Winter Vanlife in Lofoten Islands, Norway

After two years of living on the road, we have made it to the ultimate country that has been on our bucket list for years, Norway. And this week we have been joined by our great friends Katie and Phil who have flown out and hired a van to explore the Lofoten Islands with us. It's crazy to think we met these guys six years ago on a boat in Fiji and since then they have become one of our closest friends and we can't wait to make more memories with them here in the Arctic Circle. The Lofoten Islands are one of the most popular spots to visit in Norway and you're about to find out why. Subscribe and join us as we embark on this trip of a lifetime. Guys this is it, this is the start of the Lofoten Islands. We just had to get out and take a picture with the sign to say that we've officially made it to the destination. It's been on our goal board for years. So we've just stopped to take so many photos because this spot is... don't be shy, don't be shy. Hi, you won't believe it but these guys actually take more photos than we do. No, not we. So yeah, this is an amazing spot so you can see us snapping away We only intended to be here for like 10 minutes but we can already tell it's going to be longer. Guys that first stop was absolutely unreal. It was gorgeous. Like if that's going to be the start of our day in Lofoten then... We've got so much more to come because that was stunning. The drone shots, the camera shots, it was so beautiful and we haven't seen anything like that yet, I wouldn't say the whole trip. No, no. Nothing on that scale. Breathtaking. Let's hit the road. Have breakfast at next stop okay because daddy's making pancakes. You like pancakes? It's a cold one out there too but my Christ it's worth freezing your ass for. Team, I just can't stop thinking that I feel like we've picked the perfect time and we have the perfect weather to do Lofoten because I don't even know if it's Lofoten, it might even be Lofoten. So whichever way you say it, you know where I mean. But we are here right now and the roads are completely clear. Like there's no snow or ice on the roads whatsoever but the mountains around us are still completely snow-capped and it just looks absolutely breathtaking. It's dry. I feel incredibly lucky for us to be exploring this place right now. First attempt at emptying the toilet. I have been looking forward to this so here we go. Here we go. She said push really hard. Push really hard. Here we go baby. I'm just pulling it out. Lift the blue thing. This thing? Yeah and then pull the handle out. There you go, that's it. First one. God it's heavy. I didn't think I'd eaten this much. How do you get it out? Keep pulling. Oh. Does it not come all the way out? It must come all the way out. Yeah it's got to come all the way out. There you go, lifting it out. It's warm, it's warm. Where am I going with it? To the dump station. Carry it like that, put it down, you can carry it. That's it, there you go, oh it's leaking. This? Yeah, let's put it on the floor. Stand it up. Pull that up, open that up and fire away. Van life baby. There you go buddy. Is there a button on the back? Press the button, release it without that blue button right at the top. En masse. I actually think that's been the highlight of my day. It is so good introducing people to van life and them seeing some of the harsh sides of it. Emptying your toilet, trying to find water and yeah just the difficulties that can come with van life. Oh my god, I've literally not stopped laughing. So it's my turn now, I'm gonna have to empty our toilet but it's not something that's new to me. Nice and easy procedure. I'll be back in a minute. I don't know how many times we're going to say it but it is stunning. It's unbelievable, like all the mountaintops just peaked with snow. You can see all the way down through the valley. I can see why so many people flock here, especially in the summer it is like rammed. I imagine this bit will be super full but like Sam was saying a minute ago, the roads have been bliss. It's about plus two degrees at the moment so that's lush and night time's about minus four, minus five so we're not like dangerously cold or like stupidly cold. Honestly it's perfection right now, perfection. Our next stop here in the Lofoten Islands is the famous football pitch. Now many of you who have looked into this place will know that there is literally a football pitch right on the end of an island on an island of its own and it just looks absolutely stunning. So that's where we're driving to now and then we're gonna park up have some coffee and I think we're gonna have some pancakes. Yeah I'm gonna make some awesome pancakes which is like a famous Chris recipe I think. We always have pancakes when we're like celebrating or if we're having like a cool morning. So yeah I think being here on a lush day with our good friends in vans, I think it's a good time to have some pancakes. Maybe my biceps are better. Yeah bicep curls. One more. Come on. These lads are impressive aren't they? Come on. Unfortunately van life isn't conducive to muscles. We're on day three of van life so. Day three muscles are in atrophy. Just had a brief walk around the football pitch we've driven up to it and literally there is the football pitch right outside. I've just let the other three go off into town. Sam's gonna go and get her souvenirs. She's gonna get a little thimble, a magnet, a sticker, something like that for the wall and I'm gonna knock up these pancakes. So I need some flour, oat milk, baking soda or baking powder, something like that. We got the gang back. Pancakes are on. Here they are. Yeah they've brought me back a lush treat to have because apparently they've had something while they've been out. And I've already eaten a pancake. They are on the way my friend, on the way. Guys one thing we cannot get over is the colour of the water. It's got to be glacial water or something. I honestly don't know why it is so clear. It's