Watch THIS VIDEO before your ROADTRIP to Sweden / Norway / Finland - VanChat Tuesday

[@ellenschafer1918]

In Sweden you can buy hummus nearly everywhere. City Gross, ICA, Coop, even Lidl (and others of course, that are just the big chain ones). Most have them even in different styles. They are normally located in the fresh stuff aisle with other sauces, cremes, potato salads and other mayo salads that needs to be kept cool. I am living in Sweden and eat a lot of hummus so I should know. :)

[@johnmandy]

So many comments about this now 😁😂 it seems I have a knack of finding the shops that don’t sell hummus! We tried about 6 in Sweden, 3 in Norway and the first one in Finland had it (where I did the laundry)

[@brettrodger2296]

Hi Guys, as a Dog Owner and expressing Copper needs to be “Wormed” on your Travels - normally as Pet Owners in South Africa, we All regularly “De-Wormed” ourselves Yearly…. I just note in Europe this is Not a common practice…. Something to consider !

[@PMMagro]

In Scandinavia we say "Nordic countries" which does include Finland & Iceland (soon Estonia too, Tallin by now I'd say). Denamark includes Greenland & the Færo islands. It is like Britian and the UK, there is more to the UK than the island of Britain.

[@robin2thek]

In Stockholm we do not call Estonia Nordic….

[@marsukarhu9477]

In Helsinki we don't call Estonia Nordic either...

[@radicesamarae1896]

You are discussing and mixing two different entities: Scandinavia and the Nordic countries, which are distinct terms. Scandinavia is a geographical and geological area encompassing the mountain range known as the Scandes, which naturally separates Norway and Sweden. Geologically, Denmark is also part of Scandinavia. Although the Scandes extend into a small part of northwestern Finland, Finland is not considered part of Scandinavia. The Nordic countries, on the other hand, refer to a political grouping that includes Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. Although Greenland is politically part of Denmark, it is not considered part of the Nordic countries. The languages spoken in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are closely related. Therefore, the unofficial term "Scandinavian language" is sometimes used to describe the way Danes, Norwegians, and Swedes try to communicate more clearly with each other. They mix words from their languages, knowing from experience that they might otherwise be easily misunderstood. One of Norway's two official languages, Bokmål, is very similar to Danish in its written form. However, for a Swede, it is much easier to understand spoken Bokmål than spoken Danish. The Finnish language belongs to a completely different language family: Finno-Ugric. Due to historical reasons, Swedish is a minority language in Finland and was historically taught in schools. Therefore, many Finns also speak Swedish. Otherwise, English is commonly used in cross-Nordic communication.

[@Leonard_Smith]

Much respect to you both for being honest enough to thank the tax payers of Scandinavia and Finland who subsidise their community facilities.

[@johnmandy]

Thank you.. we owe them a lot ❤️❤️

[@ankiolebring8388]

A little try to clarify: Scandinavia are only Norway,Denmark and Sweden but the Nordic Countries are including Finland as well as Iceland and Greenland ;)

[@superdepronic]

and cgp grey thought us that Norway , Sweden and Finland is called Fennoscandia !

[@hannayoung9657]

But is also depend in which way we speak about it... because it can be Iceland, Faroe island, Åland, Finland.... and it can be only be Norway and Sweden. Honestly, it soo muddy... Why not call it Northern Europe? Oh yeah according to some travel shows we are not part of Europe . *sigh*

[@KristoferOlsson]

​@@hannayoung9657 its nothing muddy about it. Nordic is Swe, Fin, Nor, Den and Finland. (with Fareo island, Greenland and Åland) Scandinavia is Swe, Den and Nor. Scandinavian peninsula or Fenoscandia is geographical Swe, Nor, part of northern Fin and a very small part of Russia. Northern Europe includes the Baltics, Irland and UK. Even if Estonia wants to be part of the Nordics they are not. They have a place on the council of the Nordics but only as observers.

