List of travelled distances

Only travel related distances entered - business related excluded.

Autos

Hitchhiking - 14,250 km

• 2002 - 2,700 km
• Odense-Paris (return) [Denmark, Germany, France, Belgium] - 11 days (11 days travel)
• 2003 - 3,900 km
• Odense-Vrsar (return) [Denmark, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia] - 10 days (4 days travel)
• 2004 - 4,900 km 
• Odense-Berlin (return) [Denmark, Germany] - 7 days (2 days travel) - 1300 km
• Odense-Paris-Berlin (return) [Denmark, Germany, France, Switzerland] - 14 days (5 days travel)
• 2005 - 1,350 km
• January
• Odense-Berlin (return) [Denmark, Germany] - 5 days (2 days travel) - 1350 km
• August
• Flensburg - Vejle [Denmark] - 100 km

• 2006 - 1,300 km
• Piotrków Trybunalski - Odense [Poland, Germany, Denmark] - 5 days (1 day travel).

Bicycle - 1697 km

• 2010 - 600 km
• March-April
• Odense-Harderwijk [Denmark, Germany, Netherlands]

• 2008 - 712 km
• May
• Odense-Frøbjerg (return) [Denmark] - 1 day - 55 km.
• July
• Hamburg-Rudolstadt [Germany] - 6 days - 550 km.
• October
• Roundtrip Ringkøbing Fjord [Denmark] - 1 day - 107 km

• 2007 - 385 km
• Odense-Büsum [Denmark, Germany] - 2 days - 265 km
• Büsum-Ejdersperwerk (two-way)[Germany] - 1 day - 40 km
• Büsum-Brunsbüttel-St. Michaelsberg [Germany] - 1 day - 80 k

Hiking/Wandering - 311 km

• 2009 - 171 km
• November
• Sönderåsen National Park [Sweden] - 1 day - 15 km.
• May
• Öetztal Alps [Austria] - 5 days - 95 km
• March
• Odense-Aarup [Denmark] - 1 day - 34 km
• January
• Faaborg-Ballen [Denmark] - 1 day - 27 km

• 2002 - 70 km
• Odense-Middelfart [Denmark] - 2 days - 70 km 

• 2001 - 70 km
• Odense-Æbelø [Denmark] - 2 days (55 km on first day) - 70 km

Sailing in total 288 nautical miles


By sail - 207 nautical miles

• 2008 - 183 nautical miles
• Nyborg-Nakskov-Aabenraa-Middelfart-Bogense (5 days on board "Fulton").
• 2007 - 24 nautical miles
• Bogense - Æbelø (2 times)

By engine - 81 nautical miles

• 2009 - 3 nautical miles
• November
• Helsingborg [Sweden] - Helsingør [Denmark] - 3 nm

• 2007 - 78 nautical miles
• July
• Bøjden - Fynshav [Denmark] - 8 nm
• Büsum - Helgoland [Germany] (return) - 70 nm

Trains - 10184 km

• 2010 - 1180 km
• March
• Bremen-Oldenburg-Cloppenburg [Germany] - 80 km
• April
• Harderwijk - Amsterdam [Netherlands] - 70 km
• Amsterdam - Odense [Netherlands, Germany, Denmark] - 1030 km

• 2009 - 3195 km
• November
• Helsingør - Odense - 210 km
• Klippan - Helsingborg [Sweden] - 37 km
• Odense - Stehag [Sweden] (3 hours) - 243 km
• May
• Odense - Berlin (1 day) - 620 km
• Berlin - Garmish-Partenkirchen (1 day) - 750 km
• Garmish-Partenkirchen - Innsbruck - Roppen (1 day) - 120 km
• Lermoos - Garmish-Partenkirchen (20 min) - 25 km
• Garmish-Partenkirchen - München (1,5 h) - 90 km
• München - Odense (13 h) - 1100 km.
• March
• Aarup - Odense (20 min) - 22 km
• January
• Svendborg - Odense (45 min) - 44 km 

• 2008 - 1200 km
• July
• Rudolstadt - Odense (14 h) - 780 km
• Rudolstadt - Saalfeld (return 1h) - 20 km
• Odense - Hamburg (4 h) - 300 km

