I'm currently on a bike tour from Frankfurt to Toulouse and posting progress updates to toulouse-2024.aapo.kii.so.

The school semester is over here in Kiruna and the Midnight Sun is shining! 🌄

I'll still be staying here for some weeks to work on a summer project for IRF, but in July it's time to return to Finland for a bit before moving to Toulouse, France for the next year of the SpaceMaster program.

Mom was visiting me over the weekend and we decided to make a quick visit to Lofoten islands, as they are only a few hours' drive away from Kiruna.

Vappusima on the 1st of May (Vappu in Finnish) is as ubiquitous as the tippaleipä and/or vappumunkki that go with it. It's a sparkling sweet drink perfect for springtime.

I've been aiming to slim my bike pack size to get rid of the rear rack and panniers. In this vein, I just got myself a sleeping mat the size of a soda can, the Therm-a-Rest UberLite, and a light summer quilt, the Cumulus Quilt 150. These fit snugly in my front fork bag (the Ortlieb Fork-Pack 5.8L), which is insane!

It's going to be really interesting to test these out once the weather warms up. The Uberlite has a shoddy track record with leaks and punctures, so I'm hoping this one holds up. The Cumulus Quilt is high quality down, but I'm a bit unsure if it ends up being too cold after all. On paper, it is as warm as my old sleeping bag (comfort +9C), but due to its much smaller pack size, it is considerably thinner.