Week 24: Kokemäki, Hämeenlinna

Hometowns, home hoods and foods, family and friends.

Welcome to our weekly recap! This one's for June 12th-18th, which is week 24, 2014.

What did I learn: I keep on learning about the difference of needs and wants. We've been traveling with hand luggage only for six months now. Of that, we left a few kilos out before hiking the Camino, keeping only the bare minimum. I don't think I missed a single item during the whole time, as I didn't miss anything after we downsized last October. But now that we have a car here, and we have some extra "free" space that we find ourselves filling with all kinds of important stuff (we suddenly need a hammock, a picnic blanket and whatnot). The minimalist mindset can turn around in a blink, apparently.

Food love: Plain, boiled new potatoes are an essential part of Finnish Summer food. I could consider them a meal by themselves, especially with butter.

Surprise of the week: It's not the first time I've come back to the home country, after being abroad for a while. Every time it surprises me that there are no big surprises waiting for me. And I've started to really appreciate that. It's nice to be somewhere familiar, at least once in a while...

Tip of the week: The weather in Finland is quite unpredictable. If you plan a trip here for Midsummer, the temperature can be anything from 0C to 30C (and below freezing in the night), sunny or rainy or both. It was even snowing this week (well, more like sleet and hail). So pack your bag accordingly. :)

Workwise: Our parents' places are not designed for laptopreneurs. It's been surprisingly hard to find good working spots. The other thing is, that it seems to be hard for them to grasp the concept of working from home. - Oh, you are working today too? - Umm, yes, that's what people do, right?

Most memorable moment: It's not that often that we have a car, so I tend to remember all those moments we have some trouble with them. We get to use my parent's barely-holding-together second car here. On Monday it didn't start, no sound, no reaction whatsoever. Luckily we were at my parent's place and not on the road somewhere! The funniest thing was our reaction to the prospect of not having a car for the Summer after all: well, we'll just change our plans then, no biggie.

Random thought: When in a familiar place, it's hard to actually see your surroundings, to be aware of all its details. Everything just is. We decided that we need to make an extra effort and really keep looking around with eyes of a foreign traveler. Looking through the viewfinder of a camera seems to help.

Summer night in Finland.

Walking home at 3 AM.

Summer sky.

Midsummer roses are blooming now.

And that's it for our week. How was yours?

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This post is part of Instagram Travel Thursday and all the pics are from our Instagram account. Instagram Travel Thursday ia a gathering of Instagram related blog posts every week. You can find a list of other participating posts, or add your own post, at Destination Unknown, Skimbaco Lifestyle or at many other hosts' sites. You can also participate by tagging your Instagram pics with #igtravelthursday.