• 2007 - 1843 km
• July
• Esbjerg - Odense - 140 km
• Stansted - Croydon (return) [UK]- 170 km
• Piotrków Trybunalski - Czestochowa (return) [Poland] - 160 km
• Piotrków Trybunalski - Warszawa (return)  [Poland] - 270 km
• Berlin - Piotrków Trybunalski (13 h) - 620 km
• Rostock - Berlin [Germany] (3 h) - 230 km
• Odense-Gedser - 230 km
• St. Michaelsdon - Büsum [Germany] (1 h) - 23 km

• 2006 -

• 2005 - 2700 km
• August
• Odense - Zagreb [Denmark, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia] - (34 h) - 1750 km.
• Munich - Flensburg [Germany] (16 h) - 950 km.

Berlin May 2009

Setting of on an Alpine Hike (Öetztal Alps) with my brother Adrian Bak in late May 2009 we started out with a day in Berlin.

I started out my day around 6 am, getting up to pack the last things into my backpack and making some breakfast for my daughter, my girlfriend and me. Around 7 am i delivered my little girl in the daycare center and then met up with my brother around 7:30, time enough to get to the train-station where our train for Fredericia departed a little past eight.

We had gotten a pretty good deal on our train tickets paying around € 50 per person traveling with DSB in Denmark and DB in Germany. We had another shift in Hamburg where we shifted from to an Intercity-express (ICE) high speed train.
The 300 km from Hamburg to Berlin took around 1½ hour with speeds being around 260 km/h. Normally the speed is about 280 km/h and DB staff came around with complimentary sandwiches, juice, water and chocolate as a apology for the 20 km/h speed reduction.

So as usual I can only highly recommend traveling with DB, for they are truly wizards of transportation.

We arrived in Berlin a little after 2 pm at Berlin Hbf. and quickly took the S-bahn to our downtown hostel (Baxpax) where we were going to sleep in a 48 person dorm.

From here on it was time for getting supplies for our mountain hike, so we set of to the Backpacker grand cathedral also know as the Globetrotter store.
At the store I got a jacket and we supplied ourself with rope, canteens, dried food, compass, carbines (just to get that mountaineer feeling), maps and much, much more.

After visiting the Globetrotter store we were a whole lot of equipment heavier and a whole lot of money lighter. However we were now only missing some sunglasses (Swiss army glacier goggles) which we were to buy at an army store by Schönhauser Allé.

After buying some sunglasses to (in a really cool army store called 'Trash Clothing') we went back to our hostel with our stuff, locked it up and went out on a little sightseeing.

Having been to Berlin numerous times in the past decade I had some favorite places I wanted to show my brother. So we wallowed down southwards from our hostel and just wandered through the city and took some pictures.

Before long we had wandered to Checkpoint Charlie and from there we passed into my favorite Berlin borough Kreuzberg.
Here we wandered up Oranienstrasse toward the lively area around Kottbusser Tor or Am Kotti as the locals call it.
When we got there night had fallen upon the city and the area was bursting with the relaxed and rebellous atmosphere.

It was this atmosphere that made me fall in love with this part of Berlin back in 2003 when I came around a couple of times to visit my stepsister Stine who was studying at the Humboldt university and lived in a WG (wohngemeinshaft) with some nice and relaxed young Germans in Kreuzberg.

Ever since my first Berlin exploration in 2003 I seem to be driven compulsively to the city, and being there again with my brother, even though just for one night, renewed the strength of the invisible strings that draw me this way every time I set out on a southbound trip.



After getting a Döner and a drink in Kreuzberg we took the U-bahn from Kottbusser Tor to Kurfürstendamm (Ku-damm) and then further on to Alexander Platz (Am Alex). By then the clock was ticking towards 2 am, and as we had to get up by 7 am we went back to our hostel and hit our bunk-beds just around 2 am.

Hiking in the Fionic Alps

As we crossed into 2009 I thought it would be nice to take a winter day trip exploring the southern parts of my home island. I asked my brother if he would join me on this little expedition and luckily he was ready to team up against the cold and wet elements of nature. As we were only on a one day trip there was no need for heavy backpacking and we ended up with all necessities in just one half-filled bag.

