The Vagabond Adventure Daily Journal
Where Are We Now?
Good to see you! Hope you’re enjoying the journey!
This journal provides you snapshots of our journey as we work our way around the world, never traveling by jet. It’s a chance to get a close-up view of the planet as we explore it the way people did 120 years ago.
Day 603 - Oslo, Norway
Oslo is home to 700,000 people but punches above its weight. It's smaller than Stockholm, but feels much bigger. Where Stockholm is cleaner, Oslo is more urban, grittier. Stockholm is vibrant, Oslo is busy. The people of Stockholm are caucasian, Oslo is more diverse. Over the past several years, its population has been rapidly increasing. Immigrants from the Middle East and Central Europe flock to Norway's biggest city for jobs, quality of life and higher pay, and the city is booming! Oslo has the feel of a practical, hard-working city. Stockholm seems something like Disney World. Neither is bad, just different.
Day 602 - Stockholm to Oslo
It was time to say good-bye to Stockholm and hello to Oslo. Breakfast, then we Uber 10 minutes to Stockholm's Central Station – not to be confused with Stockholm's Centralen Station, which is where local, inter-urban trolleys and buses are located.
Day 598 - Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
It was time to return to Pittsburgh to visit Nana and generally regroup. We stayed overnight at the Oslo airport, arose the next morning and boarded a Delta Flight that took us to Amsterdam, then Boston and onto Pittsburgh. It wasn't quite as painful as it sounds. Long day, but by evening, Pittsburgh time, we were walking into or downtown apartment, looking forward the next morning to sifting through bales of mail and visiting with our kids, old friends Pirate baseball, and, of course, Nana herself, still standing after 86 years on Planet Earth.
Day 597 - Copenhagen to Oslo
The morning of May 16 found us rolling quickly north by train into Sweden thanks to of one of the world’s great engineering marvels: the Øresund Bridge, which, it turns out, is far more than a bridge. The train sweeps from Copenhagen beneath the Baltic Sea toward the Swedish city of Malmö. A cable-stayed bridge, nearly 8 km (5 miles) long, connects itself to an artificial island where it disappears into a tunnel that runs another 4 km (2.5 miles) before re-emerging into the light. It was a stunning ride.