My Scandinavia 2026 Travel Plans

Two years ago, in spring 2024, I finally set out to explore Europe and UK in earnest. Although I’d already explored well over a dozen European countries, they were mostly in Eastern Europe. I’d barely seen any of the main western European countries, like Germany, Austria, Italy or those in Scandinavia. As of early 2026, I still have about 20 countries to visit in Europe, counting tiny nations such as Andorra, Monaco and Vatican City.

Tt always seems to surprise people that I haven’t yet visited so many main western European countries, especially Americans, who generally head first and foremost to western Europe when they travel internationally. Personally, I’ve always been a lot more interested in the Far East, the Indo-Pacific, Africa and Latin America than Europe. Hence, I explored most of those places first, leaving Europe until much later in my world travels.

Traveling around Europe under Schengen Zone Rules

Traveling slowly and in-depth around Europe is rather problematic for non-EU citizens like us Americans. That’s because of the 90-day Schengen Zone rules. Non-EU citizens are allowed to stay in the Schengen Zone ( a total of 29 countries) for a total of 90 days within 180 days. So if you stay 90 days, you must then exit and remain out for 90 days before re-entry.

For me, that’s proving to be a real Pain in the A**. Every three months I have to get out and find somewhere else to travel for three months before I can continue my European explorations. At this point, I’ve visited all the non-Schengen countries close to Europe. So each time I leave, I have to go farther and farther or else re-visit countries I’ve explored before.

That’s what happened to me in 2025. I couldn’t figure out where to go, so I returned to England for a whopping four months. I had a fantastic time and got to see many wonderful places in England for the first time, but it certainly didn’t help towards my main goal of visiting all the countries in the world.

The Schengen Zone includes 29 European countries: 25 of the 27 EU countries plus four more. Basically, it’s all the western European countries.

I prefer to travel slowly and really get to know each country, its culture and customs, main cities/towns and natural areas. So for Europe, under Schengen Rules, my plan of attack is to try exploring three countries during each 90-day visit, about one month per country.

In 2024 and 2025 I explored nine European/UK countries: Scotland, England, Wales, Ireland, N. Ireland, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Switzerland. But I still have 22 European countries to go!

Scandinavia 2026

This year I’ve decided to explore three Scandinavian countries, namely, Denmark, Sweden and Norway. That’s partly due to getting hotel review assignments in these countries, mostly in the capital cities.

I’ll also be pet sitting around Scandinavia. In fact, I just started my trip here last week with pet sitting a sweet little Cocker Spaniel named Mocca in Svendborg, Denmark. I’m here now as I write!

Thus far, in Scandinavia I have two more pet sits lined up: one in Oslo, Norway for three weeks in late April, and another in Denmark, south of Copenhagen in late March/early April. I still have some serious filling-in to do!

Traveling the World by pet sitting

Although I’ve been pet sitting off and on for well over a decade, I really started pet sitting in earnest in 2024, when I decided to explore Europe and UK. That was for a couple of key reasons.

First of all, the vast majority of pet sits opportunities world wide are in UK, Europe and North America. In most other parts of the world, pet sits are generally far & few between. It’s not viable as a main means of travel in those areas.

Secondly, Europe and the UK are extremely expensive. So expensive, that I can’t actually afford to travel there unless I can cut out accommodation expenses almost entirely. The two ways I know to accomplish that are by pet sitting and by work exchange. I’ve been doing both in Europe thus far, though mostly pet sitting.

Throughout many regions of the world, the cost of living is low enough that I can simply pay my way. I can cover all the costs of accommodation, food, transportation, daily necessities and a few entry fees & activities along the way. Particularly helpful are the many super inexpensive accommodation options in those countries, options that don’t even exist in the USA or Europe.

In Europe, UK and N America, accommodation is extremely expensive. If I can cut out that cost, then I can afford to pay the rest- food, transportation, daily supplies, etc.

Between my work reviewing luxury hotels and successfully cutting out accommodation costs by pet sitting (and sometimes work exchange) I can afford to travel quite comfortably all around Europe (and other expensive regions of the world).