[@Pelle2415]

Here I thougth i lived in the real Scandinavia - I learned in school that Finland is a part of Scandinavia - and all the people I know is counting Finland as a part of Scandinavia… (No, I do not live in Finland myself, but they are a part of our lovely Scandinavia) Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is not Scandinavia, but is called the Baltic countries

[@stefanconradsson]

Swede here. Thanks for your interesting travelog of the Scandinavian countries. It is always lovely to hear what others think of us, especially Brits, since we (at least I do) feel a close affinity to you having both visited Britain many times as well as worked with Brits. I'd like to recommend two books written by your countrymen: The first one is Michael Booths book "The Almost Nearly Perfect People" which I thought was hilarious, inaccurately spot on (yeah .. both) and just a great fun read. It covers all of Scandinavia including Finland and Iceland. The second one is Andrew Browns book "Fishing in Utopia". This one hit me hard, I grew up in Sweden during the same time that he lived here, and his take on my country of birth is just gorgeous. It is stunningly well-written (I've read it in both English and Swedish). I can't recommend it highly enough. I'd also like to comment on the wildlife aspect. I have seen Moose, Red deer, Reindeer, Fallow deer and Roe deer many many times through car, buss and train windows .. yet I have never ever seen a Bear, Wolf or Lynx (there are Bears and Lynx around where I live .. though no Wolfs). The scariest animal to encounter whilst driving is a Moose. They can be of enormous size, way bigger than Red Deer. Having extra headlights is an absolute necessity driving in the northern half of the country (this goes for Norway and Finland as well) from late august to may. June and July you can drive without them as the sun barely settles below the horizon leaving us in a fantastic mystical light. That's when the magic happens. Cheers from Sweden 🍺

[@RetroBytesUK]

Very useful, we hope to go in our van once the kids are a bit older. There was a direct ferry sailing from Hull to Gottenburg, however looks like its no longer running, hopefully it will come back once things get back to how they where.

[@jspr49]

I’m going on a road trip from Finland to Norway soon. I hope to see mountains, clear night sky and true wilderness for the first time in my life.

[@elviselaa]

The one shop to buy hummus in Finland with the laundry was Citymarket Kaakkuri, Oulu. My nearby market:)

[@juliofernandes6194]

John & Mandy I love your videos ! All the info you give us ! Just great !

[@Swedish_Engineer]

One reason for the good gravel roads in the Nordic countries is that they are used for transport of the timber out of the forrests. The trucks are 24 meters with trailers.

[@johnmandy]

Very good point..!!

[@dirkdiggler8973]

As a Swede you starting to learn the English language in third grade, Swedish TV dosen´t put voice´s on the foreign shows and movies. Going of for a few days in Dublin tonight, have fun and have fun!

[@reallivebluescat]

I think these days kids learn English from social media

[@Suomaki]

You can buy hummus in Finland at least in most S-market, Prisma, K Citymarket etc etc. Widely availeble. Just ask...

[@johnmandy]

I found it in Finland.. just not the other 2 countries 😁

[@ianofsjkartwork]

Great advice and well explained..........also honest review of places you have visted.........stay safe........thanks for sharing

[@greenmanoffgridcaravan]

Great video, with a lot of information. Have a great time and always safe travels! Big hugs for Cooper!

[@johnmandy]

Thank you 😁

[@hansfranciscaportier-vulst2629]

I’m now in the Lofoten (Norway) and also everybody speaks fluently English here, also even in the smallest place. The LED bars do give also a lot of light to the sides where the animals are.

[@johnmandy]

We love it, it’s amazing 😁🙌🏻

[@paulwitham8026]

Thank you for all the useful information you take the time to share with us, glad to see you're all fit and well, happy travels and stay safe 😀

[@johnmandy]

Thanks Paul 😁

[@charliegould5865]

I agree John the BFG’s have very tough sidewalls, I’ve got them on a Toyota Land Cruiser (2250kg) Recently I spotted that one tyre was slightly bulging at the bottom, when I checked it there was 8 psi in it. Due to the sidewalls it didn’t look flat just bulging slightly more than usual, bit of air later and all back to normal. Thanks for the video, sooo much useful information.

[@paulhext314]

My wife, also a Mandy, is a teacher and in 2019 had two exchange trips to Sweden courtesy of Erasmus. She was full of praise for what she saw of the country and the wonderful people that she met. Needless to say we hope to visit in our van soon. Thank you for all that you pass on to help others with our planning. Very jealous though!

[@Rob.1340]

Thanks guys, enjoyed every minute of it. Looking forward to the rest. Stay well and safe travels. All the very best to you. Cheers. 👍🐾😎

[@johnmandy]

Thanks Rob 😁👍🏻

[@Martin-sd8xr]

Please share the map like John said Mandy as we are heading to Scandinavia for a 3 month trip before you are finished your 9 month trip and would love to have the information 😃

[@ExclusivelyReclusive1]

I would highly recommend coming in the summer but maybe not going so far north, a lot of mosquitoes there. I would recommend Stockholm, Gotland, Falkenberg etc etc. There is a reason we in Scandinavia become so happy when the sun comes out, it's like we become different people. and if you live hear for at least a year you can see the change. Autumn and winter is almost always cloudy and chilling but when Spring and Summer comes we come to life.