We took the bus from our hometown of Odense and after one hour we were on location in the hills of Svanninge (Svanninge Bakker). It was 10 in the early noon (definately late to start hiking, but it was the first bus this sunday). The sky was covered with a thick white blanket which extended all the way to the ground leaving the visibility round 200 meters.
We started out by visiting the observation tower, but did not get any good view because of the foggy conditions.

As we went down from the observation tower we began our hike by following the marked hiking path "Sydhavsstien" which runs along the southern coast and hills of Funen, Tåsinge and Langeland for a total of 220 km. We quickly ascended one of the highest hills in the area Lerbjerg (126 meters) and with the fog slowly lifting we got a little bit of a view of the newly reinstated heath. From the hilltop we walked downwards for some kilometers through the back country with forests, field and farms before passing through the village of Diernæs.

After Diernæs we went by an old church ruin and round one of the numerous mansions that lay scattered round Funen, before turning south towards the sea.

On the way to the southern shores we passed some old rail tracks, now only being used for veteran trains. This provided a good opportunity for a classic picture for which my brother volunteered.

From there we had a couple of kilometers of farmland to cross (including the nice smells of manure) before reaching the village of Åstrup where we had a little lunch.


After Åstrup the Øhavsstien hiking trail that we were following went from following tractor-trails to just a narrow patch following the wateredge of the Nakkebølle lake, which is a wetland area restored in 2003 (read more).

A couple of kilometers down the coast we reached the Fjællebro marina, where we found a bench to rest on while we boiled some hot chocolate before continuing down the coast. At this point we had hiked some 15 km following the Øhavstien.

The next 7 km were a bit more wet than the first part as we were walking along the beach, crossing large patches of marsh and small creeks. Some parts of the trail were upgraded with wooden plancks to avoid mud and water but we still managed to get our shoes a bit wet here and there.

The last part of our hike was intended to bring us up through the Syltemade Å valley. However the valley was flooded with som 20 cm water so we had to turn around an just follow the paved road to Vester Skerninge from where we took a bus to Svendborg and then a train to Odense.

All in all it was a nice start on the hiking season all in all 27 km with a vertical climb of about 140 m. Including breaks we walked for some 7 hours, so it was a nice and easy tempo.

Hike route 115993 - powered by Wandermap

Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 6-8)

Apolda-Rudolstadt
On the sixth day we ended up spending the entire morning and noon in the Schlachthof Pension before we had rounded up enough energy to get up and running. My bikes gears were still dysfunctional and as we strolled out of the pension round noon we went down to the town to find a cycle mechanic.

At the mechanic we were told to return after an hour and in the meantime we went strolling about the historic centre of Apolda. We found a cafe to get a cup of coffee and a glass of cola and sat near the town square, enjoying the nice weather. As we returned to the bike-shop we were met by an head shaking mechanic who explained that he had fixed the gear, but that there were internal damage inside the gear-shift.

He could fix the problem by inserting an entirely new back-wheel for € 130. As the bike was functional with the temporary repairs already made, we decided to ride on without further repairs and delays.

After the usual out-of-town climb (most towns in this part of Germany are located in the valleys) we rode some 10 km and the started decending into the Saale river valley into Jena the home of Carl Zeiss and the best optics in the world. We had some very light late lunch by the river in the city and the continued down the Saale-river bicycle route towards the city of Rudolstadt.
The afternoon was very pleasant as following the river meant a steady but mild incline. This was in stark contrast to the grinding down and uphill carrousel that we had been on the last two preceding days as we had cut our way south crossing valley after valley. As the clock passed 8 in the evening we reached Rudolstadt, and decided to stay there for a couple of days. We found a nice pension on top af a small mountain with great view on the Saale valley and the Rudolstadt-Saalfeld area.
A couple of days later we packed our bicycles on a train at 9 in the morning and after some transfers we were in back in Odense at half past ten in the late evening.


As we went from Hamburg towards the danish border we crossed the Kieler-channel (or the Nord-ostsee-kanal) at Rendsburg. 
I had passed the canal numerous times before, but this time I got my camera out and recorded a bit as the train circled the city to gain elevation enough to pass the canal. 

Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 5-7)

Day 5

Artern - Apolda

Data

Distance: 60 km
Average: 13,7 km/h
Maximum: 50,5 km/h
Time on bike (effective): 4 hours 25 min.

