Fortum Singalong Shuttle and the Helsinki Pocket Guide

I get a lot of press releases sent to me. I usually just file them away. Occasionally, the announcement is interesting and I share. I found this to be one of those. It is about the Fortum Singalong Shuttle that will be launching in Finland. Read the name of that again and you might have a clue on how you pay for the taxi, by singing. Yes, you read that right. Imagine combining Carpool Karaoke with a ride sharing service, all within an EV (electric vehicle) to boot.

The singalong shuttle will be operating next week at the upcoming Ruisrock festival in Finland from July 6th to the 8th, 2018. Ruisrock is an annual rock festival held in Turku on the island of Ruissalo. Its been going on since 1970 and is supposedly Europe's second oldest rock festival.

After watching the video above, you almost feel sorry for the driver who has to listen to everyone singing. The purpose behind the EV shuttle is to promote the company Fortum as a clean energy solution company. Their Fortum Charge & Drive EV charging network is the largest one in the Nordics with over 2,000 stations across the area. With Singalong Shuttle, Fortum wants to highlight the ease and convenience of making a clean choice by driving an electric car.

If I were to be in Finland at the time and were going to the festival, I'd probably give the shuttle a try. I'd be curious to see if the driver offered me money NOT to sing. Not exactly something I'm good at.

If you happen to be traveling to Finland, either for the festival to try out the shuttle or just because you found one hell of a travel deal, or for any other reason, do check out the Helsinki Pocket Guide from Insight Guides.

When I last visited Finland, I believe I still had a flip phone that did SMS messages, but it didn't support anything graphical. Times have changed a little since. The Helsinki Pocket Guide, and all the Insight Guides, help you navigate the cities with the help of local insight and guidance. The Helsinki guide book works as both a great way to help you plan your vacation time, and as a way to present more of a local swing on things.

Sizewise, the book is roughly 4" x 5½". It definitely fits into a guy's pants pocket. Probably a little tight in a women's one.

Materialwise, the guide is full of some great pictures and comes with a pullout map. The text content is also presented in a fun and informative way. I'm happy to say that I've been to the #1 place on their top places to see and do, Suomenlinna Fortress. And one other one did I get to, Market Square and Hall. I don't remember going inside the hall part, but there was an open air market in the square that was definitely something to experience. Besides places to see and info on the local history, the guide  also presents info on transport and appropriate tipping.

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When you purchase the pocket guide you also get a free ebook you can download, too, through the Walking Eye mobile app (Android and Apple). I did not try the app, but for both platforms, the app received only about two stars.

If you ever get the chance to travel to Finland, its a great place to visit, in June, when the sunlight is out for about 21 hours. I don't know if I would have liked it so much if I was there for the first time in December when the sunlight would only be for about three hours. And, if you travel further north in the country, like to Santa Claus Village in the Arctic Circle, your daylight would be even shorter. Of course, if you're being driven around in a taxi singing, I'm not sure how much it would matter.

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