Moose in the rearview mirror, reindeer in front of the hood – our magical second week in Sweden

Second week in Sweden. Our van life test is underway – and we're heading north. Sveg looks familiar – no wonder, we were there six months ago. Back then, it was snowy and 10 degrees below zero. Now? No snow, but 15 degrees. Summer vacation? Yes. Summer heat? None. And it's getting even cooler, because we're not looking for the beach in Spain, but wild, cool Lapland.

We stop along the way and learn how to fish. By chance, we meet a Swiss man who has been traveling in Sweden for months. He shows us how it's done. We didn't catch anything, but maybe that was due to the occasional Swedish beer that smiled at us along the way.

On the way to Lapland and back, we encountered him – the boss of the Swedish forests. The elk. Majestic, enormous, and simply a dream. Unfortunately, it only made a brief appearance right in front of our van, then disappeared again. There was no sign of reindeer at this point.

Our route takes us from Torsby via Mora to Östersund, then on to Vilhelmina—the gateway to Lapland, so to speak—and up to the Stekenjokk plateau. Our overnight spot is a little lower down, in the Marsfjällen mountains. It's beautiful, but windy, and at nine degrees Celsius, a bit chilly for our summer tastes.

A stop at a smokehouse ensures full crates of supplies: salmon, elk, reindeer—all directly into the van's refrigerator. We continue south along the Norwegian border, stopping in Östnär. Naturally, we'll be cooking by the fire again—life in the van simply tastes better with a crackling fire.

From Östnär we continue towards Idre. Still close to Norway, they're suddenly there: reindeer. First one, then two, then an entire herd. A quiet, magical moment that reminds us why we're traveling here.