Backpacking through Europe in 1994

Day 66-67 • November 11 & 12, 1994
Traveling from Århus, Denmark, to Helsinki, Finland
With an unplanned night in Stockholm, Sweden!

There are a handful of days in my life that even I have a hard time believing what actually happened to me. November 11 and 12, 1994, were two of those days!

And although the events were very unnerving to me while they were happening, and I was scared shitless during most of them, the experience turned out to become one of the best stories of my life, one that I’ve told hundreds of times.

“Hey, did I ever tell you about the Friday night I spent in Stockholm, Sweden, during a November snowstorm, in the dark after missing the 8:00 pm ferry, and having no Swedish money, and the banks were closed, and my credit cards were maxed out, and I had literally no plan for the situation I found myself in?!? I ended up sleeping in the basement of their World Trade Center building, underneath a stairway, in the middle of the city!! True Story! And, if you don’t believe me, I have the pictures to prove it!”

I found my way through that day and night and next day by remaining calm, trusting my gut, and saying a lot of prayers to God to protect me! Read below to see how it all worked out.

My Photographs from today

DAY 66 & 67 / 11-11-94 & 11-12-94
Traveling from Århus, Denmark, to Helsinki, Finland
with an unplanned night in Stockholm, Sweden!

Today is only half over but I didn’t get a chance to write last night and a shit-load has happened so far. I guess you need some really shitty days to make up for the really good days. Well, the last 24 hours have really sucked.

Let me start with yesterday morning. I got up at 7, showered, packed and Steve went with me, halfway to the train station. It was on time & I was there. So far, so good. When I got to Fredrikshaven I had to walk about four or five blocks to the boat. That was unusual for me, they’ve normally been in the same building. But it was ok, I made it on the boat, and excuse the pun, I was smooth sailing.

But when I reached Göteborg, Sweden, things started to go bad. I had 25 minutes to make the connection – not a lot of time, but enough. Enough, that is, if customs doesn’t stop you and search through EVERYTHING you’re carrying, which happened to me.

25 minutes is enough time if you don’t have to take another city train from the boat station to the central station, about a 10-minute trip, which I also had to do.

Since both of these happened, I missed my train by a good half hour. And I knew right then that I had, in effect, missed my ferry to Helsinki, which was leaving at 8:00 pm from Stockholm. I also knew that the next ferry didn’t leave until 8:00 am the next morning (today). So I began to worry a little at the thought of spending the night in the Stockholm train station. But I pushed that to the back of my head.

Now, my concern was to GET to Stockholm.

I took the next train which left at 17:05 (5:05pm) and arrived at 21:47 (9:47pm). What I didn’t realize though was I needed a seat reservation. I didn’t know this until I got kicked out of my seat. I looked around and all the seats were taken.

By now the train was moving and I had no seat. So I walked the length of the train, with all my gear, and finally found a seat in the smoking section. Actually, almost the whole car was empty, so it was ok.

I decided to pass time by reading in my Let’s Go Europe book about Stockholm. I had read less than one page when my worst fears came true: Stockholm station closes from midnight to 5:00 am.

I started getting nauseous at the thought of having no Swedish money (it was too late to exchange any), and NO PLACE to spend the night.

I quickly looked up the hostels but you had to take buses to get there & I had no money for buses. My mind raced, and the pit in my stomach grew as I looked outside and saw snow falling.

Trying to remain calm, I found the number for the U.S. Embassy. Surely they would help. I’m an American citizen, I vote & pay my taxes. Surely they wouldn’t want/let me spend a night on the streets.

The only trouble was I still had two more hours in the train to think up all the reasons why they wouldn’t.

I found a phone after arriving, took a big breath, and dialed.

I couldn’t believe what I heard on the other end. “That number has been disconnected.”

WHAT!? IT’S THE FUCKING U.S. EMBASSY!

I looked it up and tried it again. I tried a third time. Same result. I knew then I’d have to rely on my own wits.

After calling Siru to tell her my new arrival time, I decided to get to a public place, preferably a hotel or something with a big lobby, where I could sit until 5:00 when the station opened.

Right across the street was a huge building called the World Trade Center (no, not that big) that looked pretty good.

The place was deserted, so I decided to explore. What I found was perfect, considering the circumstances.

I found a huge empty stairwell with a lot of room underneath it.

It took less than a second to decide this is where I was going to spend the night. If I have learned anything on this trip it is to trust my judgement, and this place just felt really, really safe.

I can’t explain it, but when I saw it, I knew I was going to be O.K.

