| 7-Münster, DE | 8-Aabenraa, DK | 9-Borby | 10-Eksjö | 11-Stenberga | 12-Stenberga - Reunion Day! |
| 13-Brevik | 14-Brevik | 15-Ljungskile | 16-Ljungskile | 17-Gothenburg | 18-Gothenburg |
| 19-Gothenburg | 20-Stena (Kiel)-Home |
Tuesday, July 7, 2026
Münster
Overall map link (approximate)
Today’s map link
Months ago my sister started the ball rolling of a “Swedish Reunion” (oooh – would that make it a “meat” ball? A “Swedish meatball?” hahaha. Sorry). She has kept in contact over the years with many of our Swedish relatives (from my mother’s side of the family) and devised a plan to get much of that side of the family together this summer. Dan and I made plans to be at the reunion, but we were going to make it interesting (read: complicated): we were going to rent a van and bring the new Hondas with us. And camp.
This would be a 100% new way of traveling for us, and we were going to learn a lot.
We picked up the van (a Toyota ProAce Max cargo van) from Settelen, a local rental place in our neighborhood that specializes in renting out trucks for moving house. That meant that there was absolutely nothing in the cargo area: just a big, open space for us to pack in our stuff. It was a learning experience for sure, with the biggest hurdle figuring out how to best secure the two motorcycles in the back of the van. I left Dan in charge of this while I toted our bags of clothing and bins of camping and motorcycle gear down to the van. We had a lot of gear for this trip mostly because the phrase “Let’s bring it – we have a VAN!” was commonly spoken while figuring out what to take. It took us 1.5 hours to get things sorted and secured – not bad for a first attempt! We were soon saying “Goodbye” to the cats and the cat sitters and heading for the German autobahn.
Early packing chaos
While the autobahn is a fast road, there were no less than half a dozen construction zones on our route and we did not make very good time. The construction zones were often massive, with a build-up of many kilometers before we even got to the work site, and then the road narrowed down for the many kilometers of the work itself. And here I was, driving a new-to-me van, still trying to adapt to the size, how it handles, and where my tires were.
I have to really give credit to the drivers on the autobahn, as they really understand (and follow!) the rules of the road. I was giving 100% of my attention to the drivers around me (How fast am I approaching the truck in front of me? How fast is that car approaching from behind? Do I have time to pull out and pass before they reach me? How fast AM I going, anyway?) it was mentally draining. But when I signaled that I wanted to move over, the approaching car also moved over (if there was room), thereby giving me the space I needed. People were very aware of their surroundings and generally considerate of other vehicles’ actions.
We broke up the day’s drive by stopping at a little winery that we had first visited last summer with a couple of friends. Dan had really enjoyed the wine he had brought home last time, and since it was on the way and “we have a VAN!”, why not swing by and pick up some more? It was rather amusing as when we introduced ourselves to the owner of the winery, he smiled and said that he remembered us. Or probably more accurately, he remembered our wine-loving friends who had bought an obscene amount of wine on their visit. Regardless, he was very quick to get us the wine from Dan’s list, which we promptly packed in the VAN! and we were once again on our way north.
We have room – we have a VAN!
My childhood friend from a high school exchange program lives in Münster, Germany, and we made arrangements to stay with her and her husband for the night. We don’t get to see each other very often so this was a great chance to catch up again. We parked the van in one of the city’s parking lots overnight, walked to their apartment and then had a wonderful dinner and evening together.
It was a great start to our holiday, and it felt good to know that we were already so far north.