Free & easy Brompton bikepacking through Denmark, using "primitive camp spots"

[@pk7969]

Thanks as always Susanna for sharing your story and honest feelings - already eagerly awaiting the next chapter!

[@susannathornton]

Hi PK! thanks for watching! next one coming soon!! i am working on it 💻👀 eagerly awaiting it me too!

[@jellyartist]

Wow, as always, Susannah. What a great journey. I really love the look of this leg of it. Mostly flat, coast and lovely, quiet countryside. I know I always say this but I’m amazed at how quiet it seems everywhere. Here, those big manor houses would probably be overrun with tourists or just people wandering around or driving in there. It really appeals. ANd those ‘just looking around’ moments. I really get that. I love finding out of the way places that most people wouldn’t give a second glance. They are always there - being quiet and minding their own business. The wind blows, animals come and go, and there’s something timeless about them. Can’t wait for the next one. X

[@johnbayley1109]

Wonderful travelogue, Susanna. It’s the pace which is so perfect. Your statement, “ I doubt myself but I know I’ll manage,” epitomises your steadfastness and ability to adapt to different challenges. Thank you, can’t wait for the next episode.

[@susannathornton]

Aw thank you for watching John and for writing such a lovely comment. Working on the next episode... cant wait to see it me too haha👩‍💻

[@peterstecks7660]

eleven out of ten for bravery in every sense Susanna... 😊

[@susannathornton]

aw thanks Peter! haha you are very nice😁

[@suegunn7210]

I always look forward to your videos Susanna! Thank you, you have a lovely natural way of presenting them!

[@susannathornton]

Hello Sue! we are both Sues x thank you for watching!

[@jackyhaddon6036]

Lovely to see the next stage of your journey. So impressive watching you make the best of an unexpected situation. You have an immense capacity for joy and it’s very infectious. Looking forward to the next one 😊

[@stuartsutherland7664]

Another lovely video! Denmark is such a picturesque country. I love those basic campsites the Danes provide.

[@susannathornton]

Hi Stuart, yeh I love the simple camp spot network in Denmark too. It was nice seeing a little bit of how people use it. The people I have met were mostly locals, camping out one night, close to home. I really like that. I met a Dad camping with his little son, a young mum on her own having me time away from her family, that sort of thing... super simple, free... So grounding, v nice. From what I saw people look after it nicely. It can work.

[@brendacupryna631]

So enjoyed this - brought back so many memories of our times cycling in Denmark. We stayed in the hut in Fredrikshavn. Someone else had got the top bed space so we just put our mats on the floor near the table. Another chap came while we were asleep so put his roll mat on the balcony. You are a true inspiration lass

[@susannathornton]

Hi Brenda! aw thanks for watching! aha you also stayed at the exact spot in Fredrikshavn. A huge frog came into my tent porch there actually. I didn't know what it was, could hear something quite big rustling round close to me at night out in the porch, a bit creepy! Then when i took my bags out in the morning out hopped a frog from underneath them. Must have been her home and I was disturbing her

[@brendacupryna631]

Looking forward to southern Denmark when you get it ready to upload.

[@lynncoetzee4816]

Love your videos ❤ Thank you for sharing your tour of Denmark - beautiful. Looking forward to the next one. Safe travels

[@susannathornton]

Hello Lynn! thank you for watching! next one coming soon, working on it 💻🤨←me peering at my laptop!

[@rizalsapi007]

Amazing journey 👌 Thank you for sharing.

[@susannathornton]

Hi Rizal! thank you for watching!! my tinned fish dinners a long way off your standard!!

[@rizalsapi007]

@ hihi 😊 your cooking is nice too 👌 your Journey is fantastic. I only can watch, I don’t think I can do as yours. I would be love to your Chef one day 🤩 cooking lunch outdoors with our bikes. Cheers

[@jorgeantonioruizvargas7573]

Good video Susanna. From Cucuta city Colombia 🇨🇴 South America

[@susannathornton]

Thanks Jorge Antonio! glad you like it!

