Best Idea Ever: Canoe Trip on the Klarälven.

I'm back. For real. Will catch up a little on the past month away over the next few days and then actually do some in-the-moment-blogging. Cause life is beautiful and deserves not only savoring and capturing but also sharing.

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Over the course of a week my client, Buford and I paddled our canoe over 100 km on the Klarälven in Värmland. While a 100 km may sound like a lot of work I can honestly say that this was probably my most relaxed time on my job.

This is how we traveled:

B does most of the work.... :)

... and continues to tease my desire to capture his beauty.

Our first evening out...

... how beautiful!

Seal or dog? Or beaver?

Made the decision to learn myself a lot about fishing. It's too good not to jump on that wagon...

.... mmmmhhhhmmm. That about captures it.

Peek-a-boo! :)

Upside down and totally grounded at the same time.

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Klarälven... you're accepted as a part of my business components.

I'll be back!

Alive, well, and, ... well, busy.

Yes, we made it back in one piece.

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Even though Beefy didn't get to come for the first two weeks due to his paw re-opening.

And despite mosquitos who fought us several times like an army of warriors.

Or the swamps... did I mention the swamps yet?

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We also enjoyed powerful moments when we made it to view points, when we saw rainbows, reindeer, or were invited to eat freshly caught fish with some strangers.

Additional highlights were the B and A inclusion, playing cards, and making scrumptious food.

I got hundreds of photos however limited energy.

Am still on the job and will stay on the job till 8/20. Looking forward to floating down Klarälven on a raft that we will build and ride "a la Huck Finn style" starting next week and to some seakajaking in the Skärgård east of my old stomping grounds down south. Then 3 weeks client- free and on it goes again. In September we plan to hike from Sweden to Norway's fjords.

Yup, life is good.

Start Eget.

Peacefulness... captured a few hundred yards above our home.




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Slowly but surely my business is being born.

One of Mr. Moose's favorite things to tell me is to "slow the *f* down and be patient".

As I have alluded to here before..., patient I am not. At least not when it's about me securing myself a future. In the end I have to be.... and eventually, things work out. May as well stop stressing over the little bits and pieces.

Here's what's been happening on the business front recently.

I have gotten confirmation that I will receive government support for the first 6 months of my business venture. Yay for being 'let in' to the Swedish world by having gotten a personnummer a while back. So, I, like most other people who 'start eget' (= start their own) will be supported by funds as entrepreneurship is understood as a positive way to not fall into the ditch of unemployment. For me that means that I will receive approximately US$ 850 (brutto) per month for free starting July 1st. In order to be granted that money I had to meet with a free (!) business consultant a few times, deliver her with a business plan and register my business (which I did today... horray!). They will take away approximately 30% in taxes (yup, that's how we roll here) and still: I get an income no matter what. Brilliant! (Particularly as I plan to create a financially secure business.... meaning I don't actually depend on this support.)

I am also a mere 10 days away from going on my first 3-week hiking expedition with my first German client. I know, I know, I announced here that I had my first client already - and I did. But this, you guys, is the real thing.

The next 10 days will be spent setting myself up for a (mostly) unsupported backpacking trip west of here. We will hike on the stretch between Sälen and Storlien, the so-called Södra Kungsleden. The distance between the two places is 349 km - obviously there are tons of ways for us to log more or less miles depending on how things go and what we encounter. I get a feeling that it will be rather mindblowing... you'll certainly hear all about it.

Parallel I am working on a web presence for the business venture... aie aie aie... so much excitement!

Recently, I was also able to make an initial connection with a local photographer who is looking to work together with others. It's rather exciting actually... she does nature photography trips with groups and is eager to collaborate in creative ways. When I shared my interest in doing so she sounded at least as intrigued as I feel. She has lived on Grönland before and done some other incredible stuff. We are planning to have fika together on Monday... am curious how that little seed will develop.

So, for now... I get to plan, prepare, and nurse Beefy back in shape. I'll still have to wait for the results of the tumor analysis... We should know by the end of next week. Either way we need to get the rather substantial cut from the surgery to grow back together seamlessly... not an easy task with us two who are movement junkies.

Better listen to Mr. Moose and be patient, huh?

Loving the Swedish Roots from a Distance.

I'm totally loving my time in the States. I feel grateful for friends, new encounters, landscapes, opportunities, lovingly missing the B, and more. I feel balanced, resourceful, relaxed, and strong.


A memorable moment happened after a beautiful visit with a friend and her dogs in Sisters, as I drove back to Bend in another friend's trusty VW van "Burt". Suddenly it occurred to me with absolute clarity that I could not do in Bend what I am now doing in Sweden. I think during my time in Bend I was too suppressed by the system (or the way I have positioned myself within it) to think and act in the way that I now do in regards to my future in Sweden. Not to mention finances, as well as competition and need in regards to my kind of business. I am feeling streamed by gratitude for having followed my instincts Up North, and - even though I didn't realize it prior to my time here - have actually grown some substantial roots in Sweden already.


