Albert Weckman: Arctic Finland Expedition—300km Solo Through Lapland’s Remote Wilderness

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What drives someone to venture deep into Arctic Finland—alone, for a month—armed with just a packraft, backpack, and wilderness grit?

In this episode, I sit down with Finnish adventurer and political scientist Albert Weckman—also known for his YouTube and Instagram project Wilderness Bastards—to unpack his epic 300km solo expedition through the wild heart of Finnish Lapland.

We cover Albert’s early connection to Finland’s vast archipelagos and forests, his formal survival training in harsh Arctic conditions, and the mindset shifts required for long solo adventures.

Albert shares the highs and lows of his month-long trek through four remote regions:

• The Vatsari Wilderness, Finland’s wildest terrain bordering Russia and Norway
• The daunting Lake Inari, Finland’s third-largest lake, known for brutal winds
• The swampy and mountainous Hammastunturi Wilderness
• The tranquil Lemmenjoki National Park, where his journey concludes

We dive into the unexpected moments—like a chance meeting with Bosnian fishermen who offered him beer and a Snickers—and explore deeper themes: mental resilience, the myth of needing expensive gear, and how solitude in the wild transforms your perspective.

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be totally alone in the Arctic, this episode delivers.

What You’ll Learn:

• How growing up in Finland’s archipelago shaped Albert’s adventurous mindset
• The brutal reality of survival training in minus 20°C with no food or shelter
• Why planning safety in remote solo expeditions is absolutely non-negotiable
• Packrafting lessons from crossing Lake Inari with 40kg of gear
• How adventure isn't about fancy equipment—but simple, deliberate experiences

Resources & Mentions:

• Wilderness Bastards (Instagram & YouTube): Instagram | YouTube
• A Life on Our Planet by David Attenborough
• BioSur Foundation, Costa Rica (Rainforest Conservation): Website
• Lake Inari: More Info
• Lemmenjoki National Park: More Info

Chapters

• 0:00 Survival Training in Swedish Lapland
• 1:25 Introduction to The Adventure Diaries Podcast
• 1:48 Meet Albert Weckman: The Wilderness Bastard
• 4:00 Albert's Childhood and Connection to Nature
• 7:24 The Finnish Way of Life and Nature
• 13:33 Albert's Wilderness Guide Training
• 17:06 The Solo Expedition: Planning and Challenges
• 19:51 Survival Training in Swedish Lapland
• 23:02 The Importance of Safety and Preparation
• 23:45 The Solo Expedition: Packrafting and Fishing
• 39:02 Midnight Sun Adventures
• 39:48 Facing Rapids and Capsizing
• 42:07 Journey Through Wilderness Areas
• 44:56 Wildlife Encounters
• 46:45 Fishing and Daily Routines
• 47:40 Mental Challenges of Solitude
• 49:49 Battling Mosquitoes
• 51:19 Random Encounter with Bosnians
• 52:40 Reaching the Final Destination
• 54:07 Reflecting on the Expedition
• 56:46 Future Plans and Closing Thoughts

Transcript

 We had our last survival training just before I finished the wheel dress guide program in Swedish lab plant in winter. And that was one a week minus switch degrees. No sleeping bag, no, no food, no nothing. We just had a a knife, fire, steel, the clothes on your body, and then we had the blanket, but the blanket only covered up until to my, basically my legs.

Wow. Was, that was maybe, I would say my most interesting. That was the toughest experience that I'd had for at least the coolest experience when I arrived to Humma Lincoln Wilderness Area, which is just basically mount of swamps and rivers. I came to my first fast running water or first rapids with this, everything just to have in the water and I had to dive after it and just pick up, pick everything up one piece at the time.

And of course there was nothing else I could do. I could just save the situation and drag everything as shore. It went away, but still, I got the camera out and my camera equipment, it, it was gone for the moment, so I could not use it anymore. I must say that I used a few curse words in that situation.

Paddling across Finland's, third largest lake with a pack craft, fully packed with who were 40 kilos of equipment. I could say that was an interesting experience. Uh, in the middle of that, I just thought to myself, was this a good idea? Welcome to the Adventure Diaries Podcast, where we share tales of adventure, connection, and exploration from the smallest of creators to the larger than life adventures.

We hope their stories inspire you to go create your own extraordinary adventures. And now your host, Chris Watson. Welcome to another episode of The Adventure Diaries. Today I'm joined by Albert Weckman, a Finn Adventurer Wilderness Guide, and the man behind the wilderness bastards as they're known on socials.

Albert recently completed a one month solo expedition through the remote wilderness of Finnish Lapland, covering over 300 kilometers by foot and pack graft. Albert carried everything on his back over 40 kilos of gear as he hiked through forests, swamps, and rocky ridges and paddling across vast windswept lakes.

There were no resupplies, no shortcuts, and no safety nets, just Albert, the wilderness and the physical and mental weight of going alone. This wasn't a journey or expedition about breaking records. It was about slowing down, confronting solitude and learning how far you can push yourself in the wild. What happens when there's no signal, no help, and every step is your own responsibility?

Well, that's what Albert set out to explore. His reflections from this journey are honest, raw, and deeply personal. What an episode this is. So settle in and enjoy this fantastic conversation with Albert Weckman. Albert Weckman, welcome to the Adventure Diaries. How are you? Thank you, Chris. I'm fine. Thanks for having me.

Yeah, it is a pleasure buddy. So, yeah, so thanks for joining that, Albert. The, the, the purpose and the crux of the conversation today is really to get into your finished Lapland, your expedition in the Arctic, in Finland. So a 300 kilometer, one month solo expedition pack, rafting, hiking, camping in the finished back country, which really captivated me, which is why I reached out.

So I really want to get into that. Shine the light on Finland, on on Arctic, Finland in the back country in particular, and step through just that journey. But. Before we get into that, I would like to roll back a little bit and really understand more about you as a person. So what it was like for young Albert growing up in Finland.

Formative experiences. So, yeah, so where, where did you grow up, Albert, and what was your first exposure to To the wilderness? I grew up in the countryside and in the algo. We had a summer house or still have a summer house in the algo, Finland. Actually, for those who do not know, Finland actually has the largest algo in the world in, in number of islands.

So I think it's estimated about 80,000 or so island. So as a kid, this meant that I was outside all the time, all summer long. And then of course during the winter period here in Finland, that's another matter that still, we spent a lot of, spent a lot of time outside. So this was a part of growing up and especially.