I was, of course. In fact, I was so OK that I overslept my alarm which I set for 6. There was enough room for me to unroll my sleeping bag and luckily I woke up when I did, at 7.

My ferry left at 8, so, once again, I needed to hurry. I packed up, ran across the street, and after checking what I already assumed, found out I needed to take the metro to the dock.

I ran down the corridor, and my mind flashed, “You don’t have any Swedish money, how are you getting on the metro?” but I ignored it.

I ran up to the service window, flashed my Eurail Pass and said how IMPERATIVE it was I get to that station NOW!

The guy seemed a bit taken back and handed me a map where he circled he station and said go to Track 3.

I dashed off and jumped on the train that was there. The time was 7:23.

Unfortunately, I did not know that 2 different trains share the same track (unlike Paris, for example) and, you guessed it, I was on the wrong one. [AND THE TRAIN WAS MOVING, AND WE WERE GOING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION FROM THE WATER!!!]

As soon as I realized my mistake I jumped off [at the next station] and asked for the right train.

Time: 7:30. Next train: 7:38.

Now my brain started pounding. “TODD YOU FUCKED UP! YOU’RE GOING TO MISS IT AGAIN! YOU’LL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE 8:00 FERRY TONIGHT!”

I was certain that some evil forces were plotting against me to keep me out of Finland.

The minutes ticked by: 7:35; 36, 37. The train came & I hopped on, back 2 stations where I could change to the right one.

7:42. The correct train arrives in 4 minutes. 7:43, 44 – God, it was taking forever – 45.

The train came, and I leapt on. Off it went – this time in the right direction.

7:46, 47, 48, 49. Next stop is it. 7:50.

I could see signs pointing to the boat.

As the train slowed, I was the first off and took off in a literal dead sprint, with my 70 pound pack. I ran out of the station, into the snow.

I saw the next sign, and ran FASTER. My brain was pounding, my heart pumping, my lungs were aching, my legs were throbbing.

I turned the corner and ran to the next sign. Then I spotted it!

200 meters ahead was the ship.

7:55.

Up ahead of me was a woman who was running, apparently to the same place.

I yelled “HOLD THE SHIP” – as if it would do any good.

7:56.

I ran into the terminal. Up a flight of steps. I was hurting so bad. I don’t know where I was getting this energy from. Pure Adrenaline I guess.

7:57.

My head wanted to explode, my legs wanted to drop off.

There, up ahead, I spotted the gangway.

7:58.

“HOLD THE SHIP” I yelled again.

I actually passed the woman who was running ahead of me.

“PLEASE!!”

7:59.

“Do you need to see my ticket?” I wheezed to the attendant.

“No, Go On Board!”

As I stumbled the last few feet on board the ship, my legs gave out, and I collapsed, just inside the door. I crawled over to a sofa, and sat wheezing and panting and coughing, on the verge of crying, for what seemed an eternity.

The doors closed and we pushed off. I didn’t move. The safety announcements came over the speakers. I barely heard them.

Then I slept.

I awoke at 2, still not believing I had made it on board. After I had convinced myself that I had, I set out to explore the ship.

It was AMAZING. It had a shopping mall in it, steam baths, sauna, hot tubs, a tropical pool, casino, several bars, several restaurants, a dance floor, live band, and hundreds & hundreds of cabins.

I spent the day listening to CD’s, taking pictures, writing in this, and basically trying to relax. Now it is 8:00, I’ve made it to my final train – no more connections. (The Finnish people have enough sense to put the train station next to the dock), and I’ll be with Siru in 2 hours.

And after traveling for the last 36 hours, 2 more will be a breeze.

* Note from Todd in 2024:

On Wednesday, September 28, 1994, just five weeks before I sailed on the Silja Scandanavia, the MS Estonia sank in the middle of the night, between approximately 12:50 am and 01:50 am, as the ship was crossing the Baltic Sea, en route from Tallinn, Estonia, to Stockholm, Sweden.

Of the 803 passengers and 186 crew on board, 852 people perished.

The sinking was one of the worst maritime disasters of the 20th century. It is the deadliest peacetime sinking of a European ship after the Titanic in 1912 and the Empress of Ireland in 1914, and the deadliest peacetime shipwreck to have occurred in European waters. This was a topic everyone in Europe was talking about.

As I write this 30 years later, I can attest that, especially as a person from landlocked Nebraska, every time I travel on a boat or ship or ferry or anything that takes me across water – even a bridge – to this very day, a deep and terrifying fear is stirred up inside of me.

This is EXACTLY the reason why I took a photograph of the lifeboats – the first photo I took on board — because I wanted to know exactly where they were and know the fastest way to get to them at all times.

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