May 1:th 1994 was a day that changed my life.
That was the day I started biking from Stockholm to Africa after a bet with my friend Rikard.
The question was; could a guy with the lowest grade in gymnastics in school bike across Europe. Well, after 52 days and 6500 km I lay down in the Saharan sand dunes and looked up in the sky. It was possible. But it was a long journey for a guy who had never been on a expedition before…

“When I started to bike out of Stockholm that rainy day in 1994 I did not really know what I was doing. I knew that there was a road from Stockholm to the Sahara in Africa. I also knew that if I would bike everyday for about two months I would reach it. What it didn’t know was what route to take or what obstacles was waiting. In a way I did the right thing by not putting too much time into the details. Time would teach me that I can’t really plan for the details, it is more important to focus on the goal and to stay motivated. This was the start of a 20 year long career!”

National Geographic Channel – “Adventure Challenge” 
(Cinematography and co production by Johan Ernst)

“IS IT A BOAT OR IS IT A PLANE?
Flying across Europe is difficult at the best of times but imagine how much more challenging this is when you can only land and take off from water. That is the challenge facing Swedish adventurer Johan Ernst Nilson as he embarks on a journey of around 5,500km from his homeland to Morocco in a state of the art flying inflatable boat.  And it’s not the first time Johan has done this same journey – the first time he did it by bicycle, and the second a few years later, by kayak! But undertaking it by Flying Boat is Johan’s most ambitious and audacious attempt. Finding water is the least of Johan’s worries, he also has to contend with aviation protocol and a flying boat that often refuses to take off. Can the Scandinavian adventurer overcome the odds and fulfill his dream?”