At our summer cottage, it was a lot of running around the forest fishing, fishing in the Gulf of Finland and then we were, did a lot of skiing in winter. So the interest in nature for me has always been quite strong and in our family overall has been quite strong. So my, my parents raised me and my two brothers to spend a lot of time outta nature.

That was quite central I would say. So everything from making firewood to doing work outside, which is of force, fostering as a child, this is quite funny. And somehow I think describing that nowadays, I actually consider chopping wood is one of my favorite things to do during holiday. So it's stuck with me, but struggle back to the early days.

Some of my, I would say my strongest childhood memories would be actually tied to nature quite closely. So. For instance, the excitement of catching your first fish and then you just continue doing that and learning how to build a fire, foraging for mushrooms, bird watching with my parents. So even as a kid, I've always had a sense of freedom in relation to always when you were it outside, it's, it felt like there were a lot of possibilities, but I guess this is a feeling that most of us get when we are outside and in nature.

This was the early years and, and during the early years, I did not do that much of long hikes of course, but this came late later on. Yes. And then when I became a teenager, there was a lot of, a lot of, uh, hobbies included skiing and cross country skiing and track and field. And through impeding you get this urge to.

Do something physical and here is, this is always something, uh, I think that I nowadays combine with my nature interest. It's the pure interest to go out in nature and spend time in nature, but also that you like somehow like to suffer a little bit physically when while doing so. So this is, I was saying like the background Yeah.

And key point there suffering, which, and we'll come to some of that when we get into the expedition. I think some of these long extended adventures are dotted with extreme challenges, pain and all the other type two stuff that, that, that goes with it. But can I ask from a cultural sides o of thing, uh, is that a Finnish way of life?

Because getting out into the country and being very much immersed in nature, is that a typical, is that a typical experience of a typical Finnish person? I would say that most people have quite some kind of linked to nature as we are looking at the map and looking at Finland. It's not a, it's not a densely populated country from an international perspective.

We might just have one large city, which is Helsinki, and of course everything is relative. But I think that a lot of people, at least where I grew up in the countryside, when you go out in the backyard, there is nothing else to do than actually just go out in the forest or run the fields. I would say that's, and also due to the fact that we have such a large archipelago and we have about 188,000 lakes in Finland.

So this naturally all means that people actually have a lot of, or actually spend time in these places, spend time in nature. So I would say, of course it differs from person to person, but I would say that at least I. Those. I know they actually, they love going outside. They love to spend time in nature.

Maybe not long hikes of course, because that is, that's another level that there is an urge to not sit out inside all the time. And we have to remember that a large time, large proportion of the year in Finland, it's quite dark and potentially cold, especially up north. Which means that in summer and spring when you actually have a lot of lights, potentially nice weather, people tend to go outside.

Yes. To answer your question, I, I think it's, I think it's quite beep rooted actually. Culturally speaking also. Yeah. The amount of lakes that's sta and the islands and the archipelago, that's staggering. I, there's about 30,000 in Scotland, which I thought was quite staggering and considering the size of the kind of countries, that's huge.

Did you spend a lot of time on the water? Why? Actually our summer house, it's always when you have a summer cottage along the coast, you have a boat or two, which had that during my past time as a youngster, I did it for my own boat and my parents, of course let me have this smaller wooden boats, which was sometimes stable and sometimes unstable.

But then with that, I drove around in algo and then a lot of fishing and later actually we started to do kayaking also. And this has, kayaking has actually become a quite important part for me. Also, I love spending time at the water, and especially kayaking since you, you actually get so close to the surface.

Being out at sea has been, or and still is quite in forth, but since I grew up in the Archipelago and along the coast, I was, I didn't, in my younger years, I didn't spend so much time in, in the lakes or around the lakes in inner fiddled. So this has actually become a larger interest for me to actually spend more time in Lake Finland or inner field.

And this I think is also a reason why I, I always get dragged back up north because that's actually swamp mountains and lakes. So it's, yeah. Fantastic. Got to ask then. So you are a political scientist by day and dare I say, a wilderness bastard party by the weekend. And for those that may think that is an insult, it is not.

It is. It is your Instagram handle where you share some of your amazing adventures, I think Do Is that with one of your friends as well that's on that Al Albert? Yes, actually, yes. Together with one of my friends who actually also, we did this wilderness guide program together and, and after that we started to do a lot of.

Longer hikes together. And then we and I, I have always documented everything when out hiking and taking photos and filming, but then I noticed that I have hundreds of hours, thousands of photos and, and not really doing anything with it. Maybe we'll just start at a channel. So on that road, what was the inspiration for the name?

I think my answer must be so dull as to say that I just, I thought about it and what kind, what, what would sell, what people recognize, what could people see? And this is also, of course, unfortunate that the case nowadays that you need a catchy lane. And none of us, by definition, no, none of us, is a bod.

They just thought about the wilderness bastard. Let's go with that. It, it worked because I, the reason that I found you was through a comment that you made on a video. For someone that I, that I had interviewed, I think it was Dykes actually, his recent thing and was it done something down in South Central America And I seen that you'd commented on it and I seen the name and I clicked on it straight away and then went down the rabbit hole watching all your videos and stuff like that.

And then came 'cause world first. So I think, yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's a great, it's a great brand. It is catchy. And for anyone that's watching and listening, it will be linked. But go and have a look at the content. It's great. It's fantastic. And particularly your cooking, your outdoor cooking's quite, quite captivating as well.

The bread, the pizza bread. And I must say that outdoor cooking is not my strongest size. Something. Yeah, it looks like it's doing the trick. So I like it's to, so the pizza bread and the fish and stuff, it does look, the part does. And always when I go out hiding with frames, I try to make them make the food.

Yeah. So rolling back a little bit then. So obviously political science, the day job, the career, but the survival and wilderness skills. So putting aside what you've had exposure to growing up, did you undertake like formal training and guiding and stuff then, and what did that entail? I would say that going back to the beginning of the Wilderness Guide period, I started university in 2013 and shortly after I figured that, well, I'm getting a bit restless and I still, I was living in the same city where I'm living right now in, in Portico, which is Southwestern Field.