[@EventyrsorenDenmark]

What a wonderful trip. Im glad that you enjoyed the time in Denmark. It was interesting to watch your adventure 😊 Wish you a wonderful weekend 😊😊😊

[@susannathornton]

Hi Søren! aw it was a joy to ride through Denmark. I appreciate so much the well designed infrastructure for cycling and other modes of transport. It was such a joy to use. For example I love how in Denmark every dropped kerb was made carefully smooth, so that even with my small wheels, I could ride without needing to brake and lose momentum, and without banging the bike and me. Great for kids on small bikes too. In lots of other countries I have been, eg England, the way for bikes over dropped kerbs is not smooth so you get a nasty jolt up or down, especially when riding on smaller wheeled bikes, eg me on my Brompton! or a child. Anyway, yeah I appreciated very much the cycling infrastrucutre, and also of course the brilliant primitive camping network, and all the people I met. Anyway, thank you for watching and for writing!

[@EventyrsorenDenmark]

@susannathornton I agre Denmark is a paradise for ridning a bike. I have never had a car always use my bike to work shopping and visit friends. Its safe and easy. Im so glad you enjoyed it. Also cool with the many Shelters all over. I use them a lot. Søren

[@micksoden7064]

I just love your bravery and sense of adventure.your research about where you visit is magnificent and presented so well.love your channel.

[@susannathornton]

aw Mick thank you for saying kind things. glad you love the channel. but honestly not brave! at least not when I am out doing the things I love, like this. I have to go the hospital quite a lot for treatment and scans and results and things like that, and that is where I see brave people. Cancer forces people to be braver than they ever imagined was possible, I think. Cycling! is the good part! joy and freedom and fun! I am just so grateful I can still do it. Anyway dunno sorry didn't mean to write so much but the bravery thing, yeah well that is what I think. Anyway thank you for writing!!!

[@micksoden7064]

You're very wonderful!

[@M4ster-i1w]

Susanna, love your bike travelling ❤❤❤

[@susannathornton]

aw thank you for watching and for writing x glad you enjoy it

[@mikesoutside6559]

Hi Susanna, another adventure that is so nice to watch thank you. I always enjoy being introduced to new artists songs by you aswell as new places. Such great choices you make in your trips , so inspiring for me to enjoy the bike pace of travel again in the future years. All the very best to you. Mike

[@susannathornton]

thanks Mike! glad you like the music, I love trying to find songs that fit my mood 🎶🪕🎷 yeah bike-pace travel is nice, wishing you many years of happy cycling 😎🚲

[@johalford708]

What a treat. Thank you. So lovely watching this and dreaming while listening to the edge of Storm Darragh outside. Looking forward to the next instalment

[@susannathornton]

Hello Jo! thank you for watching! hope you are OK got through the storm, yeh nice dreaming I look at maps and things and do that a lot too

[@timdalton3989]

Thankyou for your 2nd part of your journey home. Night six camp location looked great. Pancakes & 🫐 are 👌. Looking forward to part three 👏

[@susannathornton]

Hi Tim! yeh that place was fantastic... it is brilliant that local authorities and communities make these camp spots available and look after them so nicely, and that the people who use them look after them too. Shows it can be done. Yeh blackberry season is a very good time to go on a cycle tour! esp if you have some pancake mix in your bag haha. Thanks for watching!

[@carmeltravers6371]

Thankyou for posting 😊

[@susannathornton]

Thanks for watching Carmel!

[@ally5757]

You ALWAYS manage beautifully, Susanna! Such a lovely video. Denmark is beautiful - gorgeous coastline. Magical. Thanks for sharing 🧡

[@susannathornton]

Hi Ally! aw thank you for watching and for your lovely comment 🧡 a golden heart! what a lovely emoticon🧡

[@larsb1976]

Hi Sue I did the Hærvejen from Flensburg to the north in the summer 2023 and then heading south again pretty much what you did. Denmark has created a very good cycling infrastructure its always enjoyable to cycle thru. Best wishes on your next adventure.

