Day 140 | Monday August 1
So July has passed now and in just a month it will get autumn. To only reason that I have to think about this is because I need to be ahead of the winter in Russia. It will get very cold there and it might not be possible to charge the bar then. But I’m right on schedule.
I thanked the nice people from Hotel Seurahoune for their hospitality and left to Ilmajoki, again more into the countryside, my route through Finland has been zigzagging, just as I like it to be. It was about a 170km and here in Finland I am sure that I will make that every time as the roads are very flat, so no range anxiety.
My host was Michel, a Dutch man who found me through a Facebook post of the Dutch Embassy in Helsinki. He lives here with his wife and 3 boys. All big football fans, when I drove up on their road they were playing a game and wearing a Barcelona and Ajax shirt. I felt at home. Michel met his wife in Amsterdam were she was studying for doctor. While in Amsterdam they got their first kid and when she got her master degree they moved to Finland. first they lived a few years in Tampere and later moved to Ilmajoki.
Michel works as an English – Dutch translator. He mainly works from home and tought me how to do this to. Might be useful when I need money some time because you can do this from anywhere you want. Michel does this work fulltime and earns a decent income by now.
His wife just finally finished her doctoral study after 15 years with an specialization in genealogist.
They life in an idyllic place and they space they have here is unimaginable for me. They believe living sustainable is important and are thinking about getting a wind generator in the garden. The heat in the house they produce with pellet fuel, biofuels made from compressed organic matter or biomass. Once a year a big truck comes by and fills a huge storage room with these pellets. A cilinder pumps up the wooden pieces and makes heat from it. There is a tiny amount of co2 released by this but its sucked up by the trees surrounding the house so this makes it carbon neutral, an interesting system.
After dinner we played a 2×2 football “match” with the kids. It was a long time ago I played and enjoyed doing it. I realized I really need to start working on my condition, it’s getting worse every week. I lost 4 kilos though but just because of not eating regularly. Russia is going to be topsport so better stay sharp!
Pictures of today
