There is peace in the trees
I was a Scandinavian in a past life. Of that Im pretty sure. I’ve always been attracted to the North, long before I’d been there.
Fast forward to present day Tomas. My love for the North has increased steadily. I’ve had the chance to visit all of northern Europe. Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and even Spitsbergen. I count myself very fortunate.
Spitsbergen, 2015
But what is it that keeps pulling me back? On a plane ride to Sweden one day, it became very clear to me. With the endless forests passing by down below, I felt calm. At ease. At peace. And isn’t that just the feeling we’re striving for every day?
A wooden house by a lake, the sea not far away. The mountains close by. Forest all around. For me, that’s a dream life, and whenever I’m in the North, I feel that it’s possible.
A few weeks back, Julie and I drove the van North. After a short stop in beautiful Copenhagen, we continued towards the land of apple trees and farmlands: Småland. Wildcamping felt very safe although it took us a while to find a spot on the first night. The weather was in our favour, as it continued to be for the rest of our Sweden time. The nights were chilly, the mornings calm and soothing. We altered city visits with lake side wildcamping and mushroom forraging in the beautiful forests. We treated ourselfs to a sauna and coldwater dip. Those are probably my favourite moments. Sharing a hot sauna with 15 men, with a view over a beautiful lake or the sea. I feel human in those moments, connected to others. Something I dont feel too often nowadays in a world full of fear and hate.
We ended our trip with a quick surf in Klitmøller, Denmark. I’d been wanting to visit the Cold Hawaii for about ten years now and came close when me and Wiebe took our mopeds up the North Sea coast. But we never made it in the end and Klitmøller was always out of reach somehow eversince. The waves were pretty bad on our visit, but we had fun on a foam board nonetheless.
Driving home the next day, we were pretty eager to have some days off and chill in our house with Bjørn, our cat. However, on returning home, Bjørn was nowhere to be seen. Four depressing days later, we finally found him when he came out of hiding near our veggie garden upon calling his name.
Feels good to be home now and spend time in our cosy house in the Swiss Alps. It’s always good to have dreams, but it’s also important to cherish what you have.