And then I thought then I don't really remember why or how noticed that there was, I didn't even know that there was a Wilderness Guide program. So this was a new thing for me and then I saw it. On the internet. And then I just thought that this would be a good combination, I guess, to academia. And then when you don't have energy to read and write, then just go out in the wilderness.

So I don't think that my, and still up to this day, my main intention was not to start guiding per se. It was, it was more to actually increase your own capability to carry yourself when going out and expeditions. And I would say that without this training, formal training, especially this survival training, which gives you, in my opinion, really good perspective on of, of things, suddenly normal hikes do not feel that bad.

So it's Or that tough necessarily. So this was. The background. And the cool thing about this Wilderness program, well Wilderness Guide program was that you could actually choose from a variety of topics that you would like to specialize in. Everything from kayaking to survival, to climbing, mountain climbing and and so forth.

So there was a lot of things to choose from. For me, it felt like standing in a candy store almost, that this is really cool. And so I thought to myself, this is a really cool study program. Let's, let's apply it to this. And of course, when you're studying at university, luckily you are quite flexible and I'm still quite flexible today.

So you had time and the possibility to actually go and do these things. And I remember that our first wilderness guide course was actually a one a week. Get to know your classmates, hike up in Lapland. So that was the introduction. And after that introduction, I just thought, I think we hit the jackpot here.

So I think this is. And maybe we'll get to the survival work part, but I am the, the reason why I chose survival was not really because I've been, somehow, I've never been a huge, huge fan or have never done a lot of bushcraft, these technical things. It was more of a mental thing for me. But if you are going to be the wilderness guide, and if you are to guide people out in remote wilderness areas, you need to know what to do if the situation would go south.

So this was the thought. And then after a couple of courses, I realized, of course this is quite tough, but so rewarding. So rewarding. And back to the physical suffering there you also get the mental suffering and not just suffering because in my opinion, after a couple of days without food or in the cool and so forth, you actually find that.

Place of peace almost. You gets used to it and you get into the routine, but yes. Yeah. Excellent. What, that's probably a perfect segue then into, in fact, actually before we had segue into the Finland, the Lapland expedition, what was the longest or what was the biggest adventure you had done before that?

Because I know you have, you've done some like hikes, long hikes in the Nordics. How, what had you done before you'd done the month Solo expedition? What made the Solo Expedition special for me was that we had, ever since I started to, to this Wheelers training and after I, I got my, my, my license in 2019.

During the past, I would say 10 to 15 years, we have done a lot of longer hikes and, but the thing, what made this special was that I've always had at some point company and I wanted to. Or actually I had planned to do this kind of a trip for a long time, but really didn't really find the, it's role to say find the time for it.

But still, I didn't just make the decision and then I thought, now is the perfect time and, and I, I believe that I'm, I'm capable of doing this and this is what I mean with survival training. And the more you hike, the more you spend time out in, in, in nature, you just get more comfortable. It was never about can I do it or not?

It was more about for how long can I do this kind of a expedition with it still being quite comfortable because I didn't want it to wa I didn't want it to be become a suffering. I wanted to enjoy the adventure. That was the main thing and. I think nowadays when I speak to people and they are planning their own hikes and they, let's say that they have one or two weeks off, they have really strict kilometers that they need to walk for a day.

And it's less about actually spending time in nature and more about actually what can I achieve during this time. So I actually knew that one month would be a perfect amount of time for me actually to, so A, actually take me from point A to point B and B, actually enjoy the moment and actually sit still for a couple of days if the situation required.

And that was a good thing that I had long, a lot of time because I had my ups and downs, which of course is always a factor. It becomes some, it becomes quite challenging when you're alone also because the planning and everything becomes a bit, uh, when you're out with someone else. You always have support, you always have someone else to plan with, talk to.

And from a safety perspective, being out alone. Without cell reception and so forth becomes another thing. But I would say the biggest adventures would be these two week hikes, the survival training one a week. We had our last survival training just before I finished the wheel dress guide program in Swedish lab plan in winter.

And that was one a week minus switch degrees. No sleeping bag, no, no food, no nothing. We just had a a knife fire, steal the clothes on your body. And then we had the blanket, but the blanket only covered up until to my, basically my legs. Wow. Was that was, uh, maybe I would say my most interesting. That was the toughest experience that I'd had before.

Excuse least the coldest experience. Hi everyone. Chris here with just a wee reminder. If you've been enjoying the stories here on the Adventure Dies, could you please take a moment to press that follow or subscribe button on Spotify or Apple Podcasts? It's such a small thing, but it makes such a huge difference to the show.

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It is really appreciated. So hit that follow button. And now let's get back to this episode. Well, I think I said to you before, I've been to in December when it was minus 20 and we had, we had all the protection and it was still bitterly cold. So that must have been an experience. Was that part of the train?

Yes, that was the, I call it the, I think it was the, the final test. We went to Sweden, to the mountains, just close to Norwegian border. And that's just fewer wilderness. And we had different scenarios, but we were held for a week, almost a week. And we had no temp smell, nothing. So we had to dig our own snow graves and snow caves and everything.

And I would say that the biggest problem or challenge in, when we speak about survival situations, we, many people think about bear rails running wild or these fiction based survival situation. But the matter of the fact is that most of survival is quite boring. The most challenging part is when you're sitting there alone and especially up north when it gets dark around 4:00 PM and light comes back around 9:00 AM or 10:00 AM And for instance, we had no headlamps.

So when you were sitting there alone after 4:00 PM and of course during the first night, I didn't even manage to get a fire going. So you are just sitting there by yourself for 16, 17 hours and it's minus 20 degrees outside you just thinking to yourself that, was this a good plan or not best split? That was, that was educational, I would say.

Wow. And as I said, uh, earlier, uh, gives you perspective and subtly hikes with full gear and tents and everything. It becomes quite nice. Yeah, that must be good from a mental resilience perspective though, especially when you get into this, the solitude nature of your month or so. But a question on that, Albert, is that a company in Finland that, that offers those types of survival courses?

Just out out of interest? There are different schools that schools offer this kind of progress. I don't know how many, but there are these progress and there are these more intense programs where you actually can do this training for a year and then you get your license, but that means that you're out all the time.

And, but I did it, our version was over three, four years, but we had every month, I would say on average one week we were somewhere and sometimes we were out for two weeks. But it depends on the situation. But yes, there are these programs. Yeah. Fantastic. So let's, I'm itching to get into, so Arctic, Finland, LA Lapland, essentially deep into the back country.