As we woke up on the fifth day of our journey the weather was pretty dull, and an old German guy was fishing besides us. We started packing our stuff and made a cup of coffee to get started. I offered a cup of black power to the fisher but he declined and instead offered me a piece of advice on rain moving in during the day.
There were some clouds in the sky, but also patches of blue sorrow less summer sky, so we concluded that the prospect of rain probably was not imminent. The first objective of that quiet morning was to find some breakfast and 5 km downstream (following the river Unstrut) we found something slightly resembling a store, although lights were of and the interior bore heavy indications of the shop being set up right after the reunification and not changing a bit in the following 18 years or so.
We left the hamlet of Schönewerda, and continued down stream following the marked Unstrut route.

As we were following a marked route we only had to go a couple of kilometers before finding a spot where there were benches and tables we could use. Breakfast went down pretty fast and as we did not have to sit on a pavement or grass while eating spirits were high.

We followed the river for some kilometers more and the turn southwards towards Wiehe. The five kilometer stretch from Rossleben to Wiehe (pop. 2000) proved more irritating than we had expected as the road was made up of noumerous materials including asphalt, gravel, bricks, stones sometimes one at a time and some times mixed together into some kind of pavement.


From Wiehe it was uphill in zig-zag turns as we left the painless security of the Unstrut valley and embarked on the conquest of new hills and mountains.
The sky was stille looming with dark clouds as we went southwards constantly going up or downhill.
We were aiming for Apolda as our next target and got there about four o clock in the afternoon. In Apolda we refueled on water (clean water not the appleinfested variant that was the only option we had earlier that day), food, and energy.

As we were going up one more hill and leaving Apolda behind us it started raining. Initially we found shelter under some trees, lit a cigarette and thought it would pass. However this turned out not to be the case, and instead the rain intensified, and the trees offered no real shelter.
In frantic flight we rode down into the forest in search of more reliable shelter as the rain hammered down with increasing intensity. We got to the bottom of the valley and found the small creek there overflooding a good part of the road. At this point we were soaking wet and any shelter could do, so we dragged ourselves under some infosigns where we could just fit.

Standing there we were laughing because of the whole situation, and because we could only see to clearly how idiotic we would look to anybody passing by, as we clung to the sign with one hand and to our bikes with the other.

After half an hour under the sign we decided to go back to Apolda (pop. 24.500) to find shelter for the night and get dry. As we went back into the rain i could see that my gears had malfunctioned and that my bike was stuck in the lowest gear. However that was not the primary concern at the time, because getting out of the rain was. A kilometer down the road we found a garage where we could sit an hour or so until the rain passed and we could limp (in first gear) back to Apolda where we found much needed shelter for the night in the Schlachthof Pension.

Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 4 and 5)

Bad Suderode-Artern

Bike route 63884 - powered by Bikemap 

Distance: 72 km
Average speed: 13,1 km/h
Max: 58,4 km/h
time on bike: 5 hours 23 min

As I woke in my hotel room on the fourth day of our trip I already had the imminent mountain climb on my mind. I went out on the balcony and looked at the mountain we had to conquer with a mixed feeling of anticipation and unpleasantness.

After we had eaten our breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we had to get to it. Not more than 1 or 2 kilometers into the day we started getting seriously acquainted with the Harz. Somehow the climb in all its sadistic steepness did not eat at my spirit the same way it had the day before because i was mentally prepared for the mountain and because i knew that one way or the other i would get to the top, and that this mountain to would come to an end.
Going down the southern slope we had a good road, no traffic and speeds on the fast side of 55 km/h hitting 58,4 km/h as the highest. The downhill ride took us to Magdesprung and then further on a scenic path to Alexisbad from were we rode Harzgerode. In Harzgerode the days first Red Bulls went into our systems and as usual our moods were lifted as we rode with the wind eastwards towards Wippra, where we ate lunch.

On the way out of the city we passed by a small theme park, and decided to have some fun by taking a slide down a hillside. By this time the sun was coming and exhibiting quite some strength - one of the few times we actually experienced a stretch of warm weather.
After spending perhaps half an hour on the slides we went uphill once more to the highest elevation of the day a good bit over 400 meter above sea-level.





From there followed a nice downhill ride to the city of Sangerhausen (31.500 inhabitants). After taking a wrong turn in the city and having to backtrack a bit we rode southwards towards Artern.