My 2026 Scandinavia Travel Route

Denmark in March – Sweden in April – Norway in late April/May

A. Denmark

My travel route this time has basically been determined by where I’ve secured pet sitting gigs. My first pet sit turned out to be in south-central Denmark, about two hours southwest of Copenhagen, in a small city called Svendborg. That’s where I am now.

That pet sit determined my entry point into Scandinavia. Last week I flew into Copenhagen, then took a train down to near Svendborg, where my host picked me up at a train station and drove us to her home.

My second pet sit is in Solrod, Denmark, starting in late March. I’m super excited about that gig because I’ll be living in…a historic windmill! Yes! It’s a five-story windmill built in the 1800s. Curiously, an American woman from NYC is living there. I’ll be looking after her adorable little Frenchie dog for two weeks.

Between my two dog sits in Denmark, there’s a one-week ‘break’. So I’ll head to Copenhagen to explore the city and visit luxury hotels on assignment.

B. Sweden

My next confirmed pet sit is in Olso, Norway in late April through early May. So must be in Olso by April 23^rd.

That means the only time I have to explore Sweden is in April. And, sadly, it’s only for about 2 ½ weeks. Bummer.

I still hope to secure a 1-2 week pet sit in Stockholm in April. But I just have to wait, search, apply for any sits that come up, and hope for the best.

Meanwhile, a long-term Swedish friend of mine from my years of scuba diving & rock climbing in southern Thailand, has invited me to stay at her apartment in Malmo, Sweden in April. Yeah! It will be soooo great to see her again, hang out and catch up on years of our lives.

Malmo is just across a narrow sea strait between Copenhagen, Denmark and Malmo, Sweden. In fact, it’s just a 30-minute train or bus ride between the two cities. I may be able to visit some Copenhagen hotels from there. Hopefully, I’ll also be able to visit the western Swedish coastline, Gothenborg city and maybe a few other spots from Malmo.

Then I’ll have to head to Stockholm, whether I have a pet sit or not, to visit luxury hotels on assignment.

C. Norway

As I mentioned above, I have to reach Olso by April 23^rd. Most likely, I’ll be traveling from Stockholm to Oslo overland, by train or bus. Apparently, it’s a 6-8 hour trip. Easy peasy.

In Oslo I’ll be looking after one small pretty dog and one Sphinx cat for a Russian couple who live there. They live in a great, spacious apartment with spectacular views. Out of their city-side windows, Oslo splays out from a high apartment tower floor. Out the back windows is a big wooded hill.

I’ll be there for three weeks. Yeah! That’s plenty of time to look after the pets, explore the city, visit luxury hotels on assignment and hopefully meet up with another long-term Norwegian friend from my days living in Kyoto, Japan.

I should also get myself across Norway to the west coast city of Bergen. I have seven assigned hotels to visit there. Apparently Bergen is the jumping off point for cruises of the famed Norwegian fjords.

I would also looooovvvveee to get up to far northern Norway to experience tons of snow, dog sledding, an ice hotel and possibly northern Lights… Let’s see how it goes, because…

My 2026 Travels After Scandinavia

I’ve decided to return to far northern India this year. I’ve already traveled around the wonderful state of Himachal Pradesh to Dharamsala (home of Dalai Llama), Rewalsar Lake, Mandi, Shimla (British Hill Station) and Rishikesh, Uttarakand state (base for Beatles tour of India and declared World Home of Yoga), as well as some other places down on the plains in Punjab state (home of the Sikh religion).

This year I want to travel even farther north, to Kashmir, Ladakh / Leh, Manali and the far northeastern tea-growing region of Darjeeling and Sikkim.

The best time to start those Indian travels is in May. Therefore, I’ll be pressed to leave Norway as early as I can, and definitely by mid-May. That potentially gives me one ‘extra’ week in Norway after my Oslo pet sit ends on May 9^th.

Summary

I’ve just started my 2 ½ month explorations of Scandinavia. I greatly look forward to my ongoing pet sits, luxury hotel reviews work, explorations and meet-ups with long-term friends in the region.

I’ll be writing lots more about these three Scandinavian countries as I go, so stay tuned for more insights, experiences and photos coming up soon!

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