We never heard much about Finland until the day we decided “hey, you know what, we don’t know much about this place…let’s go there for our honeymoon“. And so we did. Finland delivered us one heck of a honeymoon and we would definitely go back to this Nordic country! Here are 7 unusual facts about Finland that I took away after honeymooning there for 3 weeks…

1. It’s cold, then warm, then ice. Prepare to skate, to glide, and to whip out some break dance moves. BUT somehow the women there still manage to rep high heels on a snowy day! I don’t know how they do it but it’s impressive.

2. This place is an innovation leader. Helsinki uses their own garbage as a electricity source! Imagine if we all learnt a little something from Finland and caught onto this innovation?? The oceans would be crying tears of joy

 

3. The environment matters. Have an electric car? You get discounts on parking. Finland’s forests cover 78% of the country.  Another 10% is made up of lakes. I promise you’ll still have sidewalks to walk on.

 

4. Health matters. Although they aren’t the most outdoor veggie friendly place for 8 months of the year….they still manage
to have all assortments of organic produce and foods. Thanks to greenhouses the Finnish are able to provide to their country year round.

 

5. Vegan friendly. Almost every single cafe we went to had oat or soy milk. The oat milk most of them use (called Oatly and produced in Sweden) is heavenly.

 

6. They aren’t joking about saunas. EVERYONE has a sauna….and everyone USES their sauna. Prepare to sweat.

 

 

7. Although some people (even the Finnish themselves) say Fins are shy…they are some of the most kind hearted, caring, and fun people! We had the pleasure of getting a real taste of Finnish living by staying the last few nights of our trip with a Finnish couple we met in Chile late last year. From cooking all the traditional Finnish foods for us to take us out and about to see the highlights of Helsinki…we were treated like family. Get to know the Fins while there! (but don’t trust them when they tell you their Salted Black Liquorice is good).

 

 

If you don’t like the cold, not a huge fan of Europe, think the outdoors is a little overrated, and don’t know where Finland is on a map….then you absolutely must go here! It will change your perception about all of those, guaranteed. If you are the opposite of all of those, then you REALLY have to book some tickets up to the magical land of Finland!

Travel Free <3
Mel & Jon