It’s good to get to know your “home turf”. We often know other places better than where we live.
I’m rather confident to boast that I know Stockholm better than most Stockholmers, especially the native variety. There’s good reason. I started out as a tourist and tourists (the adventurous sort) explore a new city. Then I moved here and have since then pondered, queried, bitched about (—we’ll gloss over that failing for now,) researched and written about pretty much any aspect about visiting or living in Sweden’s capital city.
This is one of the Stockholm guide books I've contributed to. Notice how it touts "Written by local experts"
Further afield from Stockholm, I can find my way around Ystad in Southern Sweden with a confident air—you could embarrass me if you truly test me; but I can fake it pretty good. And if I were to put a push pin on a map of Sweden, I have a reasonably good poking range. But I haven’t been north of Åre.
Since July 1st, I’ve been living vicariously through Christine Demsteader’s blog “Desperately Seeking Sweden” and her one-woman adventure around the wilds of Sweden. As of her last entry, she’s still north of my most northern Swedish adventure and I’m both jealous and inspired. I think I might be motivated to make a break for it and rendez-vous with her for a “Boston Blatte meets Desperately Seeking Sweden Mishap Escapade.”
If I miss out on a Swedish adventure this summer, I will have to set my sights on getting to better know my own hometown, Boston during our trip in August.
I have realized that I know Stockholm much better than Beantown.
Something must be done. I think there might be a “Desperately Seeking Boston” knock-off in August.
Tags: stockholm, time out guide, time out stockholm, ystad, åre
I love ur writtings!
I lived in Boston for a long while and I know exactly what u mean by knowing a city better than its natives. It makes me love Boston more than any other place in the world.
Report abuse »