3rd of October, 2022.
Hitchhiking in Sweden.
I am outside a big company building, with a huge parking lot. There is no much place for parking on the road so I am hoping that, whoever wants to stop for me, they can enter and stop in the parking lot. And Andres and Catherine do that!
They are from Germany and are traveling in their motorhome. Exactly! Another motorhome finally stops for me! Yay! They arrange me a seat by their table, and I even have a seat belt on it! Safety first! We start to chat and I tell them about my travels, they tell me about theirs and we have a good time together. They are going only until Abisko, a small town about 100 Km before Kiruna.
Andres and Catherine are parking their motorhome for the night in a nice parking lot just before Abisko. Because is right before a blind spot, they drive me a bit further, to a bus stop. Before leaving they tell me that, in case I cannot get a lift, I should come back to the parking lot where they are staying because they have facilities there, including hot showers!
But I believe I can make it! I believe I can arrive in Kiruna tonight! Yep!
Nope! It is getting darker and my hopes are shading away with the daylight… There is a gorgeous view here though! Truly beautiful! I can clearly see Lapporten (or Tjuonavagge Northern Sami: Čuonjávággi, “Goose Valley”). So clearly that it is like I can almost touch it! It is a complex of mountains in a U-shape, the most natural sigh around here. And the sky over Torneträsk Lake is so blue, and a completely different shade of blue, that it seems unreal!
But I have to confess that I feel quite sad at some point. A few cars pass but nobody stops. So I ask the universe, while crying a little bit: Why? Why this is happening to me? I did everything I could, I sacrificed so many places I could have visited in Norway, and more time I could have spent there, just so I had enough time to cross to Russia and not overdue my time in Schengen, so why cannot I get to Kiruna tonight? And I remember saying these exact words: I know that getting to Kiruna tonight is the best for me. Hãm! I bet the universe was laughing hard right at my face this time! Oh, boy, I couldn’t be more wrong because I had no idea what was the best for me and what was about to come…
10 Years Around the World 