Maybe I am further along on my Sweden to-do-list than I thought?



Also, in other news: After my return to Montana I have learned that the German company that sends kids here has already inquired if I could take one of them later on. They are interested to send the boy to me first - and then... SEND US TO RUSSIA TO EXPLORE HIS ROOTS WITH HIM!!!! Hello?! Life?! How come you're so incredibly wonderful with me?


No details are out yet, and it may not work out at all... but the sheer fact that I have vague requests to take clients even before I am back home and working on it is... encouraging to say the least.



I also met LSL very quickly before leaving Oregon and my friends there. The short but sweet visit makes me grateful for connections that can happen anywhere... even here on my blog.



I cannot even start to talk about the time with my friends in Bend. Thanks, all of you who were a part of it. I couldn't live my life in this exciting manner if I wasn't grounded by your friendship.



Thanks to the acting out of the volcano on Iceland I am now enjoying a couple of days in between Oregon and my backcountry time in Glacier National Park. Which led to me spending a night out in the mountains near Kalispell with the boy that may later live with me... and to my participation in an Ayahuasca ceremony last night. A Peruvian Medicine Man is visiting the farm, and offered us graciously his medicine. Yeah, ... lucky me.



In a few hours I'll scoop up the kid that I'll take to Glacier for the rest of my time here. I'm thrilled and excited to dive into an unknown backcountry that promises to blow my mind. And then... I'll come back here to try and fit all the new Buford toys and snacks into my bagagge and head back to where my roots are. Mmmm-mh!

Online and Inspired.

I got energy flowing. Beef and I went on - what turned out to be a four-hour hike. It was loads of fun. Particularly when we walked right up to a rabbit.... man, those two were fast. It took B four (4!!) minutes to come back to me. That's the longest he ever left me for in exchange for running after another being... Now he's snoozing it off behind me. Innocently dreaming of his next big adventure.

And then, imagine this: I went to my neighbor to finally invite her to my place for coffee (I have spent the last week's worth of afternoons over at her place chatting and drinking coffee), and guess what she did? She guided me into her kitchen and gave me a little fruit basket - "for your new apartment" - and started to feverishly search through her freezer. She found frozen bread and hot dogs which she gave me graciously. Then she got out some chocolate from her cupboard and smiled at me and said she was happy to help. She also invited me for dinner tonight. And agreed to have coffee at my place. My heart about melted... I have craved meat recently and my creative diet (due to fewer and fewer ingredients and my desire to spend no money whatsoever) lacked bread, flower, and mostly fresh fruit. (Ahem, yes, I do accept donations.)

And now this: I just got off the phone with N. You know, of N and N, my best Swedish friends. He sent me a Facebook note saying he may have a business idea that would get me fully employed and well paid in no time. And that my skills were needed. Huh? Of course I called. He's incredible. And, best of all: He's a business man and in touch with reality. And a human. We need more of those... :) - The bestest of all is this: I love his idea. I mean, LOVE his idea. It's fully congruent with my values. It's human. It's intercultural. It's healthy. It's sustainable. For me and others.

Here it comes: He thinks we could create a temporary home for teenage refugees from other countries (i.e. Somalia, Afghanistan are the most needy here in Sweden currently), offering them a group home while teaching them skills (such as Swedish, gardening, wilderness, interpersonal, as well as general life skills in a Swedish environment) with a staff team that understands Sweden but also the culture we would focus on (e.g. have an Afghan on staff should we focus on Afghan kids, etc.). Sweden's communes apparently have significant problems with those kids currently, as they don't have enough foster families they can place them into. We couldn't quite offer them a family, but we could offer them things that a family cannot. Isn't that inspiring? Fascinating? Unbelievable?

So now, we're gonna do some legwork and research what the different communes are looking for, whether or not we can fulfill those expectations, and if the whole thing is financially sustainable. He thinks it looks like it would be.

I know I ask you to cross your fingers quite often... but, could you do some more of that, please?

Starting my own... firm??

So, I am looking for a job. I visited with that "opportunity-knocked" lady yesterday and learned that we will be neighbors for a month in my new home. Then she will move to Dubai - and gift me with some of her furniture. Not bad, eh? She didn't just hand me over a job though. She wanted to meet me and first figure out if she felt good about me so that she could advertise me in the employer world. She said she did (feel good about me) and that she will (advertise me). We shall see.

I am getting on my hind legs today to do some work on my own. Am planning to research a bit and write to some places that may be of interest to me. Fact is that I don't want a normal job anymore. Of course I would take whatever right now, but in the long run I want something that is a bit more out there (for example, in nature), than your usual 8-5 job. I want for my dog to be integrated. I want for it to be fun and healthy. I want meaningful experiences while on the clock. All that stuff.

Patrick was just here and pushed me towards starting my own business. Just for in between.... or possibly long term. Offering solo experiences to people. Hmmmm... that was a dream of mine a few years back. I could probably reconnect with that passion fairly easily. Will have to do some research and creative brainstorming. What do you think?