"It’s almost five years now since we arrived. We don’t regret a single step on our ridiculous journey."
There are two questions I get asked a lot when people find out that I am English.
Firstly, "Did you move here for Northvolt"?
The answer to that is a simple "no'".
Our reason to uproot was because of our romantic notion of dreams of a better life.
A chance to live in a beautiful home in the countryside, to raise our children in an education system far from that of the archaic English one, and teach our daughters that the world is there to be explored, to do the things that scare you because they are the things that make life rich.
We moved here having never stepped foot on Swedish soil before. Previous attempts to visit had been thwarted by the pandemic, so we had no choice but to simply get on with it.
Our first time seeing this glorious country was as we flew over it on the aeroplane and touched down at the small but perfectly formed Skellefteå airport. We spent one night in a hotel before going to sign the papers and collect the keys for a house we had seen and purchased over the internet.
We found our way to this quaint little village 50 kilometres south of the city, trees heavily laden with crisp white snow and luckily for us, we struck gold finding the perfect home in a cosy community of wonderful people.
The second question is, ‘Why Skellefteå’?
The truth is that when I was booking a trip the previous year to visit Father Christmas in Lapland, I joined a Facebook group and met a woman in there who had made the move herself.
When she told us about the lovely city in the north we were sold. White winters, sun-soaked, lake- and beach-filled summers, foraging autumns and an up-and-coming city buzzing with new opportunities.
It’s almost five years now since we arrived. We don’t regret a single step on our ridiculous journey.
There have been times when life has felt hard, when we miss our loved ones ferociously, and for a while I doubted my ability to thrive here, struggling to find work, but I truly believe that doing hard things leads to great rewards.
I now have my own growing business helping the women of Skellefteå to find balance.
My husband spends his days working from home surrounded by the wonder of the Swedish countryside and all that entails throughout the seasons, and our girls are settled and growing into amazingly independent and strong young women.
Maybe our story getting here was a little crazy, but it sure has been worth it. My advice to you? Do the scary things.