A contest for outdoors lovers: Tree Hugging World Championship in the Arctic Lapland

forest and fireplace in lapland, near rovaniemi. photo by ari hakkarainen
Forest in Lapland near the Arctic Circle.

The country that has brought us the World Championships of Air Guitar (in Oulu, Finland), the Swamp Soccer World Championships, and many more fun events also has a colorful history with tree hugging contests. In fact, in Levi, in the Arctic region of … Read >

Finland designated the best wildlife travel destination 2019

fell scenery in lapland kilpisjärvi
Scenery in Lapland, Kilpisjärvi.

The summer of 2019 in Finland’s capital Helsinki was the first time when I thought that finally, overseas tourists have discovered the city. Tourist groups toured even in the new Oodi library, and happily camped in Nuuksio national park just outside the city. Something is … Read >

Tips to Mr Putin and Mr Trump for interacting with the local tribe in Helsinki, Finland

Presidents Trump and Putin are due for a tête-à-tête in Helsinki on 16 July, 2018, a summit in which national security issues and alleged Russian interference in the US elections of 2016 are likely to be hot topics. The two leaders have missed me by a year. I was in … Read >

Reindeer get a long-distance communication network in Lapland

Reindeer are semi-wild animals that roam freely on the vast wilderness of Lapland, the northernmost region of Scandinavia. They move in large groups, looking for food, escaping mosquitoes or adjusting to weather and seasons. Every reindeer, however, belongs to a herder, who needs to know where the animals are. That’s … Read >

Tips for Helsinki visitors when the Nordic weather doesn’t show its best sides

Finland’s capital Helsinki is the city where the biggest celebrations during the country’s 100th independence year take place. All kinds of events have been organized through the year, and the 6th December 2017 is the big day. November and December happen to be the darkest months in terms of daylight … Read >

The best parties during Finland’s 100th independence year 2017

The Nordic country Finland became an independent nation in 1917, on December 6th. It had been the westernmost, autonomous province of Russia, and before that, the easternmost province of Sweden. The early years were tough for the new nation, and only after the Second World War, the country began its … Read >