Stockholm

 

I turned 30 this year and, after 30 years of acquiring material wealth, I decided it wasn’t where happiness lies. Happiness lies in moments and memories, so for my 30 birthday I didn’t want ‘things’, I wanted moments.

The first of these moments came curtesy of my beautiful sister who took me on my very first trip to Stockholm! Sweden has been on my must visit list for a long time now but I had absolutely no clue she was planning to take me there for my birthday, it was the most overwhelming of gifts!

We packed our bags and prepared to spend the next 4 days exploring this new land.

We stayed at the most amazing hotel, the Downtown Camper. One of the coolest hotels I’ve ever had the pleasure to stay in, the Downtown Camper comes complete with a rooftop pool, Swedish sauna, and meditation net hanging above the lounge area. Plus you can eat your vegan breakfast in a swing!

We stayed in a grande double room with views of the city, a big corner window seat allowed us to chill out overlooking the streets of Stockholm at the end of a long days exploration.

Although Stockholm has a great transport system, taxis and bicycle rentals, my sister and I decided to walk everywhere. It’s one of the best ways to see the city, we loved getting lost down the winding back streets and stumbling across cool coffee shops and picturesque locations. Plus all the extra exercise we were getting allowed for some guilt free cocktails come evening times in the rooftop bar!

We walked from island to island (Stockholm is made up of different islands). One of the things I loved most about Stockholm is that you can be in the middle of a busy city street one minute and sitting by the peaceful waterfront or in an open green space the next.

The Swedish are a health conscious nations which means it’s super easy for us vegans to find good food! My hotel had a vegan section in their huge breakfast buffet, if you stay here I definitely recommend the Downtown Granola, the hotels homemade granola. It is SO good! For lunch I recommend the Hawaii Poké (just across from the hotel) which does an amazing vegan tofu poke bowl. There is also an incredible vegan/ vegetarian restaurant called Hermans, it’s a buffet style and you can eat as much as you want for a set price, the food is delicious too.

Of course, I had to find some time to workout and get my yoga practice in. Luckily for me The Downtown Camper has an amazing rooftop studio and during the day it so completely empty. I got the entire studio to myself to flow and breathe and practice and centre. I got to see the beautiful skyline of Stockholm upside down. I’m already thinking about my next visit.