[@lindajames7083]

Lidl shopping is still adding to the local economy, isn’t it? Love Lidl. I spent a month in Sweden, I had to sell a vital organ to eat but loved the country and the people. Stunning.

[@siajnesdunk]

Hummus can be found in nice quality in Rema 1000 stores in Denmark 🙂.

[@mos6146]

You 2 really are diamonds ! ( Entertaining diamonds at that ) . Thank you so much for the info you provide. We really do hope to put it all to good use in the not too distant future.

[@derekwarner6898]

Really nice van chat and so much info. Thanks.

[@johnmandy]

Thanks Derek

[@petermurray-reynolds7774]

If you have a blender, even a hand held one Hummus is fairly easy to make? Thanks for your videos...

[@madvikins]

In Sweden you can buy hummus in most bigger stores. Willys for example.

[@johnmandy]

We visited two Willys stores and couldn’t find hummus 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@alexanderwingeskog758]

I don't know but my little local ICA supermarket has a "foreign" food section that has Hummus, maybe it's just my local supermarket and not ICA as a whole (which is a big brand of grocery store in Sweden besides Coop). But I think in most places (+20000 inhabitants) which have 2-3 grocery stores at least one or two have Hummus usually. I never bought any though :-)

[@carlshirley]

Another great information video guys, you seem more relaxed now.

[@johnmandy]

Thanks Carl 😁

[@hopesfreedom2322]

Fantastic, great review, well done 👍🏼

[@magnefauli]

Saying that Finland is part of Scandinavia is no more controversial than saying Scotland is a part of England (which it isn’t).

[@johnmandy]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scandinavia

[@magnefauli]

@@johnmandy I’m not criticizing you as individuals for not making the distinction, but the whole English-speaking world. In the same way that I criticize the non-English speaking world for frequently not distinguishing between England and the UK.

[@mikrokupu]

You hear the term Scandinavia often used as a synonym for the whole Nordic region, not a biggie I think 😉 But yes, officially, in the happy Nordic family the three monarchies DEN NOR SWE are called Scandinavia. A happy Nordic tax payer here, from the Swedish speaking part of Finland :)

[@johnmandy]

@@mikrokupu Great info, Every day is a school day 😀

[@mark_graham]

The successful Scandi flick; the holy grail of every aspiring rally driver; young or old. I have a quattro, but what do I know ?. Yay !!!

[@Home.on.wheels]

hi guys you guys are rocking these videos

[@michelleclarke6949]

Excellent video.Definitely going to Norway and Sweden.

[@amisa160]

It's preferably to come in the spring time or the summer time. At midsummer time the dawn takes place really late, then we have daylight almost all through the night. Now it's very dark, rainy and boring and if I wanted to travel now I would definitely choose to go south instead.

[@michelleclarke2792]

@@amisa160 Thanks for that information, we will probably go in late Spring. We’re looking forward to it.

[@johnmandy]

@@amisa160 Ah this is where we differ.. we’ve been to countries before where all the trees are green and it can get a bit samey.. the colours we had were just amazing, it wasn’t too warm or too busy and wasn’t too wet at all.. if we could have left a couple of weeks earlier we would

[@BerishStarr]

Some facts about Sweden: About 85% of Sweden's population live in the bottom third of the country. And 86% are living in cities/towns. 69% of the country is forested, while only 3% of total area is developed and 85% of the population live on less than 1,5% of the total area :P

[@Mandlit]

Nice videos and sceneries. But you missed Jämtland ;-) Nordic ist the term (sw. Norden) i.e. DK, SE, NO, FI and IS, ”Scandinavia” is ”just” the paeninsula (NO+SE) and DK. Welcome back!

[@johnmandy]

We missed so many places but we’ll definitely be back 😁

[@Foggy2912]

Top rally drivers daughter, top navigators need regular maps, so please Scandinavian/ Finland what three words.

[@stefanconradsson]

Oh yes, I am Swedish and I have been to Jämtland and it is just gorgeous.. especially the area around the Kallsjön lake (have relatives there in "Kall") but all of it is wonderful. I am from Västerbotten myself. Traveling from the coast to the mountains in Västerbotten I would prefer to go along the unexploited river Vindelälven rather than the hydro dammed Umeälven river. Love Jämtland forever. Cheers 🍺

[@kennethmikaelsson7990]

Recommend a termacell for the mosquitos .....