[@susannathornton]

Sounds great Lars! I read about the Hærvejen and thought it was really interesting, and the previous year I saw a few traces of it I think, when I rode north through Denmark, beautiful old stone bridges and things like that.. Must have been great to do the whole thing. Best wishes on your next adventure too!

[@jimpannell2035]

What an inspiration you are, Susanna! I've just got into bikepacking and am a british guy living in Copenhagen. My wife is actually from Frederikshavn and I have in-laws living in Saeby 🙂, so know that area really well. You've just given me the inspiration to actually cycle up there - thanks!

[@susannathornton]

aw sounds like a great plan Jim. I wonder how busy the primitive camp spots and public woods etc etc get in summer actually. I have only used them in spring and autumn, when it was really quiet.

[@2wheelsrbest327]

Thanks Susanna for another great video. You really are an adventurous lady and to manage to do it on a bike with such small wheels is even more amazing. Cannot wait for the next one.

[@susannathornton]

Thank you glad you liked it! yep next one on the way...💻😜

[@lynnef4228]

Amazing! You make cycling the length of Denmark look so easy 😂. I love that campsite by the beach … and I’m not averse to a cold shower. The sea looked so tempting for a swim.

[@susannathornton]

Hi Lynne! hope you are well! aw well it was easy really - nothing I am doing is difficult I just roll along and enjoy it and muddle through when things go a bit wrong.... Yeah that beach campsite was fab wasnt it, kind of perfect. I wish I had spent more time on the beach itself and had a swim or sort of a dip, lovely miles of nice sand, and although it was really windy, the sea water was quite warm actually, ahhhh it was all so nice!

[@Gert-DK]

13:53 The kale (Grønkål in Danish) you found, is a very healthy and important veggie. It is classified as a superfood. You can look up what's in it, it is an impressive piece of food. When food specialists shall explain the kale, they say: "without it, no Scandinavia", obviously a little exaggerated, but explains the importance of this food. It can actually cope with some frost, so it was perfect to have in the garden in the old days. I remember it in the garden when I was a kid, I was also sent out to dig it up in the winter. Green kale soup is the best! Rosenkrantz is a very “blue blood” name through the history. Very informative video. Keep up the good work.

[@susannathornton]

Hi Gert! thanks for watching this one! hope you are well. Oh it is the same or nearly the same in Swedish, grönkål. The soup soup sounds very good. I shall try that. I read that kale has been a big thing in Scotland too. Must be to do with northern places, a very hardy plant and useful to humans. My husband tried to grow kale in the veg patch a couple of years ago, and it was looking great, but before we had any of it one night the deer or something else came and ate the entire lot. A useful veg not only to humans!

[@melsebastian9178]

Another fantastic watch. Thank you.

[@Ey_up]

No bike ride today (Storm Darragh) so stayed in bed to watch this! In the late 80s, I only drove on major roads through Scandinavia for work, so your vlogs are brilliant for me to see the countryside. Thank you.

[@susannathornton]

hope you are OK there... thanks for watching! Yeah major roads all seem more or less the same dont they, I mean not just in scandinavia but anywhere. Long, straight, dull. Plus if I am in a car or van I feel very shut off from things. You dont see the sky at all, only if you crane your head and peer out. I like how cycling involves all five senses, close ups of everything, and a 360 degree view.

[@Ey_up]

@susannathornton Thanks for your reply. Im in Edinburgh so it's not too bad compared to others just wet, cold and windy. (It did the same in June this year!)

[@s.kurzeck3020]

I was quite entranced by all those wonderful ferry connections on your map - then I discovered the borders of Tyskland!😮😅

[@susannathornton]

oh yes that is a thing, a lot of the ferries - and even the country borders! - are out of date you say!!! the maps I use in the videos are old schoolroom maps actually, which my husband collects (the actual physical maps are massive, cover a whole wall, and I photograph them). I use these maps because they are beautiful - I love their colours and style, and they are super accurate (well, showing the world of their time!)

[@s.kurzeck3020]

@susannathornton Oh, I just love those old maps! They were designed so lovingly!

