Highlight Reel: Stockholm

It’s been a whirlwind of a couple weeks, so now that I’m starting to catch my breath here in Berlin, I wanted to share some of my favorite things about Stockholm!

First, I stayed in a great hostel called City Backpackers. I had seen it on a travel blog and I’m so glad I took a chance! For me, it was a lot of little things that made such a big difference. From the time you walked in the door, it had a cool vibe. It was close to the train station, it was clean, the people were so lovely and they had a great kitchen area where they also offered free pasta! I know this sounds simple, but not every hostel is like this and it was a great way to kick off the trip. They offered fun things like Swedish trivia night, outdoor music by their bar (where I had my first non-IKEA, delicious Swedish meatballs by the way!), and free dinner one night.

The people in Stockholm were so nice, which was another reason to visit. It was helpful to start in place where everyone spoke English, but they also did so with such incredible patience and kindness. Fika, a coffee/pastry break taken around 11 each day, was a great time to experience their culture and meet my caloric intake for the day. It’s also worth noting, because I was truly distracted by it, that Swedish people are ridiculously, ridiculously good looking (must be said with a Derek Zoolander voice).

I also met some really cool fellow travelers along the way who were on journeys of their own. From Andy, the talented children’s book artist, to Ruth, who I’m pretty sure is going to cure some crazy diseases someday, to Sean, the self proclaimed “peacock” construction worker from Montana, to Joe, who introduced me to the joys of vegan fast food (it’s a thing!) - they were all fun to hang out with and I really enjoyed meeting them. At one point, we had a bet going on to see who could find the first not-great-looking Swedish couple. Nobody won. Seriously.

There was so much to do around the city, so it was a blessing in disguise to have done the free bike tour (courtesy of the hostel!) on the first day and be able to see the layout of the city, even if I did think I was going to die a few times. A free walking tour around Old Town was interesting as well - I love hearing historical facts about the city I’m staying in (and “free” lined up with my budget quite nicely).

I planned on spending time and money on museums and experiences. Some of my favorite included the Royal Palace, the National Museum, the Vasa Museum and Skansa. I went to the Viking Museum but was disappointed, so if you’re thinking about it but have other options, I’d recommend the alternatives! I also found the pub crawl to be disappointing but a few of us strayed and went to a Viking bar instead so I felt like it saved the night and my Viking expectations!

Also, one of the highlights for me was Andy’s suggestion of going to buy all the typical Swedish foods from the grocery store and having a spread for dinner one night at the hostel. Let’s just say, to recap,  there were several fish options, I found out I don’t like Schnapps, and brown cheese from a tube was... interesting. 

While most of it was perfect, there were certainly some hiccups along the way which I find important to mention to make sure you understand the true ballin’ on a budget lifestyle, and the out-of-comfort-zone moments. Was I back in college wearing flip flops to the shower, afraid to let anything touch the ground? You bet. Did I have to translate Swedish directions on the laundry machine and start to sweat when it was still washing 30 minutes after the cycle ended? Yup, and learned 1) that’s normal and 2) when you’re living out of a single backpack, every single piece of clothing is important so the panic is real. And finally, did a guy in my dorm get so drunk he peed against the wall in the room at 3:00am? I wish I was making that up but luckily there was a quick response of commotion so we picked our bags up off the floor in time. These are the risks when you choose the cheapest dorm options and other Americans don’t know how to handle their liquor.

Stockholm was the perfect place to start this adventure! Thanks for following along, stay tuned for the Copenhagen highlight reel! Also I post daily on my Instagram story if you’re interested in more regular updates!