Hey you guys Phoebe here from Little Grey Box now Matt and I took an amazing
trip to Sweden and today I finally wanted to share with you a few of the
things you really need to know before you go
Coffee is life now if you haven't already heard of the Swedish tradition of Fika
you are going to love it when you visit Sweden I know I did
So Fika isn't just a coffee break
it is something much more meaningful than that Fika is about
taking time out from your busy day whether it be at work or somewhere else
and making the time to connect with people there are all different kinds of
sweets that you will be served with your amazing fika the most common one
now I'm not even going to try and pronounce the names these things cause I am going to butcher the
beautiful Swedish language but they have these beautiful cinnamon rolls
they are incredible when they're fresh out of the oven they smell amazing
and they go so well with coffee
The Swedes are hot
Great news, the Swedes are hot
I know when Matt and I first touched down and we were walking around we were
like oh my goodness oh my goodness oh my goodness
everyone is beautiful it is eye candy wall to wall so make sure you pack
yourself a neck brace make sure you stretch every morning because you're
gonna be doing some of this
There's an IKEA approach to life
In my opinion the Swedes tend to be a practical bunch
and there seems to be more of a do-it-yourself approach to life now when
we dug a little bit deeper it seems that people tend to have pretty good jobs so
there isn't the need for those kind of assistant roles if that makes sense so
when you go to a hotel and you check in there's a good chance you might take
your bags up to your hotel room yourself for example so just keep an eye out for
that there will be moments where maybe it's more of a do-it-yourself approach
than it is a full-service approach
Equality has already been addressed
If you get the chance I really recommend you take
the time to talk to one of the locals about equality in Sweden it is inspiring
it is incredible it is educational we got the chance to talk to a couple of
people and just loved hearing about it in terms of same-sex marriages for
example you know the rights they have in relation to maternity and paternity
leave is just incredible I mean they even have rights for dogs where they
can't be left at home alone for certain amount of time because it's inhumane
And if you are there for Pride you have to go we sadly weren't but our guide was telling
us all about it she showed us photos from last Pride and it just looked
amazing I would love to be there for it
Cash isn't always accepted
Before you go running off to the bank or a moneychanger to get stocked up on cash
like we did, you need to know that cash isn't widely accepted so we found
ourselves with lots of Swedish Krona and no place to use it because nobody really
took cash you might hear stories about people with chips in their hands in
Sweden we actually met one of the guys that had a chip in his hand he just swipes
his hand and that is it train ticket paid for coffee bought off you go so do
make sure that you don't stock up on cash and hey if you do have a card like
a bank card that charges you a lot of fees every time you make a transaction I
would recommend just looking into finding one that doesn't Matt and I
recently switched to one and it's saving us a tonne of money when we travel guys so
make sure you look into that and find something that's right for you
The sun doesn't really set in the summer we visited in midsummer and it was
beautiful but here's the thing the sun doesn't really set I mean as
videographers and photographers we're always looking for that golden hour
which is when the sun goes down and it's all gooey and golden light and lovely
that's something like 11 pm so we were staying up really late
to try and get these gorgeous shots so just be prepared for
that I mean the great thing about it is that the Swedes are loving life at that
time they are all outside they're so full of life and full of energy and you've
got so much daylight to make the most of your trip to Sweden
They're really into recycling
Let me tell you a little story here in Australia we have one recycling bin
... for recycling over in Sweden I saw seven different bins outside a house and
our guide was saying to us yeah we have seven different kinds of recycling and I
was blown away it is just so cool so when you're there and make sure if you
get the chance to have some locals about what their recycling program is all
about it may sound a bit weird but it's actually really interesting when you
hear them and talk about it
keep an eye out for pickpockets
now look we didn't
have a single issue when we were in Sweden we went to Stockholm and there
was nothing to happen to us there was a single moment we felt unsafe that said our
guide did warn us just in some of the busier areas just to keep an eye out for
pickpockets and lo and behold we did see a couple of people kind of casing out our
friend's backpack at one point just keep it to the front of your mind you know
bring your backpack to the front or make sure this is locked up
don't keep your passport and your wallet just hanging out the back or you know
your phone loose in your back pocket just common sense approach and you'll be fine
English is widely spoken
You're gonna have no language barrier whatsoever
as long as your English is good I suppose but I have to say I think
the Swedes speak quite a few different languages we were very intimidated
they're so well educated and so worldly it was amazing but yeah you won't have
any language barriers everywhere we went everyone was so nice to us and happy to
talk to us and help us if we needed it
Vegetarians and vegans are covered
I don't know about you but I was a little bit worried about how I would be received as