[@johndavidson7982]

Congratulations on some great videos My Wife and I have been travelling to Scandinavia since 1980 the last time in 2020 good points on the gravel roads there were less motorway miles when We first journeyed there, the general view(not Ours) was that Denmark was not classed as being in Scandinavia as it was not in the archipelago. many thanks.

[@gerihallitvedt2533]

No Denmark is defo Scandinavian. You must have been talking to Norwegian trolls or something.

[@Hansen710]

Its hard to not to come across denmark, when we talk about the culture and historie and languege of scandinavia.. And the fact that denmark sweeden and norway also had the same monarch. Norway was under same monarch longer. So its almost same languege and they share more culture with denmark, then with sweeden and findland sweeden is kind of the odd brother inbetween in that relationship

[@Hansen710]

Greenland for example is not in scandinavia, it depands what part of the danish kingdom we are talking

[@travelswithforrestflo1239]

Lots of great information, thank you 👍

[@johnmandy]

No problem 😁

[@hettysmotorhomeadventures4860]

Well done both, really enjoying your J word. We’re you tempted to get your kayak out on the fiords, or have not got the space for it on your adventures this time. You should really write a book about this trip when it’s done, part guide, part story, part cook book, I’d pre order😊safe travels 👍

[@franklowe2996]

What an excellent relationship this couple have!

[@johnmandy]

Thank you Frank

[@outandaboutmd]

Just commenting on the phone signal but, you should try living on the Isle of Man 🙄. You are lucky to get a signal anywhere but the towns and the internet….it is worse than dial up. A 4 minute upload to you tube for me takes around 4 hours. If you fancy returning to the dark ages, come and visit us 😃👍🏼

[@diandmartydownes1611]

Cheers guys very helpful. Cu soon x.

[@hannayoung9657]

Arabic food store has hummus, Coop , Ica, Willy, City gross in Sweden has Hummus.

[@johnmandy]

Odd that we travelled from south to north Sweden and only found it in one store, it’s our experience that it’s not that easy to find everywhere in Sweden.

[@hannayoung9657]

@@johnmandy You might be looking in the wrong section. You can find tinned hummus, in world food section and in fridges fresh hummus. Next time ask, they will help you.

[@magnefauli]

If you have a motorhome between 3.5 and 7.5 tonns in Norway you can pay the toll valid for cars below 3.5 tonns if you register or have an autopass or easygo.

[@johnmandy]

Ours is under 3.5 tonnes and we registered for Epass24 - do we need to pay tolls if we’re under 3.5?

[@magnefauli]

@@johnmandy Yes, you will still pay tolls in Norway, but you should be billed for the lowest rate. Vehicles over 3.5 tonnes in general pay 50 - 200 % more, but motor-homes are exempt from the extra fee, but then the system needs to know that the registration plate is attached to a motor-home. Hence the need to register heavier motor-homes in the toll register. An autopass or an easygo could give you another 10-20% discount on Norwegian tolls as well as discounts on the Storebælt and Öresund bridges.

[@johnmandy]

@@magnefauli Ah the discount on the bridges would be a big bonus.. that’s good to know - thank you.. we still haven’t been “invoiced” for our toll road use yet though 😂

[@magnefauli]

@@johnmandy You may not have passed any or not enough tolls on your route. I think the Norwegian toll system holds you bill untill you’ve accumulated 600 NOK in fees or untill there have been three months since you last passed a toll, whichever happens first.

[@johnmandy]

@@magnefauli that’s very interesting, thank you 😁 we think we used one in Sweden and one in Norway that we can use the EPASS24 system for so we’ll just wait a little longer 😁

[@helenandmartinsTreks]

Really interesting , thanks guys. Don’t forget the big match this weekend, come on you Red Devil’s 😂😂😂

[@johnmandy]

Oh no.. BLUE MOOOOOOOOOON..!!!!! 🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻🙌🏻 haha.. thanks for watching

[@rolandjernstrom9024]

Hummus is in every Swedish store, but not canned, always fresh!

[@petermurphy5903]

Great vid and info guys,safe travels ☘️👍👍☘️☘️👍

[@johnmandy]

Thanks Peter 😁

[@magnefauli]

Manual network selection is crucial when travelling close to the russian border, otherwise your might be billed for roaming in Russia! Happens quite frequently at the Norwegian/Russian border.

[@johnmandy]

Wow.. I don’t think we travelled that close to Russia but a very valid point to make

[@Scud_and_thesTig]

Excellent info yet again 👍💙❤️

[@johnmandy]

Cheers buddy 😁👍🏻

[@juliofernandes6194]

Love Lidl !!!

