Day 19: Kopparberg to Åtorp | 126km

10 June 2026

I don’t have much to say about today except to curse the direction of the wind, which at times makes it almost impossible to move forward. One of the most cheerful moments was seeing a double rainbow. Oh, and I also saw several deer and one horse with the pattern and color of a cow. As you can probably tell, it was an uneventful day.

I covered a lot of ground, but neither the scenery nor the small towns I’ve passed have made much of an impression on me. I think it’s because I’ve entered a part of Sweden that doesn’t feel completely unfamiliar, so my mind has registered the similarities to its normal surroundings and switched to autopilot. I haven’t stopped in any town for long enough since leaving Sundsvall to judge them fairly, but I haven’t seen much charm, nor have I been able to get a sense of the essence of any towns, which I normally get quite quickly, even if it can be wrong, of course.

The Sweden section of my summer adventure is coming to an end, with only 300km left until Gothenburg. I wish I had documented more along the way, but every day is a tussle between capturing my experience and making progress. I stop often enough to snap photos of nice views and the like, but I feel like I’m failing to capture anything truly immersive. I attribute some of this to the cold, as my creativity and hands seem to freeze up in the cold, making the act of pulling out the camera a much bigger task than it should be.

I’ve found a beautiful spot to set up my tent for the night, though, which is as much a relief as it is a joy every day. You never really know until you reach it, and even then it could be packed with other people who found it using the same apps. Another lucky day in that regard.