Why life in Lassbyn is lagom
When I moved to Alaska in 2013, I lived just outside Skagway in the ghost town of Dyea. The ten minute drive around the bay offered some of the most beautiful vistas that I had ever seen, and every time I rounded the corner to see the mountains and the bay I thought to myself, ‘I can’t believe I live here.’ I felt that nothing would ever compare to the beauty of Alaska. New views seemed somewhat lack luster. That feeling of course subsided as I travelled the country and the world being exposed to new and amazing things that each had their own beauty to offer. During this time in my life I didn’t know what I wanted. I wanted to settle in a place whose beauty matched what I had seen in my travels, then I moved to Sweden.
In Swedish there is a word that embodies everything that I now live by; lagom. Lagom, or just the right amount, is the Swedish equivalent of the three bears. Not too much, not too little, but just right. And it is the perfect description for life here in northern Sweden. We don’t have the most extreme peaks in the world, but we have beautiful mountains both large and small. We have ocean, and archipelago, rivers, snow, sun. We have it all, and it is lagom.
So we recently moved from our seasonal job in Särkimukka, to a permanent living situation in the village of Lassbyn. About a year ago we came to visit a contact we had here to see what the village was like, and what opportunities were here. After an enjoyable fika and boat ride, we got into our car to head home. As soon as the doors of the car closed, we looked at each other and said, ‘we have to move here.’ Like many things in our life, we were going on a feeling that we had. It was just what we were looking for. So we planned to do one more season in Särkimukka and then move permanently to Lassbyn.
To be honest we didn’t know much about the
village, but the more we learned about it the more we understood that this place was lagom for us. It was just right! So what is that? What does lagom mean to us? One of our main necessities was that we wanted to have access to the city, but still be remote, and with just a quick one hour drive we’re in the biggest city in Norbotten, Luleå. As much as we love living in a quiet village, we also like being near, as we say, ‘all of the things.’ The doctors, veterinarians, big supermarkets, big stores. All that stuff. Something that we debated about when deciding where we wanted to live was whether it would be by the sea or the mountains. The mountains are beautiful, but the weather can be extreme, and the housing cost is crazy expensive. The sea is wonderful, but also crazy expensive for housing. So where did we land? In Råne Älvdal, Råne River Valley. We are just 40 km to the archipelago, and surrounded by endless hills and valleys. Here in Lassbyn, an expensive house is about 1 million Swedish Kronor (115,000 US dollars). The summers are warm, but being just 80 km south of the Arctic Circle we also have great sub arctic winters. We have a kickass winter trail system that will take us down to the archipelago or up to the mountains, basically where ever we want to go with our future dog teams.
But what about the less ‘practical reasons’? Many of our guests in Särkimukka referred to our job a ‘dream job,’ and by all means it is a dream job, but as much as we loved our life, we wanted something a little bit different. We want to have our own dogs, and we strive to live a more self sustaining life. Our biggest goal, however, is time. Time for our own hobbies, family, each other. In seasonal work it can be difficult to find that time during the high season. As much as we love being busy, we weren’t able to take the time we wanted to have the adventures that we longed for.
So this is where we are now. We are spending our summer working on our house, garden, and spending time with our animals. This winter we will be working for a small private lodge here in the valley, and the opportunities are really endless. It may sound like I think that I have entered a magical land where all of life’s problems disappear. I’m not that deluded. I know that your problems follow you no matter where you go, and that life will always have difficulties. But now we are living in an environment that will support our needs, and allow us to embrace everything that life throws at us.
**Särkimukka, was where we met, fell in love, and planned our future. During that time we learned so much from Johan and Sara, the people we worked with, the dogs, the nature. The time that we spent there is invaluable.
The Explore The North Crew for the 16/17 season. Photo courtesy of Quinten Elpers.