[@avislivingston8946]

Hello check out Gwynedd council they are recommend six pilot areas for French style Aires sites to be set up through you might be interested in the future love your channel stay safe and enjoy yourselves love from north east of England xx

[@chrisstahl173]

How do you find your free- camping / boon docking sites? What app are you using. You seem to find such great sites by the water. Great job !!!

[@johnmandy]

Check back on our older videos as we made a video all about this.

[@isobelchapman9548]

You make me chuckle…..very informative round up of your journey so far….thank you.

[@someoneelse7629]

Toll roads and ferrys that costs money to ride is mostly a norway thing I guess, I live in Sweden and I have maybe had to pay a jandfull of times, that said, I prefer smaller more scenic routes over people processing highways

[@The_Breeze1]

Nice one guys, very informative ✔️

[@johnmandy]

Thank you 😁

[@MartinBrigden]

Really enjoying this series, giving me such travel envy! Do you guys use Polarsteps, be great to see your adventure unfold on there?

[@johnmandy]

We do, but it’s for family & friends 👍🏻 Each video shows our driving route though 😀

[@RandomclipsCrew]

So in sweden about 45,000 animal related accidents happen on the roads every year, in wich 800 or so are badly hurt and 5 people are killed. I live in the north of sweden and we have alot of darkness during the winter so i have alot of auxilary lights on my car, it really is needed.

[@johnmandy]

We saw so many cars with them and saw how dark the road get - I bet it’s a dangerous drive

[@suzybeetravels]

Great informative video 🙂 No way we could do the tolls in our 26 year old van, would cost a bomb! Loving the whole trip especially the time of year you've chosen to do it. Can't wait for the next installment 😁

[@leighfisher1702]

Hi John & Mandy hope you are well. We are currently travelling thru Sweden and need to get our dog wormed before entering Norway. You mention in your video you used a lovely vet can you recall their name/location please? Big thanks in advance 🙏 😁

[@johnmandy]

The vet was in Kiruna, It was Kiruna veterinärpraktik 👍🏻

[@leighfisher1702]

@@johnmandy thanks so much we are planning on going to Kiruna for a stop before heading North so that's brilliant! 😀 Take care and safe travels.

[@lyndaburrzz9303]

So easy to make your own hummus Mandy. You will need a stick blender-which is pretty small to carry. Jamie Oliver has a good recipe

[@richarddolloway8128]

Buy some tahini and make your own Houmous. Usually better than shop bought and super simple to do. I'm sure that you a little blender that could sort it. FYI My bad is tyres are doing fine 🙃

[@Richoffroad]

'Bad ish' tyres that is. Still not made the t shirt... But I will. 😁

[@ant_hart]

We’ve followed the whole trip and thought it looked incredible. Thanks a lot for showing the w3w locations too really helps. Question I had was about diesel, I’m sure they put in some sort of additives to help with the cold/stop freezing. I’m guessing you’ve not found this to be a problem with your heater? Cheers guys 👍🏼

[@johnmandy]

We covered this in our last video about costs, they do add anti-waxing agents to the diesel but it’s not been a problem for our engine or diesel heater 👍🏻

[@denisscott3073]

Hi John and mandy 👍 just us 2saying hi and thanks again 👍 great update and information 👍 sue and den 👍👍👍🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🚌🚌🚌

[@johnmandy]

Thanks Guys 😁👍🏻

[@Flossy_tops]

I know you’ve still got a long way go yet, but what has been the most memorable location you’ve been to up to now...

[@johnmandy]

It has to be in Norway, the day we saw the northern lights the first time.

[@Flossy_tops]

@@johnmandy I can imagine. It must have been a magical and beautiful moment for you both. I would love to see them too. However every place you visit and share with us always put a smile on my face 👍🍻

[@Flossy_tops]

So much useful information 👍🍻 !! .... When you mentioned the lights it reminded me of my Mk 1 Escort back in the late 60s. I had 2 Cibie spotlights mounted on a bar which when on shone a sign up 1 mile away on particular road close to where I lived. And if anyone was foolish enough to not dip their lights then my spots would come on. They soon dipped theirs 😂

[@johnmandy]

Haha.. got to love a good set of lights 😂🙌🏻

[@Boboman80]

Great videos guys. Jealous of your relationship 👍😍 Wish that all campers in Sweden could follow your lead and actually follow the few rules we have here. Stay crispy. Xoxo.

[@juliofernandes6194]

They just came into the U. S. A. We luv lidl !

Did you even ask a staff for hummus? You can get it in just about any store these days..

