I can understand why everyone travels in August: School is out; it is really the hottest month of the summer – at least where I’m from; etc. This is great for hostels and other travel related businesses, but not the unprepared traveller (like myself). I don’t like to plan too far ahead. I like to have my options open just in case I hear of something cool near by. Anyway, this resulted in having to plan to ahead. I struggled to find places to Denmark that had rooms available for a reasonable price, but now I have my entire Denmark trip booked. Sad, I know. At least I know I have places to stay.

I do, however, have an entire month unbooked. I just recently booked my travels to Iceland. I travel there at the beginning of October. I’ve heard stories of Iceland being like no other country in landscape and culture. So naturally I’m very excited to go there. But that is the future and I can only speculate about it.

Currently, I’m in Odense, Denmark. Which is on Funen island. I didn’t want to go here originally, but I ended up here due to the booking problems I mentioned earlier. However, there is nothing wrong with the city. It is quite small and relaxed. Turns out it is the hometown of fairy tale writer H.C. Anderson. Who has written such fairy tales as Thumbelina, The Princess and The Pea, and The Little Mermaid – click here for a full list. I’m here for 3 nights, which is probably too much, but I’m going to attempt a day trip out to a harbour town tomorrow.

It’s been about a week since I left Skye. Leaving the Backpackers was definitely as sad as leaving home. In many ways it was my home. Even though it was basically a live-in job, but it didn’t feel like one. I know I will find myself back there one day.

Now I find myself traveling Sweden. I spent my first few days in Stockholm. Last I was there was January of this year. It was in a very gloomy state at that time. Irregardless of this, it was still a good experience with lots to see. This time around it was even better however. It did rain all but 2 of the 5 nights I was there and, well, pretty much rained at some point every day, but I still had an incredible time.

I seemed to arrive just in time for a big party. August 8, 2008 or 08/08/08. I understand that Stockholms telephone code is 08, so they usually have a party every August 8th. This one obviously even more special given the current year. It was a massive street party with techno music taking place in the city’s main square. I don’t want to sound like a drag and it would have been great had I been in a different frame of mind – read as drunk – but if you’ve seen a bunch of drunks in the street before, you didn’t miss much by not attending this event. It seemed that everyone was enjoying themselves however, but I preferred to get away from the action and have a sneaky pint in a quiet pub away from the action.

The highlight of my time Stockholm this time around had to be visiting an island in the Archipelago. I went to an island called Grinda. Which seemed to most peaceful – and the cheapest to get to - out of all the choices I was given. There were a lot of little trails around the island, some nice viewing points and swimming areas. It was a small island so it only took me about 3 hours to explore with having lunch and drinking a pint. If I found myself back in Stockholm I’d probably check more of the islands and I highly recommend doing this to anyone who happens to find themselves in Stockholm.

Today, I’m in Malmö. Malmö is the third largest city in Sweden after Stockholm and Göteborg. I feel that it is about the right size for me. I don’t like massive cities, they are a bit too overwhelming and far less personable. Mind you larger cities do have their advantages as well. I don’t really know what else to say about it. Malmö is a nice city, given the right weather, you can spend some time on the beach or wander one of the many parks. I’m actually really impressed with the parks here. Anyway, visit Malmö.