This beautiful drawing was sent to me one night at 5AM by Argentinian Enrique Demarchi (who I’ve never met) as a recognition for my solo female cycling. “Not everyone would get on a bicycle and pedal through South America, especially as a woman”, he said and added that it’s something remarkable. As I know I’m not the only one, I want to dedicate this drawing on to all solo female cyclists, especially those eight who have inspired and keep on inspiring me along my way. Here’s who they are!

In February 2017, I was asked to participate in the Paraguayan TV show Mandiorama. Now, six months after the episode Viajeros (Travellers) came out, I finally got to see it myself! And just in case you all also want to see what me and fellow traveller, Favio Patiño were asked by Patrick Altamirano, here you go with our spectacular (!) TV appearance (in Spanish).

Have you ever wondered where your roots are, where your ancestors come from? I sure have. Why? Because A) our family history from my father’s side is quite blurry, B) strangers in Finland often tend to speak to me in English, saying I don’t look like a Finn (whatever that means…) and C) I feel so at home in Latin countries, I wonder if there’s any historic explanation to it (my dad loves to tell the story of a French organ grinder’s blood running in his veins). So, guess what? I’ve decided to do a DNA test!

When I began cycling in Latin America, this blog didn’t exist. I had another one, very basic and random, aimed mainly at my family and friends. However, the more I cycled, the more I wanted to start blogging for whoever was interested in joining me for the ride. So, in the end of August 2016, I created Strangerless. And now, only two months later, I’m daily thinking about quitting it. Here’s why.

Making new friends as an adult can often times be even more difficult than finding a partner (provided you’re looking for one). For “romantic” purposes there’s Tinder, online dating sites, bars and whatnot, but how about a database for likeminded people? Where is it that you meet potential friends (when not rock climbing…)? 

A while ago I posted an article about my meeting with German blogger, Jens Lüdecke. On the same day, on the ferry from Stockholm to Turku, I met an amazing woman named Diana Bancale. She’s an Italian blogger (they were on a blogger trip to visit the Finnish archipelago) who writes about solo female traveling on her blog in viaggio da sola.

Me and blogger Jens Lüdecke from Overlandtour met on Viking Grace (cruise ship going from Stockholm-Turku) this summer, as I was on my way home from TBEX (Travel Blogger Exchange) and Jens on a blogger trip to visit the Finnish archipelago. We had a nice connection and a week ago Jens published an interview with me on his blog www.overlandtour.de.