[@davidiand7]

I have lived here nearly 23 years and speak reasonable Swedish but in the beginning when I attempted Swedish the reply was English, still happens now but now but I continue in Swedish, often English people usually take longer to learn as most here want to speak English to you. Horse flys (Broms) are particularly viscous here. Internet speeds here are generally much higher. Thanks for your videos it confirms why I’m still here.

[@AnnaKaunitz]

Kom igen, det är krasst sett slöhet från engelskspråkiga som generellt gör er sämst på svenska. Helt i onödan. Det funkar inte att bo i åratal eller decennier i ett annat land och förvänta sig att alla ska behandla en som en besökande stackars kunglighet.

[@perrodehont5109]

I'm not sure when you mentioned flies but I think that you ment Knott (Simuliidae), tiny but with the attack capability of a pitbull. If I get stung by a mosquito it will itch for maybe half hour sometimes even 2 or 3 but when I get bitten (yes they bite instead of sticking) by a knott it will itch for a couple of days, well in my case it does.

[@johnmandy]

Are they like horse flies? They looked like mosquitos though

[@pfreeman2732]

Oh no! Blaming high-energy using Coops! 😤 On behalf of woofers everywhere, don't blame us! 😤 Another super-interesting video... a whole load of v useful pointers, especially to us dog-lovers. Thank you from us all. Take care and keep safe... and watch them there potholes! Pam

[@johnmandy]

Thanks Pam, he’s not that bad 😁😂

[@NordVast]

Coop is the most expensive store in Sweden if you aren't a member, because they have a cash-back system. Willys is the cheapest, but it's kind a trash. ICA Maxi is the second cheapest and also the top of the line store. City Gross is third on that list. The camp sites you stayed at is made and financed by the municipality's. Some in different national parks may be financed by the region it's located in. And when it comes to horsefly's. I've never experience something like this summer in my whole life. It was extreme. A bigger problem is mosquito's that can be really bad in some places. But mostly just during sunrise and sunset. As you saw, Sweden and Finland is covered with lakes and wetland. So that we have to live with. But there is a lot of things you can by to protect yourself from the mosquito's due to that. The best and most effective and also the most expensive is propane killers. But there is other types of repellent devices that do work. And in every store and pharmacy you can by mosquito spray. And the laundry situation. Camping sites has laundromats. But every Swede has probably a washing machine at home or if they live in apartments, they always also have a laundry house or room for the residents. So I would just advice you to make friends and ask someone if you can laundry at their place if needed. And I remember reading on Facebook about a person that did buy a plastic cheap manual washing machine on Amazon from Germany because they had problem with washing machines at the student housing that person lived at. Probably better than nothing and easy to store.

[@mickemike2148]

Norway, Finland and Sweden are like siblings, thus no border checks are needed.

[@peterwalton1502]

Excelllet vlog 👍👏👍

[@johnmandy]

Thanks Peter

[@terryhere7178]

So envious of your life and you both seem so happy :) loving your videos keep up the good work

[@johnmandy]

Thanks Terry

[@geoffcampbell7846]

Great vlog again. Good midge alert too, I hadn't thought of that given the time of year. Did the Mandy lotion keep them at bay at all? Take care & Happy days.

[@johnmandy]

It did help a lot but outside was just too much 🙈

[@nicholawindebank8593]

Just a bit of information there is a global fuel crisis ,the average UK diesel price on 1st November was £1.48 Sweden £1.67 Norway £1,52 Finland £1.45 Denmark £1.40.So not massively more expensive

[@johnmandy]

We put the fuel costs in our travel vlogs 👍🏻

[@juliofernandes6194]

We r Portuguese ! I did not understand the Schengen law thing ! Does it apply to us ?

[@johnmandy]

The Schengen area rules only apply to people from outside the EU / Schengen zone. So Portuguese citizens are not affected by it.

[@brianallegri3074]

With all your gear on board what is the weight of your van

[@johnmandy]

We’ve covered this in our gear prep video 👍🏻

[@rosen9425]

Moose are illusive af! I've seen three in my entire life. Not that I go looking for them or anything, but given all the road warning signs... yah still debating if we have as many as claimed 🤔 Deer are clearly on a path of blitzkrieg, succeeding on every level overthrowing the government any day. The Roe Party against motorists. The English speaking is quite funny. We obviously don't speak it as much as internet reading and hearing it from tv shows and movies. You are usually caught off guard when it happens so having your brain switch languages on the fly takes a while in terms of coherence. I remember completely confusing the heck out of a North American guy at a bus stop once, explaining a bus timetable I barely understood myself (24-hour time format and all that) 😂

[@anhatur]

I have seen a few. They're often scared of roads and won't easily go there, but have no ide of how to avoid a car. But they need to cross sometimes, and mostly do it at dusk or dawn. Their hooves are not well suited to asphalt, let me say that. It's almost Bambi on the ice. While they can hear and smell like you won't believe. So anywhere near a road is probably not their favorite place, and I'll say we can be glad for that. Otherwise, they're experts at woodland camouflage. So they may be there just by the road but it takes a trained eye to see them.

