SCANIA COUNTY; Nature's Diversity & OpenSkies

From the obvious to uncertainty.

From established routines to a time of self evaluation, 

in search of new opportunities and a reorganized mindset.

Together for a changed direction and new dimensions in our lives.

Peregrinating in search of internal growth, balance and happiness.

Exploring new cultures and cultivating new skills 

we have now reached a milestone.

Our first book to be commercialized.

Spring time 2013 Mrs. T made her decision; we are going to sell everything and embark on a journey of our life with no clear plans other than the destination - Andalucia, Spain. In the past explorers from the Iberian peninsula did the same and sailed out into unknown waters understanding that the return was in the hands of higher forces. Todays modern societies with a structured existence gives us ample opportunities to rethink our situation and divert from the expected. Seems that it is our minds that set the limitations for us if we allow that to happen.

The time had come to make the decision. We said goodbye to our home, our children and relatives. Our car was fully loaded and we drove across Europe.  On offer was the opportunity to learn, to grow and establish a new daily routines in our lives. After 10-15 years it would have been too late.   

Sights along the route from Helsinki through Germany, Switzerland and France to Costa del Sol in Andalusia.

Our "home" was warehoused and bags packed with the necessary belongings as much as our car could carry. We also brought along our new hobbies like photographing that was yet to mature into a productive stage. We had some experience in photographing and designing photobooks but now, with plenty of time and interesting places to visit, we had the chance of growing our experience. As a result we set up a photographic website, started a blog about Andalucia and published our annual yearbook. 

Small whitewashed villages and the nature tempted us most.

A selection of photobooks that we have published includes the recent yearbook 2014.

In addition, our experiences from Andalucia was written down in a special photobook called "Andalucia Our Way" that, eventually also was submitted to a photobook competition organized by Ifolor Finland. Our book was nominated the best travel related book of the year in Finland. Our Andalucian blog may help anyone wanting to travel to the area; www.andaluciaourway.blogspot.com

Award winning photobook from Andalucia.

In early 2014 it was time to reconsider our situation. Mrs. T carefully looked at the alternatives and the outcome was to move back north to Scania closer to job opportunities and climate conditions that was easier for her. In Andalucia temperatures climbed well above 40 degrees centigrade summertime making physical moving tiring. Now it was also time to move our warehoused "home" from Finland to Sweden and get organized in a different way.

In February 2014 we found a new home in Östra Göinge, north-eastern Scania, settled down and started to look for job opportunities both in the neighborhood,  Medicon Valley Science Park and internationally. We very soon felt at home in Scania, travelled around the county which is square like with dimensions of 100 by 100 km's. Blog writing was similarly active as it had been in Spain. For details see www.zappyandcolourfulskane.blogspot.com    

The wonderful nature of Scania and the midsummer celebration.

By January 2015 our photographic skills had also developed considerably and an attempt was to design a high class book with quality pictures printed on high class lustre paper. Our time in Scania had produced photos from different parts of the region, anything from flack cultural landscapes to gorgeous shorelines with its sandy beaches and more remote places like Swedens southernmost wilderness area in north-eastern Scania. The end result was a book called SCANIA COUNTY - Nature's Diversity & OpenSkies. We are proud of our production and very satisfied with the quality of service from BLURB. This is the first book we now try to commercialize both through BLURB and AMAZON. The book is available but the promotional efforts are in early stages.

Selected photos from the book SCANIA COUNTY.

Having stayed abroad now for 1,5 years we feel that we have come to a milestone where our daily activities has changed from more domestic oriented to market oriented meaning that more time is spent outside of the home than before. E.g. PhotoHiking around Scania (also in Andalusia) and also the gardening duties takes us often outside for some exercize and fresh air. Physical moving at our age is important and keeps us more fit for longer. Our daily routines are now more relaxed and both of us want to care for the home as well as the leisure time, our friends, relatives and our children. We see less of our children but when we do,  the time spent is of 100% value. This teaches us to respect one and another in a different way and strengthens our ties, not the other way around as one might also think. Everyday living has become less controlled and caring more evenly shared which benefits our partnership. We both have our own valuable hobbies but there are also joint activities that enriches our lives. Days for Mrs. T has become entirely different from having been attached to the children and the household so much. We are very happy that she now can devote time for herself as she pleases knowing that we are two to care for everything. The change has been extensive, necessary and for the best for our entire family. 

Should we have stayed at home, in Finland, we would have everything that we needed and desired. Our hobbies, our friends and relatives, our life long traditions and once grandchildren appear days would have been full of joy. This is what normally could be expected in our society and is by no means a negative issue. Research in the US e.g. show that life cycle patterns change when people reach the age of 50 - 55. Market hours and home hours tend to be relatively stable early in the life cycle but once we reach the age of 50 market hours seem to drop sharply and home hours increase by the age of 55. This pattern can, in other words, be expected but this is exactly what we wanted to avoid. Instead we now build on new values to our lives, find space and more time for ourselves and each other both in a private sense and yet feel empowered to play an important role in working life, as experienced senior members, for some time onwards.  We are extremely happy that we are breaking away from "the expected" pattern because our lives will be enriched with so m uch more activities and all the memories are being recorded for our children and grand-children to read about later. I am ever so grateful to Mrs. T for her courage and for being such a clairvoyant person to want to alter course. Please accept my admiration.

Daybreak in Östra Göinge.

This blog post is forming a nucleus for an article to be written to promote our book SCANIA COUNTY and will reach out for anyone that have similar ideas as we have had, but do not know to take a decision forward. Maybe our example will convince others to invest in their valuable lives and make a difference. The book has been submitted for a photobook competition in the US and we do hope that we have a compelling story to tell.

:-)