Hakolahdentie, Finland (July 22, 2025)
The best part about my travel around the world is undoubtedly the people I get to meet and speak to along the way. In an earlier post, I shared that Melanie Dower is the author of The Finnish Guide to Happiness and the ONLY reason I diverted my travels to include Helsinki as part of my World Tour.
After listening to her incredible, life-changing, can’t say enough great things about it (why are you still reading this blog and not downloading and have already started listening to it, seriously it’s that good) audiobook, I had to experience Finland for myself.
When I reached out to Melanie to share my experience of her book, tell her a bit more about my World Tour and the fact that I was coming to Helsinki, she graciously offered to meet up with me. This is the post about the day we connected in Helsinki.
Melanie guides me to her summer home on an island off Helsinki. But you already know this because you’ve already listened to her book … right??
When Melanie picked me up at my hotel, it was a relatively short drive over a bridge from Helsinki to the island where we would visit her summer home. The start of the path looks like any hiking trail you might find just about anywhere you’ve hiked. In other words, you would need to know where you’re headed or have a general idea of where you want to end up.
Just off the trail, you can see small homes tucked just barely out of view.
What I find fascinating is that all of this land is owned and maintained by the government. The homes are owned by the people, but the land is leased. In that way, each home is “self-contained.” Any power comes from solar panels from the rooftops. Water is centralized by a main pump that all share and is turned on and off to ensure the pipes don’t freeze during the winter months. Washing up, and bathrooms are centrally maintained with compost toilets. In this way, your summer cottage is primarily your living space. You can cook, eat, sleep and work, but the washing, bathing, and bathroom use are outside your home.
Notice the size of Melanie’s home. It’s designed to be “just right” sized.
I have seen “tiny homes” but this is different. I think Melanie said it best. It’s like a grown up dollhouse. Or, like when we were kids and we built forts out of couch cushions we weren’t worried about EVERYTHING, we just wanted a place to reside. This is that space. You have a desk. A bed. Some artwork. Just what you need to create. It’s where Melanie comes to write, create and imagine.
Melanie’s summer cottage in Finland — the perfect place to write and create.
Listening to her speak about this place in her book made total sense. Seeing it for myself took it to another level for me. I could imagine myself coming here and connecting with nature each and every time. Being inspired by all the trees and plants everywhere around me, I could feel the energy of the place and feel the inspiration to want to pass it on to those who wished to feel and experience it for themselves. No wonder The Finnish Guide to Happiness is such a great resource. It comes from the very essence and grounding of the place itself.
Below are pictures from our walk around the Gulf of Finland (which felt much more like a lake). So peaceful. So serene. I could feel a deep sense of peace and calm as we walked around this beautiful space.
We stopped for lunch at the Casino Shore with a wonderful cafe and a picturesque view of the sea. The food was lovely and I had something that I should have taken a picture of, but didn’t as I had no chance to pronouncing it let alone spelling it. It can best be described as a flakey salmon pastry and it was delicious. Wait. Google to the rescue. It was called Lohipiirakka. Thank you, uncle Google. You have been intertwined with more than 50% of my neural pathways. Sad, scarry, and true.
We sat on the deck facing the water, but check out the cool playground(s).
And I wasn’t sure what the witch was about. So I asked.
I associate witches with halloween, but that’s not what it’s about here in Finland. In Finland, children dress up as witches and go door-to-door as a tradition related to Easter. It’s called virpominen. This custom combines elements of pagan spring rituals with Christian traditions, where children dressed as witches visit homes, offering decorated willow twigs as blessings for good health and prosperity in exchange for treats like candy or chocolate. So it’s similar to halloween, but celebrated in the Easter timeframe which explains why this was still up in July.
Wonderful day together with Melanie Dower. Grateful to connect in Finland!
All in all, I had such a wonderful day with Melanie. She was such a gracious host and fantastic conversationalist. We share a passion for writing, outdoors, adventure, children, coaching, and passing on our passions with others. It’s not just nature that fuels me, it’s people like Melanie that fill my cup. Finding and connecting with beautiful humans has been one of the highlights of this trip.
I thanked her profusely for such a wonderful day and she gave me some great recommendations for where to spend my last day in Helsinki before heading off to my next adventure. I’m so glad we connected and that I diverted my travels. It was worth it just to meet Melanie and spend time with her, let alone to experience Finland first hand and feel the natural peace and calm that envelopes this incredible country. I love it her. I see why so many people do and why everyone should listen to The Finnish Guide to Happiness.
In contrast, this is the spot in my hotel where I’ve been writing my blog posts.
By the way, I thought I’d give you a window into where most of my blog posts have come from. It’s not nearly as cool as Melanie’s house in the woods. But I love the hotel I’ve been staying in Helsinki. They have a WeWork style set up.
Loads of desks anyone can use to be productive and collaborative year round.
And after I felt more or less caught up with all my posts about my time in England, I decided I wanted a proper Finnish meal. I went to a nearby steak house called Stefan’s Steakhouse and had (you might have guessed it) Reindeer. It was delicious.
Reindeer medium rare with roasted garlic and bacon sauce on the side
Also ordered an “After-Eight” but they didn’t make me eat it without my hands
Official “After-Eight” game introduced by Amy Moser. Much messier way to eat!
