Lapland

Lapland 

As Dalai Lama once already said, happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions. The one-week trip to Lapland taught me this lesson; I got so many different feelings during this week such as grinned like a Cheshire cat, overwhelmed with emotions, excited, bubbled over with laughter and I was just happy. At the same time, I got annoyed, tired, sleepless and sick. It was a big rollercoaster.

My bag pack brimmed with homemade sandwiches, cookies, cucumber, tomato and a thermos flask the journey has started. By “Onnio-Bus” my friend and I enjoyed the calm ride through the breathtaking scenery from Turku’s area to Helsinki.

Two coffees, a Chai tea latte, some hours spending in a fancy shopping center and new knowledge about Italian’s food and places the journey finally continued. A white “Lentimäki” coach headed to Levi with many curious and sleepless travelers. The day has passed, and a new day has come. With it a couple of turbulent sleep and some more coffee breaks at the gas stations. I woke up in a snow surrounded ambiance and found myself at the magical “Santa Clause Village” in Rovaniemi. As every good tourist I made the experience to cross the Arctic circle while listening to Christmas songs.  

After a 22h bus ride to the deep north of Finland the bus finally reached our target. A cozy cottage with a fireplace, beers and lovely company awaited us. The four days I got in Lapland were scheduled pretty tight. The first day in Levi I did everything to check a lot of bullets on my bucket list:

I arranged the superior for alpine equipment which included a pair of boots, a helmet and fancy snowboard. As early birds always are, I was the first on the slopes. More than one meter of snow, ice cold wind, wearing five layers of cloths, 15 degree under zero and a little bit of sun made the adventure on the 43 slopes at Levi ski resort unforgettable. Catching some powder snow behind the slopes and watching the amazing landscape of Lapland – that was one moment I will always remember as this perfect moment in life.

After six hours of Snowboarding I found myself sitting in a sledge pulled by a crazy reindeer. At this point I want to share; reindeer are small, half-wildlife and insane animals which got ways too large feeds for their size.

To finish my almost perfect day as an absolute perfect day, I ignored the temperature which was 25 degree under zero and went out again to catch some Northern lights. I was told that the perfect spot to see it it’s the frozen lake next to Levi. Armed with the flashlight of my Phone, we walked around for hours and nothing happened. I almost quit any hopes to see them and this was the moment the sky begun to turn into green. The day finally turned into one the best days in my whole life!

The rest of the week was loaded with other different activities; taking a dip in the Arctic Ocean in Norway, eating waffles and reindeer burgers, buying souvenirs, take a walk through the wilderness around Levi and a making husky safari.  

I’m sure I could create my own happiness there and I will never forget this week in the pure winter wonderland in Lapland, above the Arctic circle.