Update from Home
5-Year Bike Trip
by Tomi Rantanen
3y ago
All of a sudden it’s been two months since I came back to Finland, so an update is in order. It’s customary to write a thoughtful and insightful post looking back on all the events since Day 1 a year and a half ago. I’m going to stray from that tradition though. Partly because I’m neither thoughtful nor insightful… but mainly because looking ahead has always felt more interesting. The future is more important than the past. I will say though, that even after a couple months of spending time with family and friends, plus making some new friends, I don’t miss the road much yet. Not even when fac ..read more
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Now what?
5-Year Bike Trip
by Tomi Rantanen
3y ago
At the end of August I was in a random little village in the Lika district in Middle Croatia. I meant to just pass through, but it was raining and my sleeping bag was already wet from the previous night's massive thunderstorm, so I checked Warmshowers for help. There happened to be a host just around the corner. That moment - checking my phone while sheltering from the rain outside a closed post office - seems to have become quite a fork in my journey. Within minutes I met with a young girl called Lana and stayed at her home with her wonderfully warm and welcoming family. She had her own litt ..read more
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Changing Priorities
5-Year Bike Trip
by Tomi Rantanen
3y ago
Looking for the archives? Click to see all past posts. Change tends to occur gradually and imperceptibly. Until one day a certain comment or moment suddenly reveals its full extent. One of those moments of realisation happened to me in Bosnia-Herzegovina. It was my first morning in the country, camping by Lake Buško. It had been a chilly night, and I came across a meadow covered in dewdrops. The rising sun lit up hundreds of spiderwebs in the vegetation. A perfect opportunity for some great macro photos. Not long ago I would’ve been thrilled to see something like that. (Like a year ago in the ..read more
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Cleanup on Long Isle
5-Year Bike Trip
by Tomi Rantanen
3y ago
Multiple people had recommended beach Long Island’s Veli Zal as a good camping spot. Upon arrival, I couldn’t understand why. There was no sand, just round rocks that moved around under my feet and were difficult to walk on, let alone push a bike through. Even worse, I didn’t see any shade, either. Vegetation consisted mostly of impenetrable bushes. Really uncomfortable for camping, overall. After walking up and down the beach feeling glum about my lack of sleeping choices, a local lady told me there was a campsite "20 meters that way”, pointing in the direction I had just been in. Huh? She se ..read more
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It's Not All Good
5-Year Bike Trip
by Tomi Rantanen
3y ago
I’ve been quiet lately so here’s a bit of a recap post. I’ve continued to meet many awesome and inspiring people in Slovenia and Croatia, of whom I could’ve written several posts. But I really dislike interrupting conversations and meetings by taking out the camera. It usually makes everyone uncomfortable and disrupts the entire flow of the meeting. So I haven’t really been taking photos lately. Also the nature hasn’t been quite so inspiring. The beautiful and perfectly clear Sava river turned into dark slimy mud somewhere after Ljubljana, after which it wasn’t even okay for swimming in. “We u ..read more
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The Many Faces of Slovenia
5-Year Bike Trip
by Tomi Rantanen
3y ago
Slovenia is a country of green hills, thick forests, rugged mountains, emerald rivers and turquoise lakes. I spent a week in Triglav, the country’s only national park. All of Triglav was an extra detour off my route towards Bled, so I did plenty of hitchhiking when faced with long ascents. (It’s not cheating if it’s a bonus detour!) Otherwise I doubt I would’ve bothered to climb to 1600m three times and 2000m once, in +30C August weather. I expected Triglav's wild nature to be the focus of this update. The nature and landscapes were indeed beautiful, but the people I met there left even more o ..read more
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5-Year Bike Trip, the Book?
5-Year Bike Trip
by Tomi Rantanen
3y ago
I want to write a book. And I need your advice. This has been a dream or goal of mine well before I even started the trip. Specifically, I want to create a photography book. A large (approximately 30cm x 30cm pages) coffee table book, with some text - anywhere from a short snippet to up to one full page on each spread. But the focus would be on the photos. To give you an example, it would look a little something like below. Except preferably with better graphic design that isn't improvised on a park bench for the purposes of this post. Probably about half the images would be previously unpubl ..read more
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High Season at the Dolomites
5-Year Bike Trip
by Tomi Rantanen
3y ago
The Dolomites are a special mountain range and UNESCO site in the Alps of northeast Italy. They have a lighter colour from the rest of the Alps, due to their limestone mineral composition. The peaks formed under the sea, as evidenced by the many ancient ocean fossils found there now. A fact which really baffled scientists until about the 1800s. I had been considering spending all summer in the “Pale Mountains". Mostly to enjoy the cooler air of higher altitudes, and only continue eastwards after the summer’s temperatures became more tolerable. Some friends I’d met along the way had told me tha ..read more
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Switzerland and Other Detours
5-Year Bike Trip
by Tomi Rantanen
3y ago
After four days on the mountain, I needed some rest and time for working. I rode down Stelvio’s hairpins to the camping ground down the valley. Before I even put up my tent I met my neighbour Ruben, a Dutch road cyclist travelling by van. His plan was to drive to some famous alpine mountains and then conquer them by bicycle. He was about to switch from a student to working life, so this was the last chance for adventures in a while. Ruben was a very polite sweet young man, and we ended up hanging out for a couple days. It was nice to have some company after many days alone in the mountains. Af ..read more
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Inspired at Stelvio Pass
5-Year Bike Trip
by Tomi Rantanen
3y ago
When I finally came down from Gavia to Bormio, there were cyclists everywhere. Over three thousand of them, in fact. I had showed up at the date of the annual ReStelvio bike race. A fully loaded touring bicycle near the start line caused some laughter and wide-eyed looks, until I reassured everyone I would not be taking part in the race. I had been planning to hitchhike again. And again the road was closed for non-cyclists. I hung around in Bormio for most of the day and loaded up on a ton of food so I would have time for photography up the mountain again. Then I started the climb, just to re ..read more
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