One month, 300 kilometers, pat rafting, hiking, camping, fishing, surviving mishaps, that good stuff. I'd like to step through the kinda planning the leg, the logistics. The train, the terrain, and the route Before that, before we do that, I just wanted to ask in terms of your objectives for doing that and your mission ultimately, was it, what was the thinking behind that?

Were you kind of trying to prove your skills? Were you seeking solitude? What you know? And did you have any sort of predetermined view on what would've been a success for you before you started? Of course, there are many, I would say reasons, the main reason, of course, as a competitive person, I need to be honest in this situation and honest to myself, of course, I wanted to judge myself as COKI.

I know that. I know my skill sets. I know what I can and what I cannot do. However, what does it feel like when you do it alone? That was the solitude bit. And especially since this would not be a survival, a survival scenario, it would be actually a long hike and expedition and during many weeks. So that was one part.

The second part was, since I also wrote articles about this and had sponsors so forth, was to, I think we need to, we, I think we dramatize hiking overall a bit and that you need a lot of planning ahead and you need a lot of the best gear and you always need all the skill sets in order to go out, do this kind of longer expedition like hike.

And somehow I wanted to prove that it's not that dramatic, you can actually do it. Of course, there was a lot of planning and logistics also because there, it's quite a remote place. And up north in Finland. So there's a lot of planning, practical planning, but in the end, the roots planning and everything was quite easy for me also because I was, I had been to similar areas before and I knew the terrain.

In theory, at least in practice, of course, alert the hard way that the terrain is always worse than you think. And the same thing when you go paddling. And I, of course I chose fact craft as my water vessel and it's a good pack. Craft is an excellent choice if you want to both carry it and then you want to paddle.

But paddling across the Finland's third largest lake with a pack craft, fully packed with over 40 kilos of equipment. I can say that was an interesting ex experience. Uh, in the middle of that, I just thought to myself, was this a good idea? And yeah. But. The thing is that the planning, even though the planning was, I would say quite easy, some things you can always do things better and I tried to, the most important part for this in terms of planning was to safety issue and that is always something that you cannot exaggerate it because when you are alone out in the these large, vast wilderness area without cell reception, you would really need to think every step that you take, especially with a large Mac factor in your back and you are exhausted and not, maybe not thinking straight and maybe you have been sleeping, you slept for two hours, and then you start again.

Then you just push yourself. So it's yes, to answer your question, you asked why I did it. It was more about of course, a personal challenge, but at the same time I wanted to show that it's not this dramatic, you can actually do this by yourself and it's doable. Do, how did you get the time off? Was that during breaks in university or, I had my vaca vacation weeks, but then I also just asked for lead for, oh, excellent.

Studies is of course the, I would say the most difficult thing nowadays to actually, yeah, you both need time for the logistics and then you need time for the expedition and then you of course need time for the planning and packing and, and everything. But I had, I have a supporting wife and supportive friend, so it made, that was my next question.

As a married man, what did the wife say when you say dime off on an expedition for a man, she understands and supports my passion and we all, we both share the interest for nature. Although this is at maybe another level, but still that's not an issue, if that's what, yeah. And from a safety perspective, did she go through to make sure that you had your in reach and.

You had all your safety kit packed. She made sure that I knew what I was doing and that I would know that I knew what I would should do, would something happen. So yes. Yeah, that was also for me, the most important part. As I say, I'm quite, I'm a pessimist when it comes to safety. I think that's a good thing that you need to actually prepare for the worst possible scenario.

And in that way, if you are prepared, you can also stay calm during the whole expedition. I, I've seen quite many scenarios when people go out and then they get surprised by the fact that, oh no, there is no sales reception up here. And that's core that people go out with their phone as a map and they, and they have no, no other means of navigating or orientating.

And that's, yeah, the things can go south quite quickly if you don't have these basic things. Well, interestingly, that just made me think of. Just there at the weekend here in, in Scotland, we have a mountain range on the IFF sky. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it in the cooling ridge and you need to have the mountain eating skills really to traverse this.

But there was an influencer or a videographer or so up there filming and tumbled 'cause he, the, his backpack he was carrying was far too heavy with all the camera equipment and trying to traverse what's, and this, I'm reading this from what was online. I think that the, 'cause there's some Facebook groups where the mountain rescue team went to, to go after, to help and support and I think it was just a weight, the bag that, that the guy was carrying and top heavy on that part of the ridge and tumble and was lucky to survive.

So yeah, things can go south very quickly in its things like I. And actually pivoting back to your story, you obviously, you weren't necessarily climbing mountains, but you did have quite a heavy backpack yourself. How did you find that and was there anything that you would've done differently on reflection Albert, in terms of what you packed and In fact, I tried to, before when I was planning and packing everything, I, I really tried to think about the grams, so to speak.

I'm actually, this is my weakest point when I go hiking, always bring too much year too much clothes and every, but even though I like survival, and that is I think why I survival because you just bring your knife and fire still and let me go out. But in terms of my backpack, the first time I put it on my back during day one, again, I thought to myself this was not good plan because it was over 40 kilos.

And I, myself, I weigh 72 kilos, so it's. From that perspective, it's horrible. During the first, and actually in the beginning, during my first day alone, I hiked, I actually, that was one of the stretch stretches that I actually, I thought that I had more energy than I had, and also it was really war. It was, I think 26 degrees Celsius outside, even up in Lapland.

And actually one of the bigger problems or challenges I would say up north. And now as also, I think you're familiar with it from your area, the amount of mosquitoes, well, the mags or God, that was actually really educational. Again, be horrible when I was walking the forest and actually during the first day.

So I thought that there's still one month to go, but everything. Nigro. I think the same thing is every time I go hiking, every time we have a longer, let's say one and a half, two weeks that we are out in the wilderness, the first day is always the toughest 'cause you are not used to the weight on your back.

You are not used to walking that long. After a week, it's not the problem anymore. You get your blisters, you go through everything and you learn from your mistakes. And interestingly enough, you always make the same mistakes every year. So that's at least some of them because Yeah, I guess you get comfortable in between.

Yeah, I get that. Every time I take a backpack it's always gets so much more. We, that reminds me and my friends when the kayaking expedition last year and we turned up and the guides just took two thirds of the stuff off of us and said, you're not taking that. Uh, and that's not going, that those are not going in the boats.