[@jorgeantonioruizvargas7573]

Susanna in Colombia I hope you. From Cucuta city Colombia 🇨🇴 South America

[@BridgetQuercia-Smale]

Another wonderful video, thank you. I particularly like the way you show us the ups and downs of cycle touring. Believe me you have no reason to doubt yourself. You are one inspiring lady.

[@susannathornton]

Aw thank you for watching Bridget and for writing! yeah I am trying to show what it is really like on a tour like this - doing it the way I do it, quite slowly with comfy chairs and a nice cooking stove and things haha - and how nice it is, and how of course things do go wrong but still a lovely thing to do... x

[@yoohoo909]

Those primitive camping spots look idyllic and those roads with only an occasional car passing as the Swedish and Danish scenery went by looked so pleasantly wonderful. The northern countries are on my bucket list!

[@susannathornton]

Yeah the Danish primitive camp spot system is fantastic. And in Sweden the wild camping opportunities and "wind shelter" network is brilliant. There are good things, different things! everywhere... I wonder where you are. Thanks for watching and for writing!

[@yoohoo909]

@@susannathornton I've heard from Mirjam Wouters that Netherlands has something similar but you have to register somewhere for a card to use them. They don't check for the card anyplace, I guess it's just accountability. You always have good music, pleasant views and prep tasty meals so thank you!

[@dudleysandifer4219]

Once again, thanks for taking us along. Loved the music selections this episode. Can’t wait for the next video.

[@susannathornton]

Aw thanks Dudley, glad you liked it! next one coming up soon, editing now 🎵🎼🎵💻💃

[@acey850]

A new video!!!! Thabks for this and looking forward for the next parts!

[@AileenClifford-xu3ut]

So lovely and truly inspiring

[@susannathornton]

Thank you for watching Aileen!

[@peter236uk1]

Lovely video really enjoy your journeys

[@susannathornton]

Hi there Peter! Thank you for watching!

[@yvonnethorpe5224]

Denmark is beautiful. Thank you for taking us along on your journey 😀

[@susannathornton]

Thank you for watching Yvonne!

[@taurusthebull22]

I always enjoy your videos. You are truly an inspiration. Thank you.

[@keithgarland3404]

enchanting scenery, thank you for taking us along, hope you are well.

[@JohnRichardson-v2l]

Another enjoyable vid.....wit the beautiful scenery and cosy camps, brilliant. 'Ull' east yorkshire.

[@susannathornton]

Hi John in 'Ull. thank you, yeh cosy nice camps.. I wish my camera did night shots better actually. There were a few really gorgeous late nights on this trip, but my camera doesnt really get it, and makes it quite kind of fuzzy. I am prob not using it quite right🤔

[@andrewsmith6674]

Thank you for sharing.

[@susannathornton]

Hi Andrew! thanks for watching!

[@lynnrixson3013]

Fabulous video as always. Thank you 😊

[@susannathornton]

Hi Lynn! thanks for watching!

[@sunburn1013]

What a treat- thank you

[@bennjamieson1626]

Hi, really appreciate your films. I'm planning on popping to my brothers for a coffee and your journeys have been so informative and inspirational. Thanks! He lives near Stockholm, by the way...

[@susannathornton]

Haha sounds like a plan!☕☕

[@chrisbardell]

Lovely video. Thanks

[@bobalinga]

Great video. Denmark is beautiful and so flat. I cycle with camping gear on my Brompton and struggle to fit it all on! I did watch your gear video and my conclusion is Mary poppins bags 😀

[@susannathornton]

Hello Elisheva! aw thank you for watching! aw yeh when I started using my Brompton to camp I really had a hard time with the luggage side of things. I was going to my friend's 50th birthday party in Holland and thought I would cycle there, using my Brompton instead of a big bike just so that I could go on the ferry without checking the bike in, and make it easy when I got to the party. And the day I set off, I was trying to squash everything in and it wouldnt go, and the bag I was using was rubbing the wheel and it was getting late and I had too much stuff and I had to jam on a little rucksack and just bodge it all. .. definitely wished I had a Mary Poppins bag!

