Motorhoming in central Sweden

[The Brain]

Back then a movement was about to try to define what Swedishness means and what it is.

"You fornicate diligently then commit suicide after paying too many taxes."

Are you saying that we are good lovers?

No, but industrious and hardy.

[Admiral Yi]

Are you saying that we are good lovers?

I have no personal experience and can not advance any opinion.

I stole the line from some Swedish comedian or writer.  The reason I found it funny (and why I've remembered it for 3 and a half decades) is it makes fucking sound like an obligation, a chore, a responsibility.

[Threviel]

In 1937 there was a world fair in Paris. The fair is today mostly known for the the conflict between communism and nazism. In order to display how the one was superior to the other they both sent representation that built very similar modernistic concrete towers across the street from one other.

Sweden wanted to sen something typically Swedish, so they sent a painted wooden horse. In Dalarna they have been whittling horses for hundreds of years and in the early 19th century they started to combine the horses with "kurbits" painting. This was a colourful way of decorating houses and furniture used a lot in central Sweden, in Dalarna most famously used for large clocks bering built. The painted horses got more and more popular and in 1937 they were choses as a quaint nice little thing of Sweden to display. They took of and nowadays they are the premier symbol of Sweden adorning every kind of souvenir in every Swedish souvenir shop.

Yesterday we visited Nusnäs, the tiny village where most of them are made. The kids loves it and the girl got a pink one and the boy a silvery one. I bought myself a whittling knife and we bought a kitchen towel with Dala horse theme.

We also went to a local pottery and bought coffee cups for the motor home and one of those big bowls they use on cooking shows.

[Jacob]

I'm enjoying this vicarious Swedish vacation

[Berkut]

This is delightful!

I still want to know more about your motorhome!

[Threviel]

This is delightful!

I still want to know more about your motorhome!

Of course. It's this one https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/buyers-guide/motorhomes/details/t-6911-4/9212

We have the absolutely most basic version of that one. We had been talking about a motorhome for close to a decade until we found ourselves with the finances to afford one. We had just gotten kid #2 and we had a lot of parental leave to spend. We were looking for something in the 20-30,000$ bracket to fix up for ourselves. That would have bought us a 2005-2008 year quite basic car. And the this one was at the dealer for 40k. It had everything and was much newer than what we were shooting for. It is very basic, no electrical heater, no fancy lighting, everythin is analogue. We fell in love immediately.

The double bed back has a ladder in the forward (relative to the vehicle) half. I put in some stuff and a board and mattress so that we have one big bed. I sleep between the kids and the wife sleeps in the other half.

Left side forward of that we have the toilet and shower. The floor, which is one big plastic piece has just cracked due to UV weakening. I've taped it over but I will need to dismantle the entire toilet and fix it properly this winter. Will probably put glass fibre and epoxy ob the underside and put it all back together.

Forward of that is a small sofa where the kids sit and our dining table. We turn the front seat around when eating.

Forward on the right side is a small closet and the fridge and some drawers. Then door and then cooking place with drawers and sink.

Under the bed is a huuuuge garage where we have outdoor chairs, toys, bicycle wagon and stuff.

[Threviel]

Part 2, technical details.

The truck that's used in about 80-90% of all European motorhomes is the Fiat Ducato, might be known as the Ram Promaster in the US. Ours is a Ducato. Smallest engine and manual gearbox, it doesn't have cruise control, it's that simple.

The home part is also very basic. No insulation at all, the floor is built directly on a wooden board on the chassi. It is very much not a winter car.

We can drive cars weighing up to 3500 kg with our driving licenses and the cars weighs some 3200 leaving 300 kg for cargo and passengers. Luckily the over weight rules are laxish, so we can go up quite a bit from that and only pay a fine. When we came home from France we were provably several hundred kg over weight. Did not get caught and the car did not get stuck on anything in the ferry.

The motorhome is built to handle 3850 kg, but due to license issues it's registered for 3500.

So why was it so cheap? Well, it's very basic and it's an import from Germany. Luckily for us.

I've since then also installed solar cells on it so we are self sufficient with electricity.

Corona has upped its value a fair bit, we would provably get our money and some back if we sold it now.

[Berkut]

Thanks! I've been thinking about getting a small motor home. Basically something for me and my dog to tool around in during the winter when I cannot sail.

[Barrister]

Thanks! I've been thinking about getting a small motor home. Basically something for me and my dog to tool around in during the winter when I cannot sail.

Get a small trailer instead.  Much, much cheaper (plus you don't need separate insurance), plus when you arrive at wherever you are going you can just unhook your trailer then use your vehicle to drive around.  Plus servicing your vehicle is much simpler than trying to get someone to service your motorhome.

Some of the little pop-up trailers are so light then can be towed by basically anything.

[Threviel]

Thanks! I've been thinking about getting a small motor home. Basically something for me and my dog to tool around in during the winter when I cannot sail.

We're actually thinking of going smaller. The car is 7.3 m long, which is long. But the main problem is width. It's 30-40 cm too wide to get into parking spots. Also the rear is too long and low behind the rear wheel.

