nice place. Which could be Italy, close to a beach, thank you.

•  The kids can get bored.

•  I'm the one navigating. That is a challenge for sure.

• No internet connection.

What other challenges could there be?

Getaway to Tallinn

On Valentine's Day I went to Tallinn with my husband for one day. This time the kids stayed home with my parents. We have visited Estonia and especially Tallinn many times with the whole family. There are fun things to do and it's not very expensive.

One day getaway without kids

We took our car on the ferry, and traveled two hours to Tallinn. It's really handy to live nearby Helsinki, because you get to Estonia in only a few hours. In one day we had the opportunity to relax, sleep well, eat a nice breakfast an do some shopping.

Usually we go to the same hotel, because the spa there is really good. So we went to Hotel Kreutzwald and had a lava stone massage.

I didn't have much time to take pictures. The weather was also mostly a bit gray.

Do you have a favourite place or hotel in Tallinn?
 

Next week I will write again about our road trip.