Chapter 04: Traveling to Sweden

Doug Newton
May 14
4 min read

From making a Danish friend on the plane to reuniting with Alex in Malmö, here’s how my journey traveling to Sweden began.

After an 11 hour flight from Las Vegas to Zurich, an hour and a half layover, another hour and a half flight to Copenhagen, and a 20 minute train ride to Malmö, I successfully met up with my friend, Alex, and arrived at my first destination, Sweden. All things considered, traveling to Sweden was one of the smoother flying experiences I’ve had, aside from drawing the middle seat from the economy lottery. Even so, after a couple glasses of wine and a few episodes of Conan O’Brien Must Go, I was out cold and the next thing I knew we were landing in Switzerland.

Along the way I made a friend named Soren, a middle aged Danish guy traveling home to Copenhagen after attending a conference in Vegas. Since soccer is so prevalent in Europe, Soren likely spent his youth kicking a ball around, but considering he stood about 6’6”, I couldn’t help but think that under the right tutelage, he could have been pulling down rebounds for the Danish national basketball team in his prime. Nonetheless, his height required him to switch between cramming into the already tight legroom for an average person like myself, and stretching his legs out in the aisle when the carts weren’t passing by. After seeing this, my internal middle seat gripe quickly subsided.

Soren was super friendly, we chatted a bit on the plane and continued our conversation as we walked to our connecting flight in Zurich, we talked about his time in Vegas, various sports interests, and movies we watched on our flight. When we landed in Copenhagen we walked to baggage claim together and he gave me a few recommendations for his home city, and chatted about his plans to take his family camping over the weekend. We grabbed our bags, he pointed me to my train, we shook hands and wished each other luck. This is exactly why I love traveling internationally, people are always so friendly, welcoming, and helpful, and I always try to pay this forward when I meet foreigners traveling in the States.

The train ride from Copenhagen to Malmö was extremely easy. A quick 20 minute trip across Øresund, the water straight that connects the Baltic Sea and the North Sea, and separates Denmark from Sweden. When the train got out on the bridge over the sound, the ride became so smooth that it felt as if we were floating above the water, a much different experience compared to the bumpy and clunky train ride from Providence, RI to Boston, MA I was accustomed to when I was younger.

Upon my arrival in Malmö, I was greeted by my long-time friend, Alex Wowra. Alex and I became friends when I first moved to Los Angeles in 2013, but he’s originally from Ladenburg, Germany. Alex went to college at SDSU with my good friend Eli, and when I got to LA, Eli introduced me to his friends from school, Alex and Jake. The four of us became fast friends and remain close to this day, despite living in different cities. So much so, that I visited Alex in Germany in 2014 and then visited him while he was living in Amsterdam in 2018, so this is not our first international rendezvous.

Alex in a red jacket smiles outside Triangeln Station. People and bikes are in the background. Bus schedule visible. Clear sky and trees.

I often describe Alex as the least pragmatic German ever. His ideal road trip across the United States resembles what you might get if you gave a four-year-old child a paper map and a crayon at Denny’s and said draw a line across the USA. When we lived in LA he had friends scattered all over the city, so he was famous for meeting someone for breakfast in Pasadena, then surfing in Malibu, having lunch in Manhattan Beach, then meeting up for dinner or drinks in Downtown LA. If you’ve ever been to Los Angeles, you know that this is absolutely ludicrous to do in one day.

I could go on and on about how his lack of planning makes most Germans nauseous, but I’m the same way, and it’s probably why we’re friends. Beyond that, he’s one of the most welcoming, generous and happy people I’ve ever met. It’s been 3 years since our last visit so I was excited to see him, and like an obnoxious American, I shouted “What’s up motherf*cker” when I saw him at the train station, meanwhile a bunch of soft spoken, unassuming Swedes just stared at us as we laughed and gave each other a ceremonial bro hug.

I have a huge appreciation for cars, and the exhilarating vehicle Alex picked me up in was nothing short of jaw dropping, a 1996 Peugeot 205. That’s right ladies, this marvel boasts slightly more horsepower than your average lawnmower, fabric seats, and no power steering, driving doesn’t get any more raw than this!

We shoved my suitcase in the back seat and headed to the waterfront to see the sunset and grab some food. Alex and I caught up over ramen, sushi and beers at a new restaurant overlooking the sound. We filled each other in on recent life events, reminisced on the old days in LA, and started to discuss activities for my week in Sweden. After that it was time to get some rest and try to sleep off the jet lag to get ready for the following day’s adventures, more on that soon!