We would want to get a camper van instead, but family ones are rare and even used ones are too expensive. So we're considering building our own instead on a used work car. We'll see wht happens, it won't happen for a few years yet.

Go check out van life videos, some are really nice and well built, sone are built on the cheap.

[Berkut]

Thanks! I've been thinking about getting a small motor home. Basically something for me and my dog to tool around in during the winter when I cannot sail.

Get a small trailer instead.  Much, much cheaper (plus you don't need separate insurance), plus when you arrive at wherever you are going you can just unhook your trailer then use your vehicle to drive around.  Plus servicing your vehicle is much simpler than trying to get someone to service your motorhome.

Some of the little pop-up trailers are so light then can be towed by basically anything.

That was what I was thinking, and I actually bought my last car pretty much specifically with that idea - it was just about the only small sized SUV that had a tow rating. But I've been looking, and even the smallest tow behinds seem to exceed my vehicles tow rating of 1500lbs.

[Jacob]

That was what I was thinking, and I actually bought my last car pretty much specifically with that idea - it was just about the only small sized SUV that had a tow rating. But I've been looking, and even the smallest tow behinds seem to exceed my vehicles tow rating of 1500lbs.

Check this out: https://droplet-trailer.com/thetrailer/

There may be other reasons for you not to get it, but it apparently weighs less than 1000lbs, so should be good for your vehicle.

[grumbler]

This is delightful!

I still want to know more about your motorhome!

Of course. It's this one https://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/motorhomes/buyers-guide/motorhomes/details/t-6911-4/9212

Oh.  I thought that the title referred to some place called "Motorhoming," located in central Sweden.

[Barrister]

Thanks! I've been thinking about getting a small motor home. Basically something for me and my dog to tool around in during the winter when I cannot sail.

Get a small trailer instead.  Much, much cheaper (plus you don't need separate insurance), plus when you arrive at wherever you are going you can just unhook your trailer then use your vehicle to drive around.  Plus servicing your vehicle is much simpler than trying to get someone to service your motorhome.

Some of the little pop-up trailers are so light then can be towed by basically anything.

That was what I was thinking, and I actually bought my last car pretty much specifically with that idea - it was just about the only small sized SUV that had a tow rating. But I've been looking, and even the smallest tow behinds seem to exceed my vehicles tow rating of 1500lbs.

So...

There's actually quite a premium on very light trailers on the used market.  We sold ours within 24 hours when we put it up for sale (we had just bought a slightly larger trailer).  But yeah - 1500lb is very very light.  We have a 2011 V6 RAV4 with a max tow capacity of 3500lb, and it's not exactly a big SUV.

But yeah if you are willing to look for new there are some of those ultralight popups (such as the one Jacob linked to) they do exist.

Ironically (at least in Alberta) it's much easier to find much larger trailers for sale - precisely because they're so much more heavier to tow.


The other thing - you can exceed your tow capacity as well.  I'm pretty sure we exceed the capacity of our RAV4.  But then we're quite range limited.  We don't go more than an hour or two from home (and wouldn't ever risk going in the mountains).  Which is fine for a family of 5, but probably not what you'd want a trailer for.

[Threviel]

When I ate my herring and potatoes for dinner I tried to think of a way to get that into the narrative but I failed.

Today we were in Falun. Famous for its copper mine that once supplied 2/3 of the worlds copper. It started out as a bog about 1000 years ago. In 1288 the worlds oldest remaining share based company "Stora kobbarbergs gruvlag" was founded. Today Stora is one half of Stora Enso, one of the worlds largest forest and paper companies.

The mine grew in importance and during the Swedish empire, in the late 17th century it supplied 2/3 of the worlds copper and 1/3 of the states income.

The mine collapsed in 1688 but mining continued. In the late 19th century copper lost its importance and sulphur was primarily mined instead. Stora celebrated 700 years as a company in 1988 and in 1992 the mine closed.

Today it's a world heritage site and used for guided tours. We got to go down to 67 m depth, of the 440 total. It was awesome, the kids loved it.

Besides  this the mine is famous for three things.

In 1677 Strong-Mats was the last man in a shaft in the mine. He lit some fires and prepared to go home when the tunnel collapsed trapping him. He suffocated there and died. That part of the mine was left as is because collapsed tunnels are dangerous.

Forty years later the tunnel was, by chance, opened from another direction and Mats was found. Due to the preservative salts in the water in the mine he was perfectly preserved as if he was still alive. His old fiancée recognised him from her youth and he was identified. This was seen as interesting and he was put in a room in the mines hq and displayed to visitors. After a few decades he started to rot and was buried. In his day he was quite the celebrity and Wagner even made an opera inspired by him.

The second thing is a byproduct from the mine. Apparently one of the byproducts is the red sludge used to make the red paint that many houses in Sweden is painted with. Up here most houses are red.

The third thing is the Falu sausage. Sweden has negotiated an exception with the EU allowing it to be called a sausage. The mine demanded huge amounts of leather for different uses and this led to a lot of cattle killed, so the workers were partially payed in beef. This was turned into a sausage and thus the Falu sausage was created. Excellent as a base for a Stroganoff.

After Falun we departed from BIL and family and steered north, into the void.