So yeah, we, we also is that if you have a lot of camera equipment. You curse the camera equipment after a couple of days because that actually those extra kilos are not, they are not funs. Yeah. And it's the energy you expend with that as as well, isn't it? 'cause then you need to getting into calorific deficits and stuff and that, and then especially if you're trying to calculate your food, your nutrition, balancing that with what you want to catch as well.

And you've got the additional weight. And then did it ever get into your head at any point? Like in terms of wanting to ditch anything or, the thing is from, actually no. Not to ditch any anything, because everything I had with me was quite precisely calculated. And my problem in the beginning was that I counted on, because Laban is a fantastic, or Northern Finland, Sweden, Norway, it's a fantastic place to catch fish.

Everything from trout to grading. Birch, pikes, there's a lot of protein. If you just, if you know what you're doing. During the first week, I caught nothing. So this meant that I relied on the fact that I would get my protein, but I had a lot of carbohydrates with me during, after the first week, my protein, the amount of protein that I had in my backpack worth dwindling.

That was a problem. But of course that was, that was a risk that I took, but I actually didn't know that, that this was, would be so bad. Luckily, when I came out to Lake Imar started paddling with my, I started to catch fish again. So that was a good thing. But no, I didn't really have the possibility to ditch anything.

And also I, there's the principle of not ditching anything, of course, in nature. So that's, yeah, that's also not an alternative. Yeah. Yeah. So very fair point. A actually, coming back to the pipe raft, actually, you said you'd kayaked in a bit of a boater and stuff. Had you packed rafted before? Won. Monty, 'cause I've never done it and I've never done it.

And I quite fancy doing a bit of a backcountry rafting thing, but I'm not sure how did they handle, compared to the kayak. Actually, I contacted with this firm Omo, which actually sent me a back just before the expedition, and I think I had time to try it out, was, as I said, I was, I was surprised by the fact that how stable a RAF is and this type that I had, actually, I could pack things inside, inside the RAF before inflating it.

So that was a good thing. The problem with the raft is that when you go out on larger legs, it's really slow. And if you pack as I did, I put your, you put your large backpack in the front and then use it in the back. And I got a lot of large waves and that becomes a problem because suddenly it's like this on top of a wave.

So that's a problem. And. I think that was also, I knew that this would happen, but I didn't, due to the fact it was late summer. The winds were very strong up to 50 meters per second at some places for two, three days in a row. And I was actually paddling south and the wind became from the south. So it was really slow going.

And that was actually, I think the mo the moments when I had to do these large or big jumps between islands, even though they were just one kilometer away, that the island that I set my goal on when you were 500 meters in and you're there alone and it's really windy and you I, that you are sitting in an inflatable pack craft, you start to think that if I get a hole of my pack craft right now, it's not a good thing.

So that's why the in reach, of course, is a really good thing to have with you because you have the S os button. Things would go sideways. But that was, uh. Bankrupt is really good, especially smaller remodel ways, smaller lakes. It's so versatile. But again, it's not mint for paddling across a large lake like lake.

That was my, yeah, it's, so we actually crossing open water and getting caught in the wind and the fetch essentially with that. And that's also when it's, it's quite a large and it's quite wide. The re, it acts like a sail in a sense. And this therefore you have the large back backpack on your ret and it takes the wind, this being you will, whatever you do, how much you paddle.

And I fancy myself quite a decent paddler or kayaker at least. Yeah. I have nothing. I just had to go away. The wound took me and then try again, me in a couple of hours and maybe take an an extra cup of coffee that was, yeah, you cannot fight natures. No you can't. And I've been in that situation before when you're paddling into head.

To wind and you're just not moving you and it's you. Your arms are tired, you're exhausted. The waves are, yeah. Yeah. There was one, one day I remember I was, my plan was to, the whole late in rain would be around 100 kilometers approximately lato with one day I, my plan was to battle almost 15 kilometers, which is a lot with a backrack.

I think I managed to do four, so that was, that was one or two more. More charts in this. Yeah. Did you have to just hunker down, get off the water and just try and ride some of the elements out? Yes, I needed to. I did that a few times. Actually. The wind, the rain isn't a problem when you walk. Of course paddling, that's either heat, that's a welcome, welcoming site.

But the wind, yes, I had to, I think at least, at least a handful of times, just. Say to myself, let's go ashore. Let's make a small fire and make some coffee and wait until the evening. And in the evening it's really light outside in summer here in Northern Phillips, so you can actually keep on going midnight.

So it's, yeah, I was gonna say obviously it landed the midnight sun essentially. So yeah. Were you, so how much sunlight were you having at that time? It wasn't that much because this was in, in August and September. Ah, late August. But still there, there's a lot of light still left. So midnight is not a problem.

You can easily continue, but of course you need to, again, where you are out there alone, you should not exaggerate. So there's a clear line between making a good decision and just, just say to yourself that, let's call it a night. And sometimes things go wrong. And I understand you did have a bit of a cap size.

What's the paragraph? How did that come about? Everything was going quite well in the, this north northeastern part of my expedition with, which was this VA wilderness area, and then I crossed lake in woods, minor bumps, but still everything was going quite smoothly. When I arrived to Humma Wilderness area, which is just basically mount of swamps and rivers, I came to my first fast running water or first rapids, and I looked at the rapids and I thought to myself, I can handle this.

This is such a small stream of water. It was about about 50 20 meters wide, and you had some white water, but it wasn't that much. It was not deep at all. So I stepped out of my pack crafts, and then I just took a car by and rope and started to drag it across the stream. But of course I was tired full of myself and my capability.

So the stream took the back rest and just capsized the whole thing. This was the only time I had my camera out or it's drive back. With this, everything just fell in the water and I had to dive after it and just pick up, pick everything up one piece at a time. And of course there was nothing else I could do.

I could just save the situation and drag everything ashore, and I lost a few items. What's actually quite annoying that I actually lit litter in nature because I think my water bottle was lit there in one of my, I think my right sock also just, it went away. But still, I got the camera out and my camera equipment that it, it was gone for the moment, so I could not use it anymore.

And I must say that I used a few curse words in that choice. Did you lose a lot? Did you lose much footage then from what you'd been capturing? Luckily not. I didn't lose footage because the, the SD cards are not that fragile. But still it's not, I just had to make you with my phone and of course it was fine.