[@timgearing5121]

Susanna, you eat healthier on the road than I do when I’m bike packing. I’ll have to lift my game.😂 Another peaceful informative video, thank you

[@susannathornton]

Hi Tim! aw well I dont know sometimes my cooking kind of goes wrong. Actually when I am packing, it is the planning and prepping of food that takes the longest of everything. The rest of my gear I can whizz together in literally half an hour. But the food! takes me ages! first planning it, then shopping for ingredients I dont have, then weighing it all out into portions etc. But it is a nice thing to do really. I should just accept it takes time, and slow down and enjoy doing it... Anyway! thanks for watching and for writing!

[@neilhowe2665]

Safe travels ❤❤

[@susannathornton]

Thanks Neil!

[@ianmcleod4]

Lovely Susanna great video ,happy new year 2025 🍀👍

[@Karla-Flr]

So nice ❤

[@damedavidfrith55]

❤ it thank you,shame we can’t have things like this here in the uk to many feral rugrats

[@jed86515]

you are amazing

[@adventurousomaopa]

Awesome video, really enjoyed seeing parts of Denmark. The camping spots they have available, how would I find out about them. I’m totally inspired to ride there 😍🚴‍♀️

[@susannathornton]

Hello! thank you for watching! about primitive camp spots etc in Denmark, this is the official website - udinaturen.dk/ And the rules English are here eng.naturstyrelsen.dk/experience-nature/sleeping-outside-in-nature Hope that helps! best wishes!

[@johngorentz6409]

I like your narration and photos, as always. If I may ask, which gearing do you have on your Brompton? I don't think I'll get a Brompton for myself as my Bike Fridays suit me better for most of my travel needs with a foldable bicycle. But my local bike shop (in the U.S.) has recently started carrying Bromptons, and that has got me a little more interested. There are lots of Brompton videos on KZbin, but your type of travel is more relevant than most as to how I would evaluate the gearing that I would want.

[@susannathornton]

Hi John! thanks for writing! My Brompton is a 3 speed. But I found the gears too high, so switched the original big chainring for a 39T. I had an old 39T in my old bike bits box so I just thought I would try it, and it was brilliant. The small chainring means the bottom gear is low enough so that even loaded with camping gear I can climb most hills without having to get off and walk. My top gear is also reduced by the small chainring of course, but if I find myself doing 25 mph or more on a smooth surface or on a downhill or with a tailwind etc, I never think, "oh I wish I had a huge gear to go even faster". I just think yippee and freewheel. I love the simple set up, just 3 gears, not much to get bashed or go wrong. A few years later I put on a 38T ring, ie slightly lower, works great. Hope that helps! Thanks for watching!

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

Welcome back in Denmark. We do have a lot of sand in Denmark and if using proper tent pegs it is possible to make them stay, also in the sand! I left my old Trangia Set and several tents in my former house (as now soon to become 77) and now the only set I have is a combined burner and cup on top, which fills much less, but of course, also contains less inside. Which Model is your bike? My much-rebuilt 2019 6-speed Superlight is now below 9 kilos (mudguards), by that, but without a carrier in the back, as I have never had any reason to add one! I don't go on day trips but only use it during needed transport and on vacations😄! I would advise a special "Footprint" by that, below the tent. Finn. Denmark

[@susannathornton]

Hello Finn Carl! Aw thank you for the welcome back. Aha, about sand, I thought that the tent pegs would kind of get yanked out... I am using the standard Hilleberg V-peg tent stakes. Maybe I could have used stones to weigh down on them which I sometimes have done...🤔 Dunno! It would definitely have been lovely to camp on that beach, what a view... About my Brompton bike, it is a steel 3-speed. I reduced the gears by putting on a small chainring Thanks for writing!

[@bolleolympus]

👍👍🌹🌹❤❤🌷🌷👌👌😊😊

[@susannathornton]

thanks Bolleolympus!

[@mithuharjani3620]

😊👍🚴👏👏👏👌🙏❤️