One of the advantages that is usually highlighted with roof tents is the freedom and flexibility - that you do not have to plan the travel route so carefully. Tina Persson and daughter Emmy took this to the extreme when they set out on a week-long rooftop tent adventure in Summer Sweden - and let the dice decide where they would go.
This trip was made during the summer of 2022.
Emmy, age 9, rolls a dice. The number shown will be the page of the map book their next destination is on. Tina opens the spread and spins the map book around, around. Emmy closes her eyes and puts her finger down. Straight on... Gryts Archipelago , just south of Valdemarsvik. Chance is what determines where Tina and Emmy pitch the roof tent for the night during their Blunda-point-ride adventure.
A couple of days earlier, the two roof tent novices have left the terraced house in Karlstad. A stop with a bath at the limestone quarry and a midsummer celebration with friends in Kungsör served as a warm-up.
Tina describes herself as a "not very handy" mother and Emmy as a patient daughter who is quite used to various mishaps.
- Our previous camping experience has been a mobile home, with varying degrees of success, and tents on the ground that have been cold, bare, too hot...we are more hotel-oriented if you say so, says Tina.
Now they face a week in a roof tent and don't know more about the upcoming journey than that they want to work their way down to Malmö and back, because Emmy would like to watch the recording of the TV program Sommarlov. Courageously!
After a week on the road, we call Tina to find out how it went.
• Now tell us about your trip! What did you do apart from driving and camping?
We bathed! The Uskavi limestone quarry , the Baltic Sea, Mälaren, Ullvettern ... and then we took the opportunity to visit friends' wonderful midsummer celebration outside Kungsör. The mentioned Summer vacation recording and city strolling in Malmö... And then we ended up in Båstad after a small air pressure incident - and it was lucky, because we found super tasty churros there.
• Your trip really took you to completely unexpected places, which is your favorite place?
- But Skåne is fantastic! It feels so exotic with the white beaches and the warm sea. And the parking lot in Åsa or if it was Bua on the west coast. Sunset and we could sit in the roof tent and enjoy the golden hour. It looked and felt like we were parked on the beach, even though we were standing next to other campers.
• It was the first time in a roof tent for both of you. What did 9-year-old Emmy think of the experience?
- She thought it was fun, but that we were gone a little too long. It wears out not having facilities such as toilet and shower after more than three or four days. After five days in a roof tent, it was therefore one night in a hotel in Malmö, and it was nice.
• Since you weren't so planned, I'm guessing that some unexpected things happened during the trip?
- Yes, you can safely say that! The free-wheeling pony when we parked at a homestead in Valdemarsvik (check out Tina's insta stories!). All of a sudden it was outside the paddock below our roof tent. It was very funny when I tried to move it, it refused to move, stood still and chewed grass. Then his horse friends came to the paddock, and suddenly the horse crawled between the fences and back in to the friends. The next morning he was under the roof tent again!
• How was it possible to find places to stand?
- It took some time. Since, for obvious reasons, I had to drive the whole time, I couldn't keep track of the map. So we did a lot of searching. Many places in southern Sweden are stingy with places to stand. There are a lot of prohibitions against mobile homes, unfortunately, and standing on a campsite spoils the feeling, I think.
• What was the best part of your roof tent trip?
- Freedom! And the ability to easily drive into a city and do something, then find a beautiful place, cook, swim... and sleep comfortably in the roof tent.
• What was the worst?
- Looking for shower facilities.
• Something you missed to take with you in the pack?
- Emmy is incredibly organized and had sorted out all the packing. We had a system of bags and bags in categories in the car. It helped tremendously. But our charger was a little bad, so we needed a power bank. Then it's always nice to have camping chairs and tables etc... but it's a luxury more than a must.
• Best thing to have in the pack?
- Snacks, a damn good playlist and flashlight.
Do you have any tips for others who are considering making the same trip?
- Just do it! That's wonderful.
- We fell in love with roof camping to such an extent that we have now acquired our own. This summer we have been out for a total of almost twenty nights. Emmy thinks it's cozy to have like a hut on the roof and even wants to use the tent as an extra room at home!
