Robert saw this trip we could do on Lake Båven in Sweden and just casually floated out “So you know how we enjoyed Sweden and we said it looks fun to canoe, well how about this …..”. We were then building a spreadsheet before we knew it, and looking at finances to see if we could make it happen. This was a great trip for getting into the wilderness, whilst not being too remote, and being quite easy to organise. Read on for all the ins and outs of what we organised, what we didn’t need to, and what we then actually got up to.

When you see the opportunity to build your own raft and float it down a river for a week, how can you pass that up! This activity captured two of our favourite things; making and paddling. While idly looking for the next adventure, found Vildmark i Värmland a company that offers raft building experiences as well as a host of other outdoor activities, and we just couldn’t pass the opportunity to build a timber raft up!

In preparation for our Northern Forest Canoe Trail (NFCT) adventure we wanted to see what paddling longer distances day after day felt like, soe we headed towards the Thames as it is one of the longest rivers in the UK and, helpfully for us, one which you can paddle along.

An overview of our first unsupported canoe expedition paddling the River Wye over 5 days off work. It was a trip we really enjoyed, which allowed us to try out multi-day canoe touring through the beautiful landscape of the Wye Valley. If you want to get canoe touring, then we think this is a great trip to start with.

How did we get started canoe touring? What was our first experience of it like? How woefully prepared were we? And what about it made us come back for more? This is the story of our first time canoe camping. Everyone has to start somewhere!