I didn’t Expect THIS! | Offroad Motorcycle Camping Sweden with a BMW R1200GS | Ep1

Every adventure has a first step—and mine began on the Swedish Trans Euro Trail. In this first episode, you’ll see the raw reality of riding the TET as a beginner with an unexpected twist…
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With zero offroad experience and a fully loaded BMW R1200GS, even the first gravel roads felt intimidating. At times I worried more about dropping the bike than about the trail itself—because picking up this heavy machine alone seemed impossible.

But slowly, something shifted. I started to find a rhythm on the gravel, learning to trust the bike, and myself. I avoided the tougher routes, but the TET doesn’t always let you choose. Before long, I was facing a narrow single track that tested every ounce of courage I had.

In this episode, you’ll see the raw reality of tackling the TET as a beginner—what’s doable, what’s tough, and how progress happens one small step at a time. If you’ve ever wondered whether the Swedish TET is rideable without prior offroad skills, this is where you’ll find out.

Sweden, the land of midnight sun, endless forests, and over 100,000 lakes. A country that stretches more than500 km from south to north. So long that the climate at each end feels like two different worlds. Nearly 75% of Sweden’s road network is unpaved. That’s right. Three out of four roads are gravel, forest tracks, or dirt lanes. For riders like us, that means one thing, adventure. [Music] Hey everyone, welcome back to another series. So, last year I went to the Alps and to England on the BMW 1150 RT. This year we’re going to do it a little bit different. I bought the 1200 GS and with this I’m going to ride the TT in Sweden and we start in Malma and we go upwards. We have to see how far we can get it. I have like 2 weeks to travel. So it must be enough to see a lot of nice spots. As last year I’m also uh carrying a tent with me and all the gear. So I will be camping and Sweden is perfect for that of course because it has a lot of shelter places. Well like this one there is a shelter here behind me. Uh but I will not need it because I will uh sleeping in my tent. A good time to start when everything is ready and set to go. Oh maybe it’s a good idea to put this uh in my backpack. Yeah. So, I have uh three pennurs in the uh small suitcase or a bag, let’s say. See, everything fits. It’s just enough. But, uh to be honest, um if I have to do some shopping, I don’t have a clue where I have to put it. We just started. But the experience here in Sweden is one of a kind. Of course, the elves, they were beautiful. Um, but for this, you have to have another uh set of skills. You see, I don’t have any. God, I’m acting as a granny right now. I still have to get used to the gravel roads. For a holiday, I chose not to go to the southern of Europe because it’s way too hot. And I think Scandinavia now at this moment time of year in August, it it has perfect weather conditions, especially for someone that is uh starting off road. What attracts me most is uh you’re just all by yourself. There is nobody around you. We cannot imagine this in Holland. Even if you if you go on a path like this in Holland, still there are people everywhere. So, uh it’s it’s also kind of an escape to to do the T of Sweden just to settle on my mind for a bit. And this is my cup of tea. Look at this. That is one of the first spots I encounter on the Tat Sweden. I already saw some churches and stuff, but uh not it’s not as impressive as this. So, I downloaded the GPX from the TAT website and then you just import it to your app and it shows you where to go. The GPS uh is a little bit lost uh because of uh driving through the forest. I think I’m just wondering like what kind of setup uh do you use? Uh what works for you? What doesn’t work? What did you try out so far yourself? I’m going to uh install a tablet mount uh when I’m back home. That’s for sure. And I just want to place it on top of here and then remove those two mounts which are now uh installed there. I love these rural areas. And for a beginner, it’s not it’s not too bad. At least this part, it’s perfectly doable for a beginner uh doing Ted route. That’s something I promised myself not not to do the too too heavy parts. Like as long as it’s like these gravel paths uh combined with the tarmac, it’s it’s fine. But uh I don’t want to get into really deep because this bike is way too heavy. that would get myself into trouble and I’m all alone. So, if my bike uh drops then uh I have a big problem. 5 minutes later. Okay, this is very tight, but it’s all dry, so I don’t have to worry that I will get stuck in a puddle or something. Heat. Heat. Okay. Uh, it can be a bit intimidating these uh kind of paths. I I’m honest. But as long as you just keep it cool, you will be fine. But that gave brings me to another dilemma like shouldn’t I do this on a a 700 or 800 because it’s so much lighter finding grip at least not losing grip. Oh yeah. Sliding. So just want to show you how I settled for the first night in Sweden. My motor bike is here and I put the tent right here at the lake. And if I don’t talk, it’s almost perfectly silent. I’m stunned by the things I’ve been uh encountering so far. It’s uh breathtaking. And uh that you can just put up your tent right here, wherever you want. It uh it is amazing. We are used to camping sites in the rest of Europe where someone dictates you where to put your tent and here well you have total freedom. So uh I think I will have a good uh rest and uh I see you tomorrow.