My epic journey back to the UK
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The aim to to write the whole 55 day Journey.
Thank you for reading.
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After living in Turku Finland, for two years, I decided it was time to return home to the UK. It was a difficult decision but I didn't think there was anything left for me anymore. I sold what I could and invested some of the money on engineering a three wheeler partially electric recumbent bike.
Day one. Monday, 5 August 2019
I locked the front door for the final time, taking the key with me. There was no way I was handing it back to my landlord after the way he had treated me. Everything I owned now, I was either wearing or was secured in my trailer behind the bike. There was no going back now. I set off to the ferry using the route I had planned and tested the days previous.
I wasn't nervous, more excited, after all I've been doing this for 20 years. Backpacking, sleeping where I could through many of the European countries, alone. This time however I had Barkley, my dog and best friend. We were a team, and he gave me that little bit extra security.
We arrived at the port and went to purchase the tickets. Leaving the bike outside was a worry, but I had little choice and I chained the wheels with the cheap bike lock I had bought a few days previous. It was early morning and the reception area was empty. The woman greeted me, in Finnish, though this wasn't a problem. The Finnish population in general are quite linguistic, most knowing a minimum of two languages. After explaining I couldn't understand she politely told me the ferry was full. I was gutted. I had set my heart on leaving today, but all I could do now was book the tickets for tomorrow.
It wasn't ideal, but I had no other choice. I took my backpack from the trailer, locked it away in storage, then returned to the flat.
Not the best start!
I was up bright and early eager to be on my way. As I drove past the local pub on my way to the ferry I thought of the two friends I was leaving behind, Aki and Hermanni. I met Herman shortly after moving to Turku, he was sat on a bench on the dirt road I used to walk Barkley, drinking a beer. I got talking to him and from that point on we became good friends. He introduced me to the local bar where I met Aki, a big guy who took me under his wing introducing me to the local pool team. I'd miss them both. I quickly realised I had more important things to worry about, like how to get onto the ferry. I had one shot at this whole journey, money wasn't exactly flush.
I had no idea where the cars boarded, so my first job was to scout around the port. Everyone watching as Barkley royally drove by. After finding the gate I queued up in a long line of cars, everyone staring as we crept slowly towards the boarding gate. People leaving their cars and lorries to ask about the bike and what we were planning. It wasn't long though before I was parked up in the bottom deck with the rest of the vehicles. I took the battery and Barkley and headed off to find our cabin.
We were in the cheap department, the bottom deck. It felt like we were miles under the sea. I plugged in the battery and laid on the bed staring at Barkley, wondering how he must be feeling. We had a long way to go, I wondered if he was as excited as I was. I grabbed a quick shower, something that became a luxury over the course of the trip, and unpacked a few things before grabbing my buffet ticket and heading up to the restaurant. Ive been on this ferry before, to Stockholm where we paid extra for the buffet. I remember having a caviar sandwich and one of the porters ( or possibly a security guard ) asking to see my ticket as I chomped on 2 slices of thick crusty bread jam packed full of red fish eggs. The buffet was great and I was really looking forward to it. Though expensive, €35, if you could eat you ate well.
After trying nearly everything on the menu and a few beers, of course, I snuck a little food into my bag for Barkley I headed back downstairs to the cabin, only to find Barkley had escaped!
If there was two things that Barkley could do well it was bark and escape. I frantically looked around for him before bumping into some cleaners. They had found Barkley wandering the corridors, barking, and were fussing over him. I thanked them, locked the cabin door and headed back to the top deck. We wandered around in the wind, there wasn't much to do though I remember coming across a place where dogs could go to the toilet. It was a patch of artificial grass about 3 ft². Barkley began sniffing at it and all of a sudden his mouth began to water like mad, who knows what chemicals they was using. It was kind of funny to see, it didn't seem to bother him. We headed to the very top deck and watched as several ferries sailed by. I said my final goodbyes to Finland, a beautiful country with beautiful people, then headed back to the cabin to sleep.