[@KristoferOlsson]

Lightbars are great if you buy a good brand like Lazer. Round lights are normaly little bit better but the difference is not like it was back in the days. You need to flood the light on the sides to see the moose, deer, raindeer and Wildboar running up on the road close to you. Also be careful putting 3 lights in the front. Sweden has acception from EU rules. Lots of countrys only allow 2 or 4 lights and they can also have system how bright it can be.

[@johnmandy]

Good to know, thank you

[@Moonlight_loves_minecraft_3106]

Finland is not part of Scandinavia. Scandinavia comes from the mountain range Scandes that starts in Northern Denmark and continues through Sweden and Norway. We don't exclude Finland because of that we don't like them, but because Scandes does not go through Finland. That's the simple reason.

[@KristoferOlsson]

In Sweden you can buy hummus in almost every store. Bought 1 pack 2 days ago at my local store. I think you are mixing up Fenoscandia (Scandinavian Peninsula) and Scandinavia. Fenoscandia is Norway, Sweden, Northern Finland and a small part of Russia. (geografical area.) Scandinavia is a cultural area of Denmark, Sweden and Norway. You could almost think of it like UK is part of Europe but not EU. accept EU is economic and not cultural area. If you want to Include Finland use the "Nordics" instead of Scandinavia. But to the Nordics you have Iceland, Faroe island and Åland to.

[@johnmandy]

Odd that we travelled from south to north Sweden and only found it in one store, it’s our experience that it’s not that easy to find everywhere in Sweden.

[@KristoferOlsson]

@@johnmandy Willys Has 9 different brands/style of Hummus. Coop has 5 brand/style. ICA has 10 brands/style. Lidl have atleast 2. City gross has 6 brands/style. This is what I can find localy in my small town. I dont know about the rest of Sweden but the stores normaly carry about the same stock. But if you go to a small store they will have space for less brands and may skip things that do not sell well.

[@johnmandy]

@@KristoferOlsson We’re just stating our findings, it was a fun fact, we couldn’t find any in the stores we looked in

[@Reiselinda]

You need a Thermacell for the mosquitos. 👍🏼

[@johnmandy]

Thanks

[@graemeroberts5730]

I’ve been catching up on all your older vids. I maybe wrong (usually am!) but you do not have your own washing machine. Any reason? We go away in our caravan for 6/8 weeks at a time, mainly the EU, and found it invaluable. Space should not be an issue with your moho….😳?

[@johnmandy]

We don’t have the need, we find laundry services or campsites for this and it would be a huge waste of space & weight to have our own in our van as we live in it full time.

[@graemeroberts5730]

@@johnmandy We would perhaps not agree.being full timers the washing machine should be worth its weight & pay for itself. They are not heavy and can wash & spin up to 5kg. Everyone has their own priorities so no worries…..😜😂

[@johnmandy]

@@graemeroberts5730 it’s also the lack of somewhere to dry things afterwards.. I’ll happily hand wash smalls and tshirts but for jeans and bedding it’s launderettes all the way

[@AndreasEUR]

Finland is a Nordic country, but not in Scandinavia.

[@johnmandy]

North Finland is in Scandinavia.. apparently 😁

[@dealerovski82]

In Sweden, Lidle has hummus. The Irony. xD

[@johnmandy]

Sadly not in all the stores we tried from south to north Sweden.

[@ellenschafer1918]

@@johnmandy You might have looked in the wrong aisle, maybe they are stored different in the UK? In Sweden you mostly find them in the fresh stuff aisle, where you can find potato salad, bernaise sauce, aioli, fresh sauces and salads, stuff that needs to be kept cool. In all my years here in Sweden I never had the problem of not getting hummus. It's a miracle how you could NOT find it. The one at Lidls is actually quite good.

