Europe Road Trip | Truck Camping Germany, Denmark & Sweden

Carol wanted to make a couple of lettuce wraps, lettuce and ham and she's doing that in the back of the truck and then we'll get back on the road. We're now, we're making our way through the Netherlands. We've really enjoyed our time here so far. We're going to cross a little bit of Germany. That definitely won't be our our visit to Germany. My sister lives a couple hours outside of Frankfurt and we're going to head down that way after we go north. We'll come back down that way. So there's a lot to experience in Germany but this is just going to cut on the highway through to Denmark as we make our way up to Norway and Nordkapp. We are in Germany now on A1 and just cruising right through. We have to make a decision soon because getting around Hamburg at a certain time of day is you know really congested so we either find a place this side of Hamburg or we try to depending on when we get there we get through after the rush hour but we'll let you know how it goes. So we're in the three kilometer long tunnel in in Hamburg right by the port and our goal is to get north of Hamburg here in Germany. I don't know if we have enough time or energy to go all the way through Germany into Denmark but we'll see how it goes but from this point on once we get out of here we're going to start looking for a place to camp for the night. We're on the autobahn here in Germany and trying to stay most of the time in the far right lane. I was just passing some trucks but in the far left lane my goodness Mercedes, Audis, BMWs just flying by. I guess there's no speed limit or almost no speed limit. I'm going to look at it. Whatever the speed limit is it's pretty high because these guys are moving. There's another beamer. You barely saw him. They're gone. And you're not going slow you're going like between 100 and 120 kilometers an hour. That's crazy. Yeah normally this is fast. The autobahn is really like an American freeway or a Canadian major highway. It's smooth driving. Lots of space. So it's 8 24 p.m. We've been pushing pretty hard today. We're in north Germany. Not quite to probably an hour to the border with Denmark. But we're using iOverlander like we do in North America. And we found a little spot. We're just going in to check it out. We don't know. We haven't really been here long enough to know how accurate iOverlander is here. There's also an app that was suggested to use called camp number four night. Camp for a night. And we're actually trying to use both. They're slightly different. So this one was listed on iOverlander. It wasn't in camp for a night. But we'll let you know how it goes. If we get turned away or the spot's closed or whatever we've got a secondary spot in mind. But it's something over the next couple of days and weeks for sure we're gonna have a much better idea how accurate these different camps are. You know because they're plotted by users. So they're not verified. But we'll let you know. Yeah that would be horrible. We had it. We never had a problem with it. It was open just before shipping. But I don't know. It's not opening right now. So I'm trying to free it up. I would spray some WD-40 on there but it's inside. I look like I got hit by a truck. But this is the spot that we came to. It is actually really pretty. So this place turned out to be a good one. There's a couple of other campers here. And it's right on a gorgeous lake and beautiful countryside around here. Just amazing. And we saw a bunch of deer coming in. So I think we'll have a great night's sleep here. This is free camping because it's we found it on iOverlander. And tomorrow morning we'll get back on the road and keep heading north. We're on a big journey north. We moved quickly through Germany. But it's not the last time we're going to visit here of course. We're just trying to get to Nordkapp which is the farthest you can drive in Europe. The farthest north you can drive on the European continent. So we're excited to do that. We love having those goals and those you know things to check off the list. Just like when Carol and I went up to Taktiaktak. It was a long way up but it was it was worth it. So come with us as we continue up to Nordkapp. It might take a week. Might take a couple months. We don't know. We're gonna have lots of fun and adventures along the way. not bad. Front to back. Perfect. Surrounded in gorgeous German country Germany for a good night's sleep. We've got a lot to do here in Germany but right now we're on a mission to get as far north as we can and then we'll work our way back and zigzag throughout Europe. So today we're heading towards Copenhagen in Denmark. And I have friends there. I don't know if they're in town or not. We're gonna try to reach out to them and see if we can explore Copenhagen for one night and then carry on into Sweden and work our way north. So I hope you're enjoying the trip so far. We sure are. It's been amazing. We just crossed into Denmark. They have a little border there. It's not a full border where you have to pull out your passports and everything. They just waved us through. They were pulling every other vehicle or a couple vehicles at a time in for a secondary inspection. I think it was just random selection but he waved us through. So we are now in Denmark. That's our fourth country on this trip right? Yeah. Belgium and Netherlands. Not Holland. I've made that mistake. Some of you let me know it's not Holland it's the Netherlands. And I grew up, I don't know when that changed. I'm going to google it and find out but growing up my parents always called it Holland back in the day but now I understand it's just a couple of provinces. But yeah Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and now Denmark. So we're getting closer to Copenhagen and we're about two hours out. There's a little camp spot. It's basically a parking lot right in the city, well just off the highway. So their first come first serve. We just called them and they only have two spots available and he said that can change really quick. There's nothing we can do. They don't