Travelling with our SUP: Jenni & Flo

We are Jenni and Flo, two free spirits at heart, who use every free minute to travel through Europe in our x-civil protection bus. Last year we decided to add some SUPs to our kit. We can still remember it as if it was yesterday. We came back home from a weekend on the bus and there they were – two giant boxes in front of our door. As soon as she unpacked the boxes, Jenni’s voice cracked with joy in anticipation of all the adventures that were now waiting for us on the water. We couldn’t wait to be travelling with our SUP.

We had to get out on them immediately! Even though the temperatures were below freezing, our new SUPs wanted to be tested! Of course (!), the wetsuits we needed were located at Jenni’s parent’s house, about 100 km away… So we put tons of layers and hopped onto our boards,  hoping that our slightly rusty SUP knowledge was enough not to fall into the bitterly cold water. But thankfully, it worked and we had such a great time.

Afterwards, we snuggled up on the warm bus, enjoying the beautiful view of the lake, you can definitely still be traveling with your SUP even when the sun is not shining!

Soon, it was Spring and thankfully the temperatures got a little warmer. So, we packed up our wetsuits and drove to the Rothsee in beautiful Bavaria. A big lake, a fantastic location and a small enchanted peninsula waited for us. 

Since Summer takes a while to arrive in Bavaria, we set off to paddle in Austria, starting with Lake Hallstadt. In contrast to the endless crowds of tourists, we did not squeeze ourselves into the narrow streets of the Hallstatt but rather explored the area via SUP! Steep mountains, ice-cold clear water and a huge lake to explore – can you think of anything better? We spent almost the entire day on the boards, enjoying the sun, mucking around and paddling around the inlets. A perfect Summer trip.

The first time when we stood on a paddleboard was in the beautiful city of Peschiera del Garda a few years ago. Since then we could not stop thinking about this city and we returned to Peschiera del Garda in early summer last year – this time with our own Bluefin SUPs. This was the highlight of our vacation: if you lie flat on your board you can float underneath the old bridges of the old town and paddle through the historic canals. We felt like gondoliers  – oh sole mio.

In the meantime, Summer had finally arrived in Bavaria and with temperatures just below 30 degrees we were ready to dip into the cool water. So Jenni decided to try out yoga on her Bluefin SUP. It was amazing! She loved feeling at one with the board and the water and found it a really stable platform.

We had always planned to use our SUPs on our Scandinavian trip. We imagined that we could explore all of the beautiful fjords, lakes and coasts with our boards. But then the weather put a spoke in our wheel and instead of a bright blue sky above picturesque fjords we had constant rain and cold temperatures. The next time we could be travelling with our SUP was when we returned to Sweden. The sun was out for the first time in ages, nothing could keep us out of the water. We quickly inflated the boards and went straight out onto the lake, it was wonderful. We paddled around the small islands with iconic red houses, did not encounter another human and enjoyed the wonderful nature. 

When we came back home we almost immediately headed to the wonderful Eibsee where we enjoyed a beautiful autumnal landscape. With a fascinating view of the Zugspitze and the crystal clear water,  Eibsee is definitely one of our highlights. Due to the wonderful weather, the lake and the shore were absolutely overcrowded with people. But, with our SUPs, we could escape the crowds on to the lake. We found a small island where we could enjoy our snack in the sun and watch the busy crowds. 

This is why we love to travel with our SUP: with our Bluefin Paddleboards, we are able to explore another element of each place we visit and escape the hustle. We feel completely in harmony with nature. We refer to it as “water hiking” and we love it.

If you want to plan a SUP trip, have a read of this blog post.