What happens when a father and son decide to spend a couple of days in the Gulf of Bothnia archipelago? Well, first you have to promise that there will be mobile phone coverage and then keep your fingers crossed that you’re right. Then you can safely assume there’ll be no trace of the kid during the entire trip.
Don’t let’s anticipate here, but I can tell you that the whole idea of going island hopping in the Gulf of Bothnia archipelago wasn’t exactly my son’s idea. It was mine. It was based on that ancient proverb: ’like father, like son’. The thought that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree and that they – Sr. and Jr. – should do stuff together. And then preferably the way Sr. used to do them, back at the beginning of time.
— Will I be able to go online?
This was my son’s immediate question when I started discussing the holiday plans at the breakfast table. Based on the experience he’d had a week or so ago when we went to the mountains, and the signal bars were conspicuous by their absence, I suppose he wanted to cover himself. He wants to bring a friend as well. Sometimes a father keen on spending time with his sixteen-year-old son just has to accept the fact that the game plan has changed through the years. The kid has his own will – and that will is better to have with you than against you.