But when you want to take good pictures and document your journeys and you're halfway in, it's not, it's not, it's not an ideal situation, let's put it that way. So I back a little bit actually 'cause, and I did say before we started recording, I was going to struggle with trying to pronounce the roots and I think just for those that are listening and watching to try and kinda bring the root to to life.

So it was almost three sections wasn't to Albert and I'm going to try and pronounce these. So the va va wilderness, which was the kinda rocky rain Lake and Ari. Then the Hamus Stu wilderness area, which was kinda forest swamps and where you, your river rapids and so on. And then your final stretch. Lemon Yorky National Park.

Little Meoc, yes. National flood. Yeah. Yeah. I stru, I struggle with English at the best of times. But yeah, I had a little look through those, those areas in terms of the research. So yeah. And going back to how you put the route together, was it quite purposeful to try and go through it because you ended up at the end of the expedition and it lit a national park essentially, but you went through some proper wilderness, obviously.

Was it quite deliberate in terms of the types of terrain and wilderness that you were wanting to experience that, was that part of how you built the expedition? Yes, a lot. The good thing in in, in the northern parts of Finland, for instance, the same thing in Norway and, and Sweden. It's that you have the possibility actually to make a cohesive long plaque.

So you do not need to go via civilization necessarily to go from one wilderness area to another. So there are these corridors. So I would say it was actually four, four parts because I, I see Lake Eno as one major obstacle in the way. And that was also one type of, one type of area. And as you said, I, I really wanted to see the difference and see the terrain changing when you go through your journey.

So that was 1, 1, 1 main reason why I chose chose the Gire. And you can actually continue either from that and go westward and you can go into Norway and, uh, continue your journey. And this is actually something that would be really interesting and you can go into Sweden. So it's a really fun playground, but bad setting, wildness area, which is, in my opinion, the wildest we have.

And you have, it's between Norway and then you have Norway and Russia on the other side. It's so wild and I've never, I have, before this expedition, I hadn't visited that area at all. So this was, it was a completely new thing and I hadn't paddled on Lake in either. So it's, that was, I took the new things first and then I, at the end, Le MEO National Park was seen as my grand price to just like it is.

Yeah. What inter, out of interest, what was it like from a wildlife perspective? Did you have much encounters of any wildlife journey? Most animals that you see were actually, when we are in Summit, summit territory, the Indigenous peoples of Finland, Sweden low and also Russia far. They have a lot of, they are, a lot of them are reindeer herders, which means that you have a lot of reindeer worth.

So those you encounter here and there, quite often, it's always a wish to see large predators. And there's always the, this is also something that is interesting to discuss, that people are afraid, of course, encountering predators when they are roaming the wilds of the north. In terms of Nordic countries, we have a, we have predators, brown bear, we have wolves and so forth that you never see them.

I've never encountered a single one during my own adventures. So in terms of wildlife, of course a lot of birds, of course, when if you're fishing, you catch what fish, and you have these encounters every day, all the time. And, and then you see some smaller mammals here and there, but it's, it's quite a rugged terrain.

Let land. So it's in, so in in, when we are speaking about animals per se. Some moose you can encounter. I think I encountered and full of moose, but that's about it actually. And I think the main reason why I didn't see that much wildlife is that when you are walking with a heavy backpack and just grunting in the forest, I think you're scaring everything in your, I think you are the way with life at that point.

Really? Uh, I didn't realize they had MOUs in, in the Nordics Or elk, sorry? Elk. Elk. Oh we always, yeah, a language. Yeah. Alright. And how was the fishing? Because I know you, you struggled early on, but you must, I think you had a purple patch later on because you're pan fried pizza bread and your fish, your grilling and stuff.

So how did the fishing work out for you? It was after I started to paddle on late United. It was quite good actually. And when I was sitting in my pack rest, I always had a lure in the warrior, so it was just sitting there and just swimming behind me and. From time to time, the break in my rod started screaming and then you had a fish, or you didn't have a fish or you lost it.

But it was, I mean, it almost became a routine. And that's something I actually, it's interesting to see as when you as a human, when you're used to your routines in your everyday life, you also create your routines in the wild. And that's also quite fascinating to me that I tend to always have my own timetable.

But yeah, it's, yeah. And on, on the journey. So dealing with, 'cause I'm sure at the start of your journey, so coming all the way back, you started with one of your friends for a couple of days and then you went on your own. How did that sit with you from a kind of mental side? Was that a bit difficult to deal with at all?

Or did that, did you have any sort of trepidation like now you are on your own? Essentially 'cause it and because it's a long journey then to be on your own and how you manage that solitude. From a mental side, the most d difficult part is as you, you touched upon, is when you are a company, leaves because it's so nice to have company when you are out in the wilderness and that's actually 50% of the fun.

Sometimes, of course we are social creatures and when I was left alone, so to speak, I stood there for a good moment and just thought to myself, this is interesting, an interesting feeling because, uh, it was, I just stood there and looked into the forest and then after maybe five to 10 minutes, I just, well, we have to stop walking because there's just one way.

It's an interesting feeling from a mental perspective, even though you are. A person who likes to be alone and likes the solitude, it's a different thing when you are also the thought that you know that you are potentially a bit more vulnerable to injuries and to falling ill or anything. So there are a bit of some factors that you need to take into a car, but then again we come back to the safety issue.

If you have planned your safety well, as people do want their expeditions, you have a good starting point. Did you find that feeling dissipated after maybe a couple of days? You just get into your groove, you get into your routine? I would say that the feeling disappeared after one hour because then I could only concentrate on my heavy backpack and that region of mosque, there was some images that they were surrounding me.

So actually that feeling went away quite immediately. But that was only due to other priorities in the blue. Yeah, matches are just horrible. It it's horrible. Hor horrible. Yeah. And actually I have a tendency to, if I get beaten a lot, my hands get really swollen. You need to, you one should not underestimate the swabs, mids and mosquitoes.

They are, they can be quite dangerous. Also, people have fallen into an phyletic shocks and then think out hiking. So it's, it happens. It happens. Yeah. Yeah. They are horrendous in Scotland winning season. 'cause we all, we always get lots of American tourists that come to do like the West Highland way for example.