really tempting to get in so by the time Phil and Katie leave us we will have got in the water. We're gonna get in the water. We're gonna do it. But we are stopping every like five minutes at the moment. When you've got places like this how can you just keep driving? It's mad. Sam isn't strangling Fletcher by the way in the car. He's just going mad because he's really scared that Phil's gonna jump in the water. He's going for his famous action pose. He's not going in the water. Don't worry. Don't worry. I'm not getting in. Don't worry. He's not getting in the water buddy. He is on lifeguard duty right now and he really isn't happy thinking that everyone's gonna go for a swim. Do you want to get in that water? Is that what it is? We got a bit of blue sky team and I gotta admit it's so weird not seeing any snow on the ground here. Like our whole arctic trip has been white everywhere and right now we're actually in a part of the Lofoten Islands where there's no snow on the ground whatsoever. It could be spring which is mad and I feel really really grateful because I know this area is prone to icy roads in the winter so right now because of this warmth mild weather we're getting it's just made it perfect conditions and it's stunning. Also a little tip for you guys because we did not know this before we came to Norway but it's actually a legal requirement to have your vehicle lights on at all times even through the day. We've had so many like flashes and we've just understood that your lights need to be on at all times when driving in Norway not just when it's dark. Okay so we've just found a gorgeous beach and these guys want to go in for a sea swim. Fletcher's not keen. I know mate, I know. I am excluded on female issues so I won't be going in for a swim today but the other guys are going to be brave and go and have a dip in the arctic ocean. Boom. How you feeling? It's feeling fresh. I can't believe we're about to go in the arctic sea. But I've just cranked it up to 23 degrees and warm my feet up from the vents. Okay. I'm cold already guys. I don't actually want to take my coat off but I'm ready for it. I've always said I'm going to do this and to do it in the arctic circle that's like the goals isn't it? That's goal. That's everyone's goals. If you're going to do a cold water swim do it here. And with your besties. And with our besties. Regretting yet? No. I will about one second after I get in. There are so many people on this beach taking pictures because it's so beautiful. None of them are going in the water and I guarantee you we're about to have a big paparazzi. They're all going to want to come and see these lunatics get in. Oh man. That feels good. Feels so good. You're not going to believe it team. We're doing this round two. Are we absolutely mad? My head. My head. Guys. We did it. We went in there. I'm not going to lie. We had to go in twice because someone wasn't recording on the drone. I'm so sorry. I'm just bringing the drone down now and yeah I actually didn't press record. So I made them all go back again for another swim. And second time was so much worse. First time was alright. When I come out I felt really warm. I felt alive. But that second time I went in my feet had such bad pins and needles. I went under again so my head was like pounding. But just look at this sunset. Sunset on a gorgeous beach up here in the Arctic Circle. Two of our closest friends. Honestly life doesn't get much better than this. What an experience. What an experience. Smashed it team. What did you think? It was cold but it could have been worse. And the first time out it felt beautiful. Came out of the water and I actually felt warm. It was nice. And then I made you go in again. And then we went in the Is this quite deep or is it me? I'm trying to go across this little stream here. And I don't know if my shoes will work really. Getting in that nice warm van was exactly what I needed. Warmed my little feet up. Warmed my hands up. My head's warming up slowly now. I'm just gonna now enjoy the sunset here on this incredible beach up on the Arctic. Sam's out with Fletcher somewhere. I'll go and find her now. But guys that makes you feel so so good. I'm so pleased I did it. Everything in my body was like you do not want to go in the sea. You do not want to be going to do something that stupid. Getting in that cold of water. But I feel alive now. I feel pumped. Yeah it was amazing. So so good. Honestly guys those auroras last night were unbelievable. We tried to get lots of amazing photos and we were out there for hours but you really did just have to sit back and embrace them because they are something that we have never ever seen so strong and so stunning with your own human eyes. And the cameras just wasn't doing it justice for a change. So it was really really magical. I feel like this whole Lofoten trip so far has been 10 out of 10. This morning we had a gorgeous park up and we were all on a high from such an incredible night with the northern lights that to top it off we even had a baby seal break out of the ice right in front of us and was trying to get himself on the ice for a little chill out. Managed to get a little bit of a shot of him but again just something you just had to embrace and be there to witness how special it was. But we are officially back on the road. We've got a tiny bit left of the Lofoten islands to explore. What a day to explore it. I'm sure we're going to be pulling over taking lots of photos. I can see the drone being up all day today and we're just going to absolutely embrace every single second of this trip. Join us next week as we continue this epic trip through the final part of the Lofoten islands. If you think this week has been stunning you are not going to want to miss part two. As always thank you so much for being here guys. Hit the like button if you enjoyed this video. Comment with a wave emoji if you're proud of Chris for smashing out an arctic swim and we'll see you next time. See ya!