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.

One of the few perks of living in Kiruna are the various natural phenomena in the sky above.

I thought it would be interesting to write up a "favorite board games" post once per year to see how my preferences evolve.

After a few months of darkness, the Sun is decidedly above the horizon again here in Kiruna. We've had some beautiful winter days these last couple of weeks.

This is taken from Gruvstadsparken, a once urban area now reshaped into a park due to it no longer being safe for permanent housing.