- At 55, Sue Loraine took a sabbatical from her job in the UK to move to Finland with her best friend.
- They stay in her friend’s parent’s cabin in Finland and are living off of Loraine’s savings.
- She loves the local culture and nature and hopes to inspire others who want to make a big change.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sue Loraine, a 58-year-old UK citizen in Finland. It’s been edited for length and clarity.
After decades in a range of different careers, followed by many years as a therapist, I felt burned out at work and ready for change.
The idea for my next move came when I least expected it to: while watching a wilderness documentary on TV with my best friend and roommate, Saara.
Suddenly, she turned to me and semi-jokingly suggested that we try living in Finland for a year.
For Saara, Finland was home. She’d grown up there but moved away at age 12. As we began seriously considering this plan, her parents said they’d allow us to stay in the isolated cabin they owned there for free.
This would make our year in Finland feasible since we wouldn’t pay for accommodation, and I could rent out my apartment to cover my mortgage.
Five months later, at age 55, I took a sabbatical, and we left Glasglow, Scotland, to spend a year in the “happiest country in the world” — a place I’d never visited before.
A year wasn’t enough time in Finland
Courtesy of Sue Loraine
It didn’t take long for me to embrace living in the Finnish wilderness.
Good thing since the cabin is quite isolated in 4 acres of forestland just over 200 miles north of Helsinki. The neighboring cabin is over a mile from us, and the closest supermarket is 40 minutes away by car.
Our neighbors are the resident beaver who frequents our lake in the summer and the wolf who traverses the forest in the winter.
Some might view the isolation and lack of amenities as boring, but I appreciate the silence of the forest.
By my third month in Finland, I knew I was meant to be here and that I wanted to turn our yearlong visit into a full-time reality.
To do so, we returned to Scotland for one year. I saved as much money as I could, sold my apartment, and applied for a Finnish residency permit.
My roommate and I now live off those savings, and I estimate we spend roughly 800 to 1,000 euros a month.
The access to nature suits me well — and I get why the locals are said to be so happy
Courtesy of Sue Loraine
Having Saara by my side helped me navigate the culture shock of moving to a new country. If I didn’t have her, I would’ve probably played things safe and lived in a bigger city first rather than the wilderness.
However, I think that being surrounded by nature is what cured my burnout, which took a good seven to eight months for me to start to recover from.
In the winter, I get my thrills from ice fishing or jumping out of our sauna into the icy lake and back. In the summer, I swim in the lake and forage for wild berries.
I like that every day at the cabin brings a new challenge. I’ve learned many skills, like sourcing firewood for winter by chopping down trees and fending off venomous snakes in the summer.
I now believe the easy access to forestlands (they make up about 70% of the country) and strong local connection to nature plays a significant role in why Finland continues to top the list of happiest countries in the World Happiness Report.
Never being far from a forest gives the Finns the ability to frequently lose themselves in nature, reconnect, and reset.
I still can’t believe how quickly Finland has felt like home
Each day, I continue to be surprised by how much Finland fits me.
Many people here are incredibly kind and helpful. They live in the moment and aren’t trying to keep up with the Joneses — it’s refreshing. I also haven’t gotten tired of being surrounded by nature.
Really, I find it remarkable how quickly I’ve fallen in love with a country I’d never been to before. I would have never known this love and belonging if I hadn’t just taken a risk and moved there.
My advice to others who want to make a big change is to take it day by day. If you end up unhappy or it wasn’t what you expected, you can always try something different.