[@johnmandy]

@@ellenschafer1918 the Lidl one is my favourite, their oriental one is sooo addictive. I must have looked in about 8 different stores and found none in any of them - I thought they were hiding it from me 😂 Everywhere seems to store them in the same fridge section 🤷🏼‍♀️

[@ellenschafer1918]

@@johnmandy Next time I am in Lidl I will make a photo where to find and how they look. Once they had a sort with wild garlic herb and it was divine, but they don't have it anymore unfortunately. I normally just buy the regular and pimp it with whatever the mood is. It is surprisingly good for a discounter.

[@hgglass8905]

Totally agree if you can't speak the language talking to young people they usually talk English the older not so much

[@attesmatte]

I think you should be happy to not have seen a moose close up on the roads here. Where I live (near Östersund in the middle of Sweden) I have moose prancing around in my yard. 😜

[@johnmandy]

We were mostly wanting to see one when we were out in the sticks 😂 I did see 2 from far away but John still doubts me. Is it amazing to see them in your yard?

[@attesmatte]

@@johnmandy It's pretty cool! I don't see them very often, I just see their footprints in the snow. 😜 This summer I had a fairly big bull moose surprise me when I came out of the garage though. He was in my yard, just about 30 meters from me! 😳😂 He got scared and ran off. 😜 But I caught him on video, I should put it on my KZbin! 😁

[@anfieldroadlayoutintheloft5204]

Good video

[@johnmandy]

Thanks Lee

[@markmangan845]

😊👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🚐 + the appropriate flag emojis 😮😄👍

[@johnmandy]

Haha.. thanks Mark, the flags would take a while now 😂

[@markmangan845]

@@johnmandy 😄 your not kidding, I started to put the flags in then lost the will to live 😮😄👍

[@swedishmetalbear]

Let me clarify.. A lot of people will want to add Denmark to Scandinavia but not Finland. And cite social issues and bla bla bla. The term Scandinavia is simply a geographic term. It means. "The peninsula with the Scandes mountains on it". (Scandinavian Alps). So Scandinavia is technically only Sweden and Norway. Many people will mistakenly bring up that Scandinavia is a cultural term.. But that is not so, As soon as you talk about culture, the word Nordic or Norse should be used.. Scandinavia is strictly geographical, now I know that it states differently in Wikipedia.. But that is incorrect. And here is why they get it mixed up. Denmark USED to be a part of Scandinavia.. But they haven't been since the early 1600's when they lost Skåne, Halland and Blekinge to Sweden in the great Northern War (All the Danish land that used to be on the Scandinavian peninsula). Since then Denmark has had NO land on the Scandinavian peninsula and only on mainland Europe (Jutland Peninsula) which 100% omits them from being part of Scandinavia... With Finland.. Which used to be the other half of Sweden for a thousand years up until the early 1800's.. They technically still have some of the Scandes mountains running through the north. So they being part of Scandinavia is possibly more correct, but one usually marks the beginning of the Scandinavian peninsula at the Torne river which is the border between Finland and Sweden.. People will still mix it up with culture (because they did not pay attention in School).. And that is wrong. So hope that clears things up for you. Secondly.. Hummus is available in most stores around where I live in Sweden.. It will be in the deli or vegetarian section usually. You can always ask someone in the store for it.. and they will get it for you. Unless you are way out in the boonies where hummus hasn't been introduced yet. But to be honest, most cities have it.

[@donquixote1502]

Scandinavia derives from the mountain stretching thru Norway, Sweden and Denmark. And that is the only reason why Finland is not included. But Finland is just as much our brothers and sisters as any Scandinavian country. (These are the Nordics: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland, as well as the Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland.) I hope this explains the situation. ❤ from Sweden.

[@TravellingfromScratch]

Great news...I love baked beans. Humus...not so much. 😁👍

[@johnmandy]

I was made up..! 😁 always need baked beans 😂

[@TravellingfromScratch]

@@johnmandy they are so versatile. I’m doing my first wild camp ever as I type this message to you. At Blackpool. Wish I was in Europe. 👍🏻

[@johnlong3214]

👍

[@johnmandy]

😁👍🏻

[@eivindkaisen6838]

Technicall, he's right. There are no moose in Europe, there are elks. (Volvo test their cars for collision witrh elks, so there must have been at least some evidence for their existence ... smashing cars is expensive!) The Nordic countries have had passport-free travel since 1952, and now the coninental Nordics are all members of the Schengen Area.

[@rosen9425]

They are moose-mooses (alces alces). Not elk-moose (wapiti). Seems to be a language difference, Elk in British and moose in US. Elk in US is a wapiti which in Swedish would be "Canada reindeer"

[@hopesfreedom2322]

Fantastic, great review, well done 👍🏼

[@johnmandy]

Thank you 😁