I debated as to which image to show for the “header” in the blog post. This was my second favorite:

*Meet Betsy. This is my favorite cow that likes to sit near the bike path in Holl*

Yesterday, Else Johnson picked me up from Billund airport and we had a blast at LEGO House. Well, I had the time of my life and Else was an incredibly good sport allowing Little Billy to play for several hours ;-)

Today, Else showed me around her village of Holl which is near where she grew up in Denmark. We biked. We hiked. We chatted. And then we ventured to another town called Fredericia to meet up with Uffe Rasmussen for a wonderful lunchtime conversation. So let’s start with the morning bike ride because it really captured the essence of Holl and, as you can guess, I took many pictures along the journey.

So a couple of things to point out from the gallery above.

Pictures 3-8 are all traditional color homes in Denmark
Pictures #7 and #8 of the thatched roof have a giant HEART in the roof. The builder took to trouble to create a big heart in the roof itself for all to see.
Picture 9 is a typical “Honor Shop” in Denmark where you can purchase anything from fruit, vegetables, honey, crafts, wood, etc. from the local shop keeper on the honor system (usually via mobile payment)
In Picture 10, this is a field of sunflowers all facing the sun
Can you spot the deer in Picture 11 (hint: look dead center)
Picture 17 is a historical landmark where a cannon used to be defending Denmark during World War II
In Picture 21, this is a headstone marking a natural grave in the woods
In Pictures 24-25, these are shots of a “permanent” camp that anyone can book. Instead of tents, these are open cabins that are usually used in the summer time.
Picture 27-29 are about a famous artist from Denmark who builds large artwork from driftwood in remote areas you need to hike to discover. This one was clearly purchased as it sits on the property of a land owner.
Did you clock the butterflies in picture 34?

Remember, if you click on any picture, it will go bigger so you can see it full sized rather than in the current gallery layout.

*FYI: This is Denmark’s symbol for biking trails*

Biking in Denmark is about as common as driving (and some might argue that it’s more so depending on which part of the country where you happen to be). The roads are set-up “biker friendly” and you have your choice of road trails and off-road trails to choose from. The picture above of the flower alerts bikers where the best bike paths are to follow (they even have their own bike-friendly roundabouts).

*Gravity gates keep the animals inside and ensure you can continue to ride*

It’s not problem if you need to ride through a field shared by cows, sheep, or horses. That’s what gravity gates are for. You pull them open and gravity makes sure they shut behind you as soon as you let them go. It’s a great system.

*As you can see, we share the bike path with many friends along the way*

And I truly love sharing the bike lane with cows (and sheep and horses). It adds so much to the experience. They all but ignore you, but it’s fun to stop and take a picture with them. Or, at least, I certainly enjoyed it. They didn’t seem to notice me in the least.

*Lots of bodies of water to follow along as well when you ride*

In addition to the ocean, you have inlets and streams to cross over with various bridges and eventually you ride through dense forest that weave in and out of the coast line. It’s all beautiful and a very diverse ride. Just watch out for the big root structures — they can take you out if you’re not careful.

*This gives you an idea of the forest we rode though, but it’s denser in parts.*

*Peeking out from the forest areas overlooking the ocean. Beautiful!*

You get the idea. Else and I rode out to the point and had a wonderful start to our morning and managed to have a nice several mile walk in addition to our bike ride. I’m still maintaining my average of 20,000 steps a day and loving it. Next we drove into Fredericia to meet up with Uffe Rasmussen for a wonderful lunchtime conversation (and we did that in a convertible — awesome!)

*Riding to lunch in style in Else’s convertible to meet up with Uffe*

We met up in Fredericia because it was half way from Holl and where Uffe lives — a “split the difference” option. We had open-faced sandwiches at a hip restaurant known to be authentically Danish (at my request as I love to eat local whenever possible).

*Uffe, Bill & Else sit down for a wonderful authentic Danish meal together*

*And yes, the Banana Hat shot for Denmark. Check!*

It was a lovely conversation about all things especially around coaching, impact, meaning and purpose. There are powerful nuances happening in the culture of Denmark which I’ll get into in a later post especially around the concept of janteloven. It’s an important nuance here and yet I think reallying understanding this cultural concept can help me support more coaches everywhere in the world. More to come on that topic later.

*Uffe spoke passionately about his mother who will celebrate her 100th birthday tomorrow*

I share Uffe’s passion. My inlaws are 92 and 93 years young and I hope to be like them if and when I am lucky enough to be their age. Here is Uffe’s amazing mom:

*Uffe’s mom and I also share a love of Haribo candies … yum!*

After we completed our fabulous lunch, Else took me on a brief walking tour of Fredericia so I could get a feel for this part of Denmark as well. She pointed out a couple of really cool things I’ll share here, starting with the trash cans in Denmark:

*Can and bottle rack to make it easier to share redemption value with others*

We’ve all witnessed people digging through the garbage looking for bottles and cans to take to recycling for the redemption value. In Denmark, they have created a rack on the side of the public trash cans so that bottles and cans with redemption value can be set aside making it easier to grab and redeem. A simple idea that encourages the completion of recycling … the last mile.

We also shopped in a Denmark store called Normal, which is a sort of Target or Walmart for Denmark in that you have all the most recognized brands at lower (or lowest) prices. The cartoon character’s T-Shirt says, “I am unique” paradoxically they shop at the store called “Normal” and the quote has a double meaning, “I would not buy THAT here” implying that, “Sure, I’ll by that brand, but not marked up at a store that’s not “Normal.”

I spent some time talking with Else about the uniqueness of language and how certain things translate differently across language. Her husband, Randall, wrote a really cool childrens book called the Reverse Banana Pirates, which has a wonderful message about diversity, equity and inclusion in action for children. It was written in English and is in the process of being translated for Danish.

As you can imagine, there are certain English expressions that don’t literally translate to Danish and so there will need to be some adjustments. The same is true in reverse when you translate a Danish expression to English. Ah the beauty of being bilingual. Too bad my two years of remedial High School Spanish just didn’t hold up. Perhaps it was the decades of not using the littled I learned ;-)

*This is my self-contained bedroom and bathroom on the property and I love it.*

Because Else and Randall (her husband) are about a week away from demoing their current house and expanding to an entirely new floor plan, they wanted to be sure I had a place to stay just in case the construction started early. Their next door neighbors, Suzie and Paul were kind enough to allow me to use their self-contained bedroom and bathroom unit on their property. I love this unit. It’s perfect and has everything a guest could want. Including a view to an incredible sunset. A perfect end to another fantastic day in Denmark!

Holl, Denmark (July 28, 2025)

Billund, Denmark (July 27, 2025)