On 2nd of June 2025, my partner Naomi and I set off on our gravel bikes from Armona, west of Turin in Northern Italy, with a goal of reaching northern Norway by the end of July for our flight back to Scotland. Though time was of the essence, it wasn’t a race. I brought my camera gear along for the ride and wanted to document both the trip and nature along the way.
The morning we left Armona, we had everything we needed for the trip packed on our bikes. For me, this consisted of two 35L panniers on the rear sides, two 5L Lomo dry bags on the front fork, two small frame bags, a 6.5L Ortlieb handlebar bag, and Think Tank’s DarkLight 14L backpack on the rear rack.
It was important to me to have easy access to my camera gear, so I stored my OM-3 in the front Ortlieb handlebar bag, along with three small lenses and the DJI Action 4, ready for snaps, landscapes, and anything I wanted to film.
The DarkLight 14L fit snugly on my rear rack between my large pannier bags. From the top-access lid, I could easily grab my OM-1 Mark II with the 300mm (600mm full-frame equivalent) f/4 attached. The bag was secured with bungee cords, usually with the rain cover on, and it also served as my grab bag whenever I needed to leave my bike unattended.
On a trip like this, where we were constantly coming across wildlife, I needed to be able to grab my camera quickly without unpacking everything. That’s what led me to the DarkLight 14L. Its top lid made that easy, even with my telephoto lens attached, and it fit perfectly on my rear rack between my large pannier bags.
In the DarkLight 14L, I carried my OM-1 Mark II with the M.Zuiko 300mm f/4 attached, along with my DJI Mini 4 drone, a 1.4x teleconverter, and a few essentials like spare batteries and cleaning supplies. The front pocket held my wallet, passport, and a Think Tank organizer, while the rain cover was usually already on the bag when riding so it didn’t draw attention if I stepped away from the bike. Smaller items like disposable lens wipes lived in the top lid zipper pocket, where I could get to them quickly when needed. With everything packed and dialed in, we set off from Armona.
We had been staying with a friend for a few days in the mountains, so when we started our ride, we enjoyed a free-rolling descent down the hills, with the occasional stop to photograph the breathtaking views.
Naomi, who’s a much more experienced cyclist than I am, had planned a pace averaging roughly 100 km per day, a distance I had only done a handful of times before starting the trip. I was about to be introduced to long-distance bike touring with all its joys, aches, and pains.
During our first week on the bikes, we covered a total of 712 km from Armona, Italy to Innsbruck, Austria.
We crossed a river, had three flat tires, were invited home for pasta by four Italian cyclists, took a rest day in Verona, and cycled along the Eurovelo 7 route through some of the most stunning landscapes in northern Italy.
This was by far the hardest part of the journey for me, culminating in the toughest day of climbing up the Alps to Austria.
While cycling towards Milan, we wound through rice fields that were teeming with birdlife. Throughout the trip, we stopped countless times for wildlife, and I quickly got used to grabbing my camera from the top lid of the DarkLight 14L and moving in for a photo.
During our trip, we had planned rest stops along the way where we’d stay with friends and family. Our first stop was in Munich, Germany, where we stayed for three days. From there, we took a train to the northern Czech Republic before getting back on our bikes to follow the Oder River along the border of Germany and Poland.
We were cycling north towards the Oder Delta, which is a major rewilding site and an important stopover site for migrating waterbirds using the East Atlantic Flyway. I loved this part of the cycle. Most of it was on cycling paths, so we didn’t have to face traffic, and the wildlife was excellent. The great thing about traveling by bike is that you take in so much more of the environment around you, and if anything interesting happens, it’s easy to stop and take it in. On one such occasion, Naomi spotted a grass snake on the track right ahead of us. I jumped off my bike, grabbed my OM-1 from the DarkLight 14L, and lay down for an eye-level photo.
At the end of a particularly long, hot day, we noticed some fox cubs playing in the fields below us. At that point, Naomi had had enough of my constant stopping and continued towards our next camp spot, while I spent an hour being bitten by mosquitoes in the field as I photographed the foxes.
We arrived in Świnoujście, Poland, on Wednesday 18th of June, after cycling 597 km from the Czech Republic. From there, we took a boat to Sweden and then a train to Denmark.
We spent the weekend with a friend in Copenhagen before taking the boat to Bergen, Norway. I grew up in Bergen, and we spent a short week with my family before getting back on our bikes to cycle north along the coast.
One of the most amazing things about Norway is that all ferries are free for foot and bike passengers. Along the coast of Norway, there are a lot of ferries! We also jumped on the Hurtigruten cruise ship for some sections that we didn’t have time to cycle, partly because we kept going out of our way to islands to look at birds and scenery.
As we cycled north, the scenery kept getting more impressive. Although the Lofoten Islands were breathtaking, they weren’t much fun to cycle through, with all the camper vans seemingly in a rush to get on with their holidays.
Due to the traffic, we often cycled at night, but with the golden light and the sun barely dipping below the horizon for about an hour, it was also the most scenic time to be on the road.
We left the Lofoten Islands for Andøya, where moose appeared from the trees and shrubs as we pedaled along the road. We were even lucky enough to take a boat trip to see orcas. Finally, we visited the beautiful island of Senja before reaching our destination in Tromsø.
Our 2,702 km cycling journey through part of northern Europe was filled with numerous highs and a handful of lows. I love the freedom of traveling by bike, and being able to bring my photography gear to capture shots of wildlife and scenery along the way made it such a special journey. I’m very certain the DarkLight 14L will be my companion on several cycling trips to come.
