Now that the light is finally shining at the end of Sweden’s long, wintry tunnel, I am feeling the urge to climb out from under the thick duvet I have hidden under for the last 6 months and plan …
Stockholm Winter Blues. Or, What Happens When the Snow Doesn’t Come.
Stockholm is a truly stunning city; that much has been established by pretty much any traveller to set foot on the cobbled stones of the Old Town. In the short summer months, boats chug across sparkling inlets that separate each …
The Highs and Lows of Searching for the Northern Lights
[mks_boxquote align=”right” width=”150″ arrow=”0″]”An obsession consumed me, and the more I saw, the more I wanted”[/mks_boxquote]Relentless blasts of icy wind grasped at the exposed skin of my cheeks, the only flesh not covered in layers of wool and …
Dogsledding in Lapland with Arctic Husky Adventures
A memorable journey is often more about the people you meet than the things you see, and when I went dogsledding with Arctic Husky Adventures in Jokkmokk, Swedish Lapland, last week I met quite possibly the most welcoming people I …
365 Days: Week 2 – Reflection
After feeling that last week’s photo efforts were mediocre, I decided to follow a theme for week 2. I thought that Reflection would be a good theme, as constant rain in Stockholm made the pavements gleam brightly with reflections from …
Exploring SoFo: Stockholm’s Most Sociable Neighbourhood
Travel doesn’t always have to be far away; sometimes you can explore your own area through the eyes of a tourist. As you know, I have been living and working in Stockholm since May 2012.
To me it’s home. To …
Brunch in the Stockholm Archipelago
Whilst I love being a budget backpacker, one of the best things about being an expat rather than a traveller is splashing out sometimes. Budget travel has many benefits, but who doesn’t love a little luxury?
Stockholm archipelago comprises of …
Anundshög: Sweden’s largest Viking burial site
Being a bit of a History geek one of my favourite things about travelling is encountering ancient cultures and histories, and where better to be than Scandinavia—home of the Viking?
Britons, in particular, will be very familiar with the …
What a Year! 2011 in Pictures
It’s the end of another year and with New Year’s Eve just around the corner it’s the time to reflect on the year that has gone before. 2011 was a good year. Living in Sweden rather than Vietnam meant …
8 Things I Have Learnt in Sweden
What’s the point of travel if not to learn from your experiences? Here’s what I have learnt during my year in Sweden.
Bikes with a basket and bell are not just for little girls
Pretty much everybody in Sweden has …
My First Tweet-Meet!
My blog has been running for almost a year now but it was initially a diary to document a year of living in Sweden so that my friends and family could keep up with what I was doing. Before long …
Funballz, Hillbillies and a Raving Baby!
This time last year I was preparing to make the move from Vietnam to Sweden and I wrote a post about Västerås, the Swedish city that was to become my home. Now, here I am a year later preparing …
Europe Food and Drink Friends and Family Life in Sweden Partying Swedish Tradition Tradition Travelling
Midsommar: a night of Swedish madness
“Why, this is very midsummer madness!“ (Twelfth Night)
Not long ago Sweden welcomed the spring but Valborg is only the warm-up act. Midsummer, or Midsommar in Swedish, is the biggest party of year. …
Five foods the Swedes go crazy for!
1. Meatballs
Ask anybody what they think Swedes like to eat and the chances are that they will say ‘Meatballs’. This is probably largely due to IKEA chains worldwide serving traditional-style meatballs with a cream sauce, potatoes and lingonberry jam. …
Valborg – Sweden Welcomes the Spring
In Britain, Bonfire Night conjures up childhood memories of sheltering from the driving November rain, eating jacket potatoes while effigies, or ‘guys’, burn on a huge bonfire. Overhead, fireworks crackle with the acrid smell of sulphur – all to commemorate …
Spring Fever
It has been a long and cold winter in Sweden. After a very short Autumn, it started snowing in October and powdered snow lay on the ground until March. The temperature remained below zero for almost five months, sometimes …
A Day on board the Princess Anastasia
The journey from St. Petersburg back to Stockholm takes about 25 hours so we were pretty grateful to discover that the newly refurbished Princess Anastasia boat had a bit more to offer than the Princess Maria—the duty free shop …
Why Sweden is a Great Place to Live
Sweden is often regarded as being somewhat of a liberal country; many people think that blonde, tanned Swedes cavort naked in forest lakes all summer long before retreating into their saunas for the duration of the long and cold winter. …
The Arctic Journals #4 Aurora Borealis
“The Aurora blazed all of a sudden into brilliant life… a thousand miles high and ten thousand miles long: dipping, soaring, undulating, glowing, a cataract of glory.”
This is Philip Pullman’s description of the Aurora Borealis in ‘Northern Lights’, the …
The Arctic Journals #3 Cross-Country Skiing
There are two things that I have always disliked: sport and being cold. For this reason I have never understood why people want to go skiing. Skiing holidays baffle me, why would anybody pay a lot of money to go …