From the book "The Social Guidebook to Sweden"

Lose yourself in nature away from everyone

And everything

No road

No water

No electricity

They call it “sommarstuga”

It is a bit of a Scandinavian dream

To isolate yourself in nature

Away from everything

Walk barefoot

Put candles everywhere

And grow your own food

Swedes will buy a sommarstuga

Rather than spending their money travelling

Staying at nice hotels

Eating in nice restaurants

I thought they were trying to save money

This has nothing to do with saving money

Owning a sommarstuga

May cost millions of kronor

Renting one for the summer vacation

Is more expensive than flying to the other side of Europe

To understand the sommarstuga

You need to understand the Scandinavian need to be alone

Read more in The Social Guidebook to Sweden

By Julien S. Bourrelle

Watch him on TED

Book a lecture julien@socialguide.se