Syllerstorpett – A Different Adventure

On a gravel road, 8 km outside of Ödeshög, and 62 km outside of Linköping, there is a place called Syllerstorp. Here, Barbro and Mats Erlandsson live and have made fun and games a living. I am roughly two hours late after losing my bike key and experiencing headwind the entire day. Regardless, I am welcomed with friendliness.

– Welcome! We were wondering what happened to you. The last group left an hour ago, it was a coupe of girls from Norrköping that really had a blast. Too bad you couldn’t experience that yourself.

Mats inherited the farm, and originally the barn was full of cows.

– We had cattle, but it was not enough to make living out of it.

When the couple decided to dig out a pond in the garden, things started changing.

– A colleague wondered if he could visit the pond and have a barbecue. Of course we said yes. But when he arrived, he asked if he could drive the tractor. Both Barbro and I are farmer’s kids, so we did not see the joy in that, but we did not see a reason to why we should say no either. Of course we said yes, again. 

This was the start of a new era: Out with the cows, in with games and motor vehicles, one stranger than the other.

– Since we started this, 20 years ago, we have gradually expanded. Today, we have three barns full with vehicles.

Mats shows me into the barn, and another, and yet another – filled with things such as three fire trucks,  a ”two-way drivable” car , an ”ass driven” motorcycle, or a ”seven man-controlled” bicycle. But these are only a few.

– I think we have somewhere between 70 and 80 activities to choose from. When a group comes, they choose three motor activities, and three muscle activities. The muscle activities can be everything from skeet shooting and canoe to team building activities and climbing.

After showing me each vehicle, Mats adds ”this is a little bit odd”. And he is very right. But people seem to appreciate the oddity, Syllerstorpett’s guests come from all over.

– In the beginning, most guests came from Östergötland. But nowadays it’s mostly Gothenburg and Stockholm. At times there are also guests from further away – a while ago we had a group of Japanese people here. They really loved it.

But housing an arsenal of motor vehicles is not just play.

– Many of the machines I use for other purposes in between the groups. With the excavator, I oftentimes dig roads, and the fire trucks are perfect for filling up swimming pools with water.

Syllerstorpett’s tagline is ”A different adventure”. And it really is. But I, myself, am in the midst of another different adventure. I thank Barbro and Mats for having me, and continue my trip.