take reservations so we're just going to have to hope for the best. He said he might be able to fit us in because we don't need power and water. He might be able to tuck us in a corner somewhere so that would be nice. My sister's daughter and her husband live in Copenhagen somewhere in that area. I haven't been able to get a hold of them. Not even sure if they're in town but that would be fun to at least meet up with them. So we'll let you know how it goes. We're crossing the Great Belt Bridge, one of Denmark's most iconic landmarks. Spanning nearly 18 kilometers it connects the islands of Zealand and Funen linking eastern and western Denmark. Before it opened in 1998 this trip meant hours on a ferry. Now it's just a breathtaking drive over open water. The toll might sting a little but the experience totally worth it. For us it's more than just a shortcut. It's part of the adventure. It's at 350 danish kroners and it's a big bridge. I don't know. It seemed to me almost as long as the one going to Prince Edward Island in Canada but yeah but I don't know for sure so cue the voiceover. The Great Belt Bridge in Denmark spans about 18 kilometers making it longer than Canada's Confederation Bridge which stretches roughly 13 kilometers across the icy waters to Prince Edward Island. The park is full but he's allowing us to stay in the overflow here so pretty happy about that. Wouldn't want to be spending too much time tonight looking around for a place. This is wonderful. It started raining here. We're downtown Copenhagen. Maybe a 25 minute walk to the downtown core. It's very unique to have a place to park you know caravans or motorhomes and and trucks like this in the city but we found it on that app camp for a night and sure enough they just had the one spot that they were in the overflow that they were allowing someone to come to so tomorrow they have a bunch of checkouts so we might end up staying one more day. I've got some editing to do and we want to explore the downtown of Copenhagen and hopefully I can get a hold of my niece and you know maybe get together for a coffee while we're here so yeah we'll keep showing you around and for now it's raining but we're cozy in our cabin on wheels downtown Copenhagen. Hey guys we're excited to announce that our good friends at OK 4WD are now helping us bring brand new Epic Family Road Trip videos to you every week. For over 40 years Jim Oestreich and his team have been leaders in the overland and 4WD industry offering high quality gear, complete vehicle builds and expert service. As overlanders themselves every product they carry is tested and proven in the real world so you know it's gear you can trust. They've been friends of our family since the beginning of the Epic Family Road Trip and we're thrilled to have them on board to gear up for your own overland journey scan the QR code or click the link in the description to visit OK4WD.com your one-stop shop for all things adventure. Thanks again to the team at OK4WD for helping to make these videos possible. So the rain has subsided and Carol and I are just taking a walk over to a grocery store just to get a few things. We don't need much we still have what we picked up in the Netherlands but uh trying to get it before the rain comes back. We picked this food up in the Netherlands so I want to cook it. We're just going to have some steaks, zucchini and some potatoes and all I have is this small frying pan so it might take a while. I um I don't know what I did with my other bigger one but yeah I'm gonna need to buy a new one. We're at the finest restaurant in Copenhagen having a delicious steak prepared by the best chef in Copenhagen um yeah steak for dinner. It's raining we got back just in time it comes in waves. After breakfast we leave the overflow parking and settle into the campground for one more day of exploring Copenhagen. We moved into the campground even though in the overflow we had no problem at all. We're just going to spend one more day here and try to get downtown and uh we got a hold of my niece and her husband and uh we're going to take a train out to their place they're about a half an hour outside of town. So a lot going on um but our cabinet on the back the locking mechanism somehow while shipping got jammed up so so Carol bought some WD-40. I've got my Leatherman pliers and I'll see if I can free it up. I wonder if something fell against it. Maybe. So the uh I gotta get his name jiggled the key for a little while he's helping me out. Got it. It must have just been stuck and we got that WD-40 in there so hopefully that's the end of that. We're gonna head into Copenhagen and I'm super excited never been so it's about a 30 minute walk and uh yeah we'll just go and explore as much as we can. I think we're gonna find a place for lunch and then we'll take a train to see Monique and Per and their little girl um but they just had it must be coming on to close to a year anyways if not so super excited to go and visit with them and just see Denmark and Copenhagen. For our first stop we take a taxi down to Ruffen Copenhagen's vibrant street food hub buzzing with energy and irresistible aromas. With so many food choices from around the world we finally settled on a delicious meal of tacos and pulled pork burritos. We got a burrito, three tacos and a bottle of pineapple. Next we hop on a water taxi that takes us across the bay to the city's historic heart. Along the way we pass old ships and all kinds of watercraft, tour boats, sailboats, even battleships with views of stone buildings and historic landmarks lining the waterfront. The peaceful ride offers a perfect glimpse into Copenhagen's rich maritime heritage. From there we set out on foot making our way towards a train station. Our destination a visit with my niece Monique, her husband Per and their beautiful new daughter Selena whom we haven't met yet. As we stroll past ancient buildings and cobblestone streets the city's layered history surrounds us making the journey feel both timeless and deeply personal. Hi! Look at you. So we made it to my niece's and her husband Per's place