And there's certain months of the year you just don't want to do that. Taught because of, I have a friend who lives in Norwegian Lapland and he has a, last time I spoke to him about the mosquito problem and I said, this is quite a lot of mosquitoes. And he just waved with his hand and said, no, it's not a bad situation when you, if you slap your arm and it all relieves you with 50 dead mosquitoes, that's a good season.

He says when it goes over 60 it becomes a problem. So everything's about perspective. Yeah. Yeah. That's crazy. That's crazy. And in terms of the final leg then, Albert, go, going back to the journey. So coming back into Lemon John. Okay. National Park. So how did you feel then coming to towards the end o of that long old journey?

Exhaustion, tiredness and stuff? How did, in fact, sorry, before I ask that, you had a random encounter with some Bosnians as as well, didn't you? I forgot to ask about that. What was that all about? How do you encounter two Bosnian guys in the middle of the lap? Lapland never probably, I must say an absurd situation from many levels, but there was a, an interesting and fun and country.

I was just battling my last stretch of lake and suddenly there was two Bosnian guys sitting in a rowing boat fishing. Then I forced pad pedal to them in the middle of the wilderness, and I asked that, hello guys, and how are you? And they were, apparently they were not lost, but they did not really have a plan.

Let's put it back way, however, they had food. And I asked them that, could I buy some snacks from them because my candy storage was, and they actually handed me a Snickers and a beer. That was an awesome moment. And actually after that beer, I almost, I almost felt drunk. So luckily I was just ending my paddling session because that's also due to exhaustion and, and tiredness, of course.

But that was, yes, that was a random encounter and that was really fun. Yeah. Someone looking out for you, that's just, just, it was just odd. It's weird and wonderful at the same time. So sorry for that dires, but yeah, I just, I wanted to touch on that. Yeah. So coming towards the end of the journey then, in, in terms of finishing up, what were you feeling?

At that point, were you, had you had any thoughts about just getting over and done with? Were you feeling a sense of fulfillment, achievement? What was it like? Fulfillment and achievement, but also an empty feeling. Mm-hmm. Because as I mentioned earlier, you get into your routine and you get used to everything.

But one reminder that I got all the time at the end and why I thought that it was a good thing, that actually we were coming to the end was the, of my food storage. It was running out. And the last days I was eating a lot of mashed potatoes because that was basically what I had left. And I had a lot of mashed potatoes left.

So things got a bit, a bit too simple, I guess. And then when I reached Le meo, I decided to, now I will just, of course, hike to my final destination. And then I just sat there for a couple of days, just enjoy the moment to just. Reflected on the adventure, but it was a mixed feelings, of course, achievement and, and that was a positive thing, but also at some somehow empty feeling when you, especially when you, when you get on the train down south back again.

Yeah, yeah. Trying to find a ride from somewhere. It's, it was a strange feeling is back to civilization. It's a bit of a, it's a bit of a shock to the senses. How, how does it sit with you now since time has passed, processing the magnitudes and the, and the achievement of it? Does it, how does it sit with you again?

It feel, even though it was quite special and was a lot of well planning and more planning than usually took a toll also physically, and you need to recover a bit after that kind of endeavor. Nowadays it feels like I was on a longer hike. That's the feeling I get. And of course, most of the time it was just positive feelings during this expedition, apart from some small hiccups.

But I didn't injure myself and everything worked out out quite well. And more inspired. Yes. Give more wonder last, so to speak. Oh, that's fantastic. That's fantastic. So it's, it still keeps the fire, uh, flickering away. How, how did it, because you wrote an article for one of the Nordic magazines on that, how did that come about and how do you feel about that?

That must be a great recognition for that. I think it was really nice. And also when you were doing this kind of expeditions, you also need sponsors. Uhhuh. This was one way of spreading the word of course and sharing the story. And that's also something I wanted to do, that if you are going on an expedition and if you are doing this kind of endeavor, you want to share it with people you want, and writing an article, I would say in today's social media world, is actually a better way to it.

To get it out there because social media gets a bit, it's a lot of reels and a lot of quick clicks. Yeah. But still, I know that many people like to read articles and that's a, gets that's a, it's a good thing and it's a sense of achievement. That's when you have your magazine at home, you see that. Yeah.

Yeah. It must be something to see the picture of yourself standing with that, the backpack and stuff and that, and it, it's, it's fantastic. And hopefully through this conversation it does ignite that kinda wonder list and that adventure and others that are watching and listening and see that there are still truly wild places.

And may maybe some people will come to Finland and do it responsibly in, in an environmentally friendly way as well. It's been wonderful kinda bringing this to, to, to life Albert. It's, I'm hopefully at some point I can be a wilderness bastard for a even, it's for a short period out in the back country.

'cause it, it's. Beat the Finland once. Loved it. It was in the winter, it was in the snow. I do it fancy traversing at some of the waterways at some point in time. The stories wonderful. It really is. So moving conscious of time now, we can't believe we went on an hour. So can moving on, uh, actually to the close, in fact, before move, closing traditions, have you gained any other big expeditions planned?

The moment I have a lot of roots that I would like to take plans that I would like to make. So everything is moving, let's put it this way. And we are always flooding new adventures. And for me still, I have a, I, there's a lot of, a lot to explore up north. And there are, even though I have visited most of our wilderness areas and national parks, there are still many areas left to to explore.

So I find myself going back there every year and I think this year will be an exception. Of course we have, we also have a, we have smaller national parks and here down south, and we of course visit them quite often. But yes, that's, we have the south or northwestern part of Finland. There's another mountain range that I would replied to crossover to Norway from the wilderness area.

And from there you can walk straight over to Norway and to the Finmark wilderness. Mm-hmm. That's something I would like to do. That also requires planning and a lot of time. Yep. It, it does. Yeah. I've had a couple of people on show that I've done some adventures in Finmark as well. Yeah. Excellent, excellent.

Brilliant. So let, yeah, let's move into the closing traditions, if you don't mind, which there are three. So a paid forward called adventure, and then to close out a quick fire round of 10 questions for a little bit of fun. In terms of, uh, paid forward suggestion, Albert. So opportunity to raise awareness for a cause, charity project, good causes, whatever that means to you.

So what would you see or recommend as a paid forward to the listeners? We have been speaking a lot of the Nordic countries of course, here, but we actually, our, uh, to get with my wife visited Costa Rica and it's rainforests some weeks back. And there we visited, uh, the Corcovado national work and the Rio Vo Nature Reserve.