a vegetarian in Sweden because instantly I'm just picturing Vikings and I don't
really see a Vikings sitting down to a big old bowl of salad everywhere I went
it was no trouble and of course there was no language barrier so it was really really easy
They wait all year for summer
Like I said we visited in summer and there was
just this electricity in the air I mean we were there right around midsummer and
you could feel the energy swell around Stockholm it was incredible our guide
was beautiful and she just kept laughing and smiling and getting so excited like
yes midsummer is coming I understand that in the winter in Sweden there is a
lot of darkness there's not so much sunlight hours so as soon as summer hits
the Swedes go nuts for it so I really recommend if you can visiting in summer
because there's just this amazing energy and it's just going to make your trip
that much more enjoyable
The Archipelago is stunning and worth the trip
The Stockholm Archipelago is actually made up of tens of thousands of
tiny little islands i know if you knew that good on you
i certainly didn't and it's a really cool thing because it means especially
if you visit in summer there are heaps of places to go to. So we went and did a
little island hopping trip we just caught the ferry around and it was
stunning, I mean when I think of Sweden
I immediately think of Stockholm but you should also get out and see some of
these islands it was some of the most beautiful scenery
I have ever experienced and of course because you're visiting in summer
there's so much daylight to make the most of it
There are lots of cute dogs
Ah! I think I'm gonna change my job description to travel dogger
Dogs in Sweden are everywhere it's more widely accepted to have dogs and take them with
you everywhere they're all so well behaved they'll be lined up with their owners
at cafes and going around town and if you're like me and you have to touch them
the owners are so lovely I just asked aw can I take a photo of your dog
can Itouch a dog and everybody was so happy and I love finding out the names of
people's dogs especially overseas because it's always something unique
I actually wrote a blog post about dogs I met in Sweden complete with beautiful
photographs if you want to read that and check it out it's linked in the
description below
You can drink the tap water
it might seem like a no-brainer
but just to confirm you can absolutely drink the tap water in
Sweden and I can confirm it is delicious so make sure you bring a reusable water
bottle that you can refill and take out with you when you're going around sightseeing
The Swedes are super lovely
oh you guys we met so many amazing
people it's not even funny everywhere we went everyone was so kind
and welcoming and if we approached a local and we wanted to have a chat they
were more than happy to do that you know just ask them questions about themselves
and where they live and life in Sweden or their dog or what they were eating or
what they were drinking everyone was so so nice
Seafood is king
if you love seafood you are in for a real treat because so do the
Swedes they have this amazing thing called Toast Skagen
I hope I said that right and it's like an open sandwich and it is piled
high with shrimp and there is so much good seafood on offer in Sweden so make
sure you make the most of it
The cities empty out during midsummer
Now if you do plan your trip around summer just beware that in midsummer all of the Swedes
like to get out onto the Archipelago and make the most of the great outdoors so
that means the cities will be empty the downside for tourists just means that
some shops may be closed during this time so if there is something you
specifically wanted to see or do just make sure you check ahead of time that
it's going to be open and again mid summer make the most of Archipelago guys
get out there and mix it with the locals you will love it
Don't be afraid to get off the beaten track
Now of course you're going to want to visit Stockholm
but I would recommend getting off the beaten track we went to some places like
Sigtuna and it was just lovely and it's a place I never thought to visit so
you can afford to be adventurous when you visit Sweden I mean it's pretty easy
to get around English is widely spoken why not
why not have an adventure and just get away from everything and see somewhere
that most tourists don't
Sweden was a dream destination
of Matt and mine for a really long time and going there it did not disappoint
we absolutely loved it it's a little bit hard to describe and I'm gonna do my
best but it's almost like you come away from it wanting to be your best you
because that's how the Swedes lead by example they are lovely people they are
champions for equality, they are technologically advanced I mean
the Swedes invented Spotify am i right! They take care of people, they are
aware of mental health issues you know something like fika it's not just a tradition
they recycle, they are caring for the planet their food is amazing
they have a focus on organic produce they support vegetarians and vegans they
encourage their citizens to have great jobs and they provide the infrastructure
that's necessary for that they really do live... well
the whole place is beautiful
it's like a fairytale the sunsets are magic the scenery is stunning it is...
utopia
it's definitely a place where you can get a whole lot of life inspiration
and it kind of brought my home... into my mind... in a different way it gave me a
different perspective on life and it really did inspire me to do better and be better
Alright that is it for me you guys
I hope you enjoyed this video if you don't already be sure to subscribe and say
hello in the comments below have a great weekend and I will see you next week
love ya!