My husband and I have deemed any fika break while bicycle touring a “bika.” We have even fika’ed on short kayak excursions, just to sip on a sandspit. I incorporate fika into all of my adventures. And guess what they have some of the more established huts along the trail. Several summers ago, I hiked a part of the Kungsleden, a trail above the Arctic Circle in Sweden. In Sweden, you fika at cafes, at friends’ houses, on the train and in the mountains. Fika usually involves a small baked good as well. Usually there’s a social component-coffee is after all a social lubricant in many cultures-but you can certainly fika alone too. “I want to fika,” and “I would like to stop for a fika.” Fika is an iconic part of Swedish culture, a small moment that’s devoted to slowing down. As a word, “fika” can function both as a noun and a verb. In Swedish, the coffee break is known as fika. After all, that’s often what attracts us to the outdoors in the first place. And it encourages you to be in the moment, less focused on the destination, more on the now. It’s a lot more fun than a sip of water and a handful of trail mix. There is something special about enjoying a coffee break in the wild, even on a simple day hike. Rarely have I not stopped for the midday ritual with a freshly brewed cup (due only to exhaustion or time constraints). On trips, there are two categories of people: Those who are willing to stop in the middle of the day, take out the stove and have a proper coffee break.
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