FINALLY

I grew up in Piteå, and I have to admit I've been awfully bad at going up to visit to finally going back for three weeks brought a massive ammounts of childhood memories back to me. Must be the fact that walking past old streets and familiar spots triggers things you haven't thought about in years.

My visit also timed up with the Piteå Summer Games (which i have actually both won and scored in as a kid), so the town was absolutely shock full with visiting Norwegians, Southern Swedes and random kids from around the world which was a nice addition to the mood.

Spent a lot of the time listening to Accidentally by Pro Teens and I really do adore this album from a group that's not that well known (sadly).

The preffered mode of transportation

The main goal was to get active and drop some weight, so I ditched all forms of transportation entirely and walked everywhere. The effort paid off—I lost around 4 kg on the trip, which made the daily mileage well worth it.

Some routes were a genuine grind. Walking from Skuthamn to Bergsviken was a massive challenge, but keeping the Norway vs. England match in my ears by listening to radiosporten kept me entertained the whole way.

Eh whhaddaya do

It wasn't a seamless three weeks. I lost an entire week to a cold after my dad brought it home and gladly shared it with me, which temporarily wrecked my walking routine.

Then there were the mosquitoes.... I completely forgot just how brutal they get up north during the summer. Being out on foot all day made me an easy target, and the swarms were relentless.

Even with a week lost to a cold and getting eaten alive by bugs, dropping 4 kg and reconnecting with the old hometown made the trip a success. Next time I'll just dodge the family germs and pack a lot more bug spray.