And it's actually, there's a foundation called Foundation in Costa Rica. And actually this area holds approximately, if I remember it correctly, 4% of the world's biodiversity. And that's the entire world's, uh, biodiversity and their mission. This be OSU Foundation's mission is to protect this endangered wildlife and by creating rainforest reserves, buying up land through land acquisitions, and then environmental education with local population and communities.

So that's with private donation, they can just expand their operation and protect more and preserve more of this rainforest. So this is something I would like to highly urge people to do and this is also something I will support for the donation to get with my wife. Excellent. Thank you very much. I'll get you to send me the details of that to make sure that we don't mispronounce or misspell that to get that listed.

And I'll have a lot look into that myself. That sounds, uh, I've seen all the photos and the videos from Costa Rica. It looked phenomenal. The Brazilian something or whatever it was. Spy, yeah. Poison. Yeah. So that was another. That was that entire different world in comparison to Arctic, Finland. Yeah, yeah.

I'm kinda less interested in the Brazilian wandering spiders in this state. I'm planning a trip to to get the jungle next year and that's the only one of the only fears I have in my mind that it is the spiders, but it's the story for it for another day. But excellent. That's a very worthy cause. Thank you Albert.

And very unique as well. So we will get that shared and hopefully people can, can support. So secondly, a call to adventure. So an opportunity for you to raise or a recommend, an adventure activity, a place or something for people to be inspired by. So what would you say is a call to adventure? I would highly recommend people because I know that among people that listen to your podcast, I guess the Nordic countries are not, that they may might not be that familiar with the large wilderness areas that we have and the nature that we have up here, up north and, and we also have this freedom to roam, which means that you are actually, it's a good possibility if you like to do hiking and just, it doesn't mean that you need to go out for a two week hike or a one week hike and just drive around, drive around the areas.

And that's something, actually a call for adventure that I would like to recommend that to, to visit the Nordic countries. Yeah, it's a really a sparsely populated area with a lot to see as you've been to. Yeah. Yeah. I've been to Finland, Sweden, and Norway, and I just love the Nordic countries. I'd love to do a bit of an over landing trip, get over the car and just get right up to.

Up to maybe Nord cap or something like that in traverse the different countries. I would also like to add that call to adventure. This is actually something I'm actually try to emphasize that I think we are too focused on buying the best equipment and that you need the best equipment in order to go outside and, and you need the most expensive temps or clothing that that's not the case can easily just take what you have or borrow something from.

Because some people that are interested in this kind of hobby or being out in nature, they believe that they need more than they actually need in terms of gear. So I think just go out and try it yourself and start small and boom. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I'd invest more time or money in the education side of things than buying all the best of gear and the mainstream brands.

It's sometimes little goes a long way, but it's the educational side that will stand you in good stead. And listening to stories like this, of course, I will give you some inspiration and tips as well. So thank you view in the final part. So 10, 10 questions. Quick fire questions. See how you go. You can pass if you want.

We won't judge. Question number one of 10, Albert. So you have a dinner party and you can invite two guests, dead or alive. Who would they be? Lar, which is a Norwegian adventure. Really famous here in the Nordic countries. And then I must have EB Stafford. Excellent survival. Yeah. Yeah, I, yeah, I've followed Ed for years and I've been trying tooth and nail to get him onto the podcast, so hopefully one day that will happen.

Excellent. Number two, what is the craziest experience that you've ever had on the road or in the field? I must go back to my survival courses. I think especially this winter situation that I described earlier. Yeah, that's, that is crazy to be fair. Do you have a number three? Do you have a hidden talent? I see.

Huh? Hey, can we hear it anywhere? Let's see if we can put the link down below or not. Okay. Excellent. Yeah, definitely def. Excellent. Number four. Favorite movie. Oh, and would say Fast. Alright, perfect. Kate, that number came up beside I. That's fair enough. Number five. Favorite book

must be something. I think we had to get back to that one. Okay. Yeah, no worries. Number six, what was the last music gig that you went to? Metallica concert in Finland. Ah. Ah, excellent. Uh, number seven. If you could snap your fingers and be anywhere doing anything, what would it be? Canadian wilderness. Ah, excellent.

Number eight, what scares you?

The loss of biodiversity

and going to another, from another perspective, the current security situation, just due to the fact that this is my day job. Yeah, I know it's a very fragile world at the moment. Number nine. If you could relive any moment in your life, what would it be and why? One moment in my life I think I would. Just from the top of my head, go back to my first, first wilderness course and just to be able to look from the perspective that, what did I think back then?

Excellent. Excellent. And then 10. And finally, what is the best advice that you've ever received

in terms of whether it's training, competing, being out in the wild, slow and steady winds to race. Yeah. Patience. Yeah. Excellent. And that's it. That this has been absolutely wonderful. I've thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed this. Albert, it's been excellent. Really enjoyed it. Thank you so much for the, for discussions.

I'm surprised that the time has flown by. I can't believe it. It's, it's, and I've got half a dozen things I didn't even get to talk to you about, but Yeah. Respectful of your time. But, so thank you so much. And I actually, I figured out the book. Yeah. Oh yeah. What is it? Alive On Earth? Alive On Earth.

Excellent. I've never heard of, that's what I'm gonna take note David Borough. Ah, okay. Excellent. Happy days. So that, that's that, that says where can people follow along on Albert's adventures or the Wilderness Bastards adventures? Well, there is bastards on Instagram. And on YouTube actually, I'm, I will, this week I will upload my first, as we record this session, I'm actually uploading my fourth one of this expedition that we were talking on.

Ah. Extent. I have a lot of, uh, this is one of my projects to actually put it out there, all the material that I have from my hikes. So YouTube Wilderness Busters, and Instagram Wilderness Busters. Excellent. If you're okay with it, when that goes up on the, on YouTube, we'll, we will use some, we'll link to that and this, and then maybe we use a little bit for B-roll to, to do the introductions and get that, get that spread.

Excellent. And with that, we'll bring it to our close. Thank you, Chris. Thanks for tuning in to today's episode. For the show notes and further information, please visit adventure diaries.com/podcast. And finally, we hope to have inspired you to take action and plan your next adventure, big or small, because sometimes we all need a little adventure to cleanse that bitter taste of life from the soul.

Until next time, have fun and keep paying it forward.