I have always loved to travel and explore. I have spent much of my time after graduating from school, now 10 years ago (!), exploring Asia and North America. After spending the winter in Canada in 2011 I came home and took a job working with marketing for the local destination company. The job included getting to know all the hidden gems in the area. I met local tourism entrepreneurs and then I would travel and sell their products to Tour Operators in Japan, Germany and other European countries.
During the year I worked there, I travelled Swedish Lapland a lot and got to visit so many beautiful places I had never even been to before. The nature here is truly breathtaking. After having been out for so long in all different parts of the world – I realized I was born and raised in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
A love story between me and Swedish Lapland
After that year I kept exploring close to home, even if it wasn’t longer part of my job. It was like a love story between me and my home area that I had to explore to see where it would take me. I went hiking, biking, skiing, driving and ate my way through Swedish Lapland and I fell in love with it more and more every day. There is something special about the open spaces, beautiful old forests and rolling mountains. I love the untouched nature, walking in the woods for hours and not seeing another human being and I love the changing seasons. There are so many thing here that I think people need and have forgotten about. Like silence.
In the beginning I would bring music on my hikes to keep myself motivated. I filled my brain with guitars, lyrics, podcasts, information and distraction because I didn’t know to look for motivation from inside. But then one day I ran out of battery and reluctantly unplugged my headphones. The silence filled my soul in a way music never could. I watched the sun slowly go down and turn at the horizon to go back up and start a new day. Sky (my oldest dog) was lying beside me watching it together with me. As I walked back down the mountain in the middle of the night, with only the sound of nature in my ears, I realized that this was exactly what I needed.
I was born and raised in one of the most beautiful places on earth.
I listened to the silence and suddenly I could hear my thoughts.
Today we are so busy filling our time and our brains with information and distraction that people tend to not know who they are without it. I didn’t. All that noise became my personality, it took over Me. And then I started exploring the area where I grew up. I listened to the silence and suddenly I could hear my thoughts. It didn’t take long until I realized that the silence held all the answers. That I already had the answers.
So thank you, Swedish Lapland, for bringing peace to my mind.
You have a way of doing that to people. And for that – I love you.
