Sorry about the shitpost.
I've decided to treat myself and am saving up for a nicer bike and bag setup, before hopefully crossing part of Denmark next year.
Until then … any recommendations on routes to take going north to south from Hirtshals?
I've heard it's the headwind direction (:
I'm Norwegian, but have been there only once as a kid.
However I'm thinking of cycling through Denmark next summer, and Skagen would be a natural place to officially start off after arriving in Hirtshals.
I know some people dislike it when sailing channels become boat building channels. Both of my favourites did so at the same time. But god damn, this electrified ‘72 Pearson 36 is turning out badass af.
I'm 26 years old and I have the equivalent of $75,000 USD in savings. Most of it is from working full-time for a year and a half while minimizing my expenses.
Being Norwegian, our tax incentives are a bit different than in the U.S. I have about $12,000 invested in index funds, and $6,000 in a government-sponsored savings account called "Young People's Housing Savings" with a 6.2% interest rate.
The rest is (for now) in a savings account with 4.8% interest. That might sound stupidly low long-term, but it's because I'm unsure of when I'll be buying a home.
I'd love to put it all in index funds and start building up more compound interest. If I don't retire early, I at least don't want to feel dependent on my paychecks when I get older. However, I might also need the money in a couple of years, and don't want to risk anything.
I feel like keeping that much in a savings account is overdoing it, though, so I'm curious how you would decide on how much to invest if you were probably going to buy a home in say, the next 5 years?
I'm Norwegian, and practically grew up outdoors. Sundays were spent hiking. Vacations meant sleeping outside with family friends. I later joined the scouts and spent my teenage nights making campfires with the boys.
Because of the potential of strong winds and quick weather changes, Norway doesn't have the same culture of super-duper-lightweight hiking as some other nations. A one-to-two person dome tent weighing between 2 and 2.3 kg is considered lightweight. Those usually pack down to 8–10, max 12 liters.
Then there's the sleeping bag and the inflatable sleeping mat with an R-value of at least 3 or 4. With food and some extra clothes (a wool jumper is a must in camp, even on summer evenings), I'll usually fill a 60 liter backpack for multi-night camping.
I recently moved to attend grad school, and rely heavily on my bicycle to get around. That has made me keen on doing some bikepacking. When I don't spend vacations in the Norwegian woods, I love vacationing in Denmark, and I now have a dream of touring the country by bike.
When I look at the setups people run for bikepacking, though, (excluding those that run big panniers), I see that they usually consist of a handlebar bag, a frame bag, and a saddle bag. But the handlebar and saddle bags usually max out at like 14–15 liters, and frame bags add maybe 5-8 on top of that.
With that in mind, is it reasonable to think that you can bikepack with a tent that packs down to 8–10 liters? Without getting a full-on rack with panniers?
KAT GET THAT RING BABY!