My Friend Bought a Volvo and I Got a Free Trip to Europe

Guys, is this real life? I still can’t believe this really happened. I flew business class to Europe without spending a dime.  Amber called me a few months ago and invited me on a trip of a lifetime. She decided to buy a Volvo with overseas pick up (Look it up. It’s a thing.) but her husband couldn’t go with her. With overseas delivery, you get two business class tickets to Sweden, a few nights in a hotel, a tour of the Volvo factory in Gothenburg and to pick up your car.  I ended up as her alternate. This is the best life.

At this point in the story, someone normally asks how much did her car cost.

People, if your friend calls and offers you a free trip to Sweden you do not ask how much the car costs you just say YES.

We decided to extend the trip a few days. We spent 2 nights in London, 3 nights in Gothenburg and 2 nights in Stockholm.

London

I’d never been to London before so we hit all the tourist spots:

• Hyde Park
• Tower of London- where a bunch of people died. We went on the Yeoman tour, which was excellent.  Most interesting fact – An area of the tower was renovated in case they captured Hitler.
• London Eye – tourist trap
• Big Ben – under construction. womp womp
• Westminster Abbey – where they keep a bunch of dead people.
• The National Gallery – Free museum with impressionist art including Sunflowers by Vincent Van Gogh
• Buckingham Palace

Gothenburg

Before the trip, I’d never heard of Gothenburg, an adorable port town that is the second largest city in Sweden. I ended up loving this part of the trip, but I have a thing for walkable cities.

Volvo put us up at the Clarion Post Hotel, which was very fancy. They picked us up early in the morning to take us to the Volvo dealership. Amber got to test drive her car. The only disappointing part was the test drive track. It was a very small loop, but we took advantage of parking in the middle of it for a picture.

We visited the Volvo museum and ended the day with a tour of the factory. The tour was way cooler than expected. I knew some of the work would be automated, but until you see car manufacturing in action its hard to picture these robotic arms putting the cars together.

Gotenburg day two was definitely the highlight of the trip. We hopped on the tram outside the hotel, managed to find the ferry station and jumped on the next available ferry. This is why Amber and I are great travel companions. I’m not sure you are understanding. We literally got on a ferry with little clue about where it was going or when / if it would come back. Ok, so maybe a little reckless, but it’s a great memory and we had a fantastic time on Brännö.

Brännö, one of 20 islands in the Gothenburg Archipelago, has a trail of footprints that walks you from one side of the island to the other in roughly 30 minutes.  We found a map with paths to neighboring islands and we took off to Galterö.

Galterö has a blue dot trail that helps you navigate a nature hike across the island. With almost no other signage, we weren’t sure we’d make it off the island.

Stockholm

We took a train early in the morning to Stockholm.  I spent most of the time walking around the city including Gramla Stan, Djurgarden, Skeppsholmen and Kastellholmen. We ate at this cute breakfast place, Pom & Flora. We wrapped up our trip with another ferry ride to Vaxholm.

When the guy tells you to strike a pose and you don’t know what to do.

Friends that travel together are friends forever.