Not many kilometers out of Sangerhausen my tire went flat, and we had to make an involuntary break as I tried to fix the problem. As we were sitting in the sun and boiling while trying to fix the tire the result became a halfhearted job.
The last 10 km to Artern became a blood boiling odyssey with endless pumping of my front tire, and exponentially increasing levels of anger and hunger. In the end however we got to Artern (6.100 inhabitants) were we found the only kebab vendor in town and had a well deserved kebab-feast. The evening was progressing and we had to find a place to sleep, and we decided that somewhere along the river Unstrut.

We followed a regional bicycle path along the river but initially we found it filled with evil flying ants and ended running downsteam with ants all over shouting "get them off, get them off!".
A couple of kilometers down stream however we found a good patch of insect free patch of grass by a river lock, where we settled for the night.

Travel blog: Bicycling in Germany July 2008 (Day 3)

Calberlah-Bad Suderode

Data:
Distance : 114 km
Average : 17,7 km/h
Maximum : 55,1 km/h
Time on bike : 6h 25 min

As we woke on the third day of our journey the neigh-on magic feeling of the previous evening had vaporised together with our water, which we had used most of the previous evening to make tea and coffee. As we gathered our things from the grass and drank the last half liter of water a cloudy and quiet morning was unfolding.

We had to backtrack approximately 1 km to get to a supermarket in Calberlah, where we could get breakfast and other supplies for the day.
As we were pretty hungry and thirsty we choose to eat our breakfast in the parking lot in front of the store, not exactly the most idyllic of places but we got our stomachs filled and spirits lifted.


As we wanted to avoid going through Braunschweig and Wolfsburg we headed in the direction of the old market town Königslutter am Elm (16,500 inhabitants).

Almost 20 km away from Königslutter we could already spot the Elm hills south of the city.

After a quick red bull in Königslutter we set out to get up our first 8 km climb up to the top of the Elm hills. The first 5 km were manageable but at that point I was starting to melt down. Mathias was strolling alongside nearly 40 kilos lighter than me and with no real effort. In the end however I got up to the summit.
Although the hill was covered with forest and we did not get a view it felt pretty good to get up there and still be able to go on (after a break or two).


On the way down from the hills we got our first misty view of the Harz mountains which were about 50 km further south.

After passing some lower rolling hills we got to the old BDR/DDR border at the river Grosser Graben. After we had passed the border the villages we passed through changed character and became more closely knit.
The buildings were more worn out with a closed workshop or two in many of the villages.

Not more than some 7 km after crossing the old border we began the next climb up the Huy hills. We had 14 km on the way up, the first 10 relatively low degree and the last 3 km was a sick 10 degree and in places even 12+ degree steep climb were I had to give up for a minute or three. Dragging my bike up the hill trying to get some badly needed oxygen into my lungs.

Going down from the hilltop we turned more east which was perfect as the wind was coming in from the west. The next 12-15 km into Halberstadt (39,500 inhabitants) were a pure joy ride: downhill with the wind pushing us on 32-35 km/h all the way. After Halberstadt we turned south once more towards the next destination which was the historic town of Quedlinburg - a UNESCO World heritage site.

The Harz mountains, which had been periodically visible for us since we rode down the Elm hills, were now closing in on us, although we had bypassed the High Harz as we rode eastwards. From Quedlinburg we had some 8 km to Bad Suderode (1,900 inhabitants).

On the way the sun, mountains and clouds were creating a really nice scene as we rode the last stretch of the day.


In Bad Suderode we found a pretty cheap hotel (€30 pr. person incl. breakfast), and had a couple of hours to go around town and the watch the Tour de France on television. The city, a thermal spa resort, was a peculiar mix of abandoned hotels and buildings side by side with still running hotels and pensions that seemed to be doing OK.

The impression made by Bad Suderode fitted well with the descriptions of similar spa towns in "Lonely Planet - Germany". The book mentioning that these spa towns of the Harz had a rough start in 1990 as the unification opened the world to the inhabitants of the DDR who, given the choice, preferred the sunny beaches of Southern Europe.

However this development was in many places slowly turned, and growing numbers were apparently visiting the Harz once more, although the Eastern Harz (where we were) still was quiet and relatively undisturbed.

See the route on bikemap.net