Friday Blog: Digital clutter, outdoor inspo and pink soup

Text and photo: Helena Bergström

This week we've been tearing our hair out with a lot of digital clutter. It's been all the more fun to check out outdoor gear and eat pink Lithuanian soup!

Lots of digital clutter

I don't even know where to begin, but we've had so a lot of trouble with the site this week. It started with the little Ft logo disappearing. Then our newsletter went out without photos. We couldn't share posts on Facebook neither. And then all our posts disappeared from Google...

We have really pulled our hair out! We have put in many, many hours, but along the way we have perhaps also become a little wiser. In addition to (probably) solving the most urgent problems, we have realized that it is time to ”clean up” and update some of the digital systems behind the scenes. Our site has been around for a while after all…

Media day with outdoor gear

It was nice to leave the computers for a day and check out outdoor gear. On Adventure Museum (new modern museum in central Stockholm!) a media day was arranged with a display of various outdoor gadgets. We looked at tents, backpacks, ”barefoot bags” and much more.

The sunglasses (without frames!) that I tried, from Ombraz, were a bit funky and unexpectedly comfortable. We also listened to an interesting presentation about inclusion in outdoor life that gave us something to think about – how outdoor life should be for everyone, regardless of social or ethnic background, or disability.

Pink Lithuania event

A little later in the week it was time for an event at the Lithuanian embassy. I visited Lithuania in 1996 (30 years ago!!!) and the country has of course changed enormously very. .We should really make another visit soon!

The highlight of the event was that we got to try ”pink soup” – a cold and popular Lithuanian beetroot soup. In fact, the soup is so popular that they created the ”Vilnius Pink Soup Fest” – which this year will be held from 29-31 May in the Lithuanian capital. We got to watch a short film from previous years, and you could say it’s very pink.

The soup was very good, and we were also served other delicious food – partly on the pink theme.

Among other things, we got to try a "Lithuanian tree cake", which is created by dripping batter over a rotating skewer over an open fire.

We also got to experience Lithuanian ”polyphonic songs” – a kind of traditional vocal singing. Captivating and almost a bit meditative!

This week: Grateful for ...

This week has been a bit of a whirlwind, not least with all the digital chaos, but we are incredibly grateful that the site is "up and running" again, and that we may have made a step forward with the digital solutions. We are also grateful for the Lithuanian experiences this week.

Your turn…what are you grateful for?

The week ahead

We will continue to be at home in Stockholm – mostly on the houseboat. We have a few different meetings and events scheduled, while we will of course be working.

Here at FREEDOMtravel? There will be even more posts about food and drink in different countries, combined with everything from guest reports to updates about the camper (maybe). We'll just have to see! What does your upcoming week look like?

Did you miss the last Friday Blog? Read it With excitement, hope and the starter gas – that's how we got the motorhome started