and just outside of Copenhagen and she is an identical twin from my sister Julia so I get their names mixed up all the time Monique and Julia but I believe this is Monique correct? Yeah. Yeah. All right well time for dinner. And their happy little baby she's got the biggest smile ever. Arriving at Monique and Per's home to meet their beautiful new daughter was far more than just a visit. It was a deeply moving moment of connection and reflection. With my sister Julia, Monique's mother having recently passed away I could see her spirit shining in every smile, hear her voice in every word Monique spoke. It was as if a piece of Julia lived on in this new life. A beautiful reminder that though she is gone life carries on in our children and our grandchildren. In their laughter and love we find hope and healing. A quiet assurance that family endures beyond loss. This visit wasn't just about catching up it was about honoring the past while embracing the future wrapped in the warmth of new beginnings. Peek-a-boo, peek-a-boo. Where's Uncle Pete? Thanks for everything. So nice seeing you and meeting my new friend. Hi pumpkin. You know we thought we were cool in our truck but check out this one. They modified a fire truck into their camper and it is just amazing. Like how cool is that? It's really good water. That's what we gotta do with our hoses cut the end off and just have it like this you know and it fits perfectly in there. What a quiet night. Like the city after like 12 o'clock goes dead quiet. We didn't need much water. Yeah we didn't use much. I just wanted to top up before we left. That's pretty cool Pete. So that's awesome to meet like-minded people and explorers. Super nice. Yeah Thomas he's a nice guy and he's been five years overlanding through Europe and so he gave us a lot of good pointers for going through the Balkan states or countries and he said yeah definitely go you'll love it. Nice people so we're excited about the entire trip but that's going to be something very new for us for sure. So yeah we met a lot of neat people and this is a really different concept you know. I don't think we've ever set up our truck downtown you know pretty much downtown in the city before but look them up if you're ever here it's called Urban Camp. It was really nice because then that way we could go and see our friends and like there's so many people we want to meet here that are friends of ours so I really hope we can come back but we are going to Sweden. So now we're at the end of Denmark. After enjoying the great hospitality of Copenhagen, making new friends and catching up with family, we head from Denmark to Sweden across a spectacular connection between Denmark and Sweden. First comes the underwater tunnel then the long nearly eight kilometer bridge out to Sweden. It's a cool way to cross between two countries mixing cultures and history along the way. The toll is a little reminder that borders are still there but the open road keeps us moving forward. Today we're just skimming along the southern edge of Sweden on our way to Norway. We'll explore more of Sweden later once we make it up to the north country. Time for our second fuel stop of the trip and the DI B7 label looked unfamiliar. A quick check confirmed it's safe for the F-350's 6.7 liter power stroke diesel engine. Better safe than sorry. B7 is seven percent biodiesel and the Ford says max of twenty percent biodiesel so all my research said the B7 is fine for an F-350 power stroke diesel so we're good to go. We just bought BEF which they call Add Blue here and so far it's been very accessible. We actually don't need any. We topped up before we left so we're still okay but I thought I'd pick one up and just have it in the back of the truck. But we found it either at the pump at certain gas stations or in the store there's there's always lots of them. At first I was worried there's no spout and then I looked at the back and they're tucked away nicely and in a little compartment so well designed. So we think we've found a spot. It's been a learning curve working with this new app and just figuring it out and understanding what all the little icon things stand for and what to expect when you are camping here. So like a lot of the places are just off the road which is interesting. It's still really beautiful but um yeah. We went to the address that the app said and it looked like it was somebody's driveway so maybe we missed it but we went another kilometer up this little dirt road turned around and now we're heading back and we'll see what what's there but it just the exact address was right at somebody's house so I don't think it's in that guy's driveway. We'll let you know how it goes. So that turned out to be a wild goose chase. It ended on somebody's property so we we may have there was a trail going in but it was across a little bridge and I don't know if that was it or not. Normally the notes would say you cross a bridge and things like that so we didn't want to just go driving into someone's private property so we turned around and we're heading back onto the road and we'll keep looking. We'll get the hang of it. I'm sure it's a good app because a lot of people recommended it but we just aren't familiar with everything and a lot of the comments are translated from English so they are from other languages to English so not a hundred percent clear but the search continues. We were disappointed about not finding that one because it was in the forest but there's another one that we just found. They get pretty sparse between here and Norway so you know we're thinking we better take whatever is available but Carol found a one that I think will be interesting so it's 26 minutes up the road let's go. This campsite turned out to be a great spot for the night. Quiet, convenient and just a short walk from some fascinating Swedish history. Join us next week as we explore these ancient landmarks before heading into the mountains of Norway. A heartfelt thank you to our Patreon family. Your support truly helps make these videos possible. Lots of adventures ahead. We'll see you down the road.