Why is the 2 of us living in Sweden the best choice for us?

Let us introduce ourselves. My name is Kim, and together with my dear husband Menno, have we moved to the north of Sweden in 2023. Our emigration is actually quite a special story—one filled with courage, perseverance, and faith.

Living in Sweden for a better life expectancy

I was born with what I prefer to call a “little backpack” (that sounds a bit friendlier than calling it an illness). I have Cystic Fibrosis. This is a condition in which my body is missing a gene that regulates salt balance and keeps mucus thin. Because this gene is missing, my mucus is always thick and sticky. This makes many processes in the body more difficult, and over time, it causes a gradual decline in daily life.

In the past, the average life expectancy was only to reach 10 years of age, but today, in 2026, it is with the available medicine and a healthy lifestyle around 50 years. I am currently 34 years old and in the full bloom of my life. I have worked hard my entire life for the life I have been given.

I never used to dream of living in Sweden(both Menno and I are originally from the Netherlands). The air quality in the Netherlands is, unfortunately, not good enough for my lungs to support a healthy and long life. When Menno and I started our relationship in 2018, I was often very ill. I am grateful every single day that Menno came into my life—and stayed.

When I became a bit healthier in 2022, Menno and I decided to emigrate together (without family or acquaintances in Sweden). The clean air of Sweden, the peace, space, nature, and people were exactly what we needed. Living in Sweden feels like coming home to the deepest part of your own being.

First years living in Sweden

For the first two years that we were living in Sweden, we renovated our home: painting, repairing, making it beautiful, restoring the forest around us, and much more.

After these two years, we really wanted to share our love and passion for this country, its nature, and its people with you. Whether you are living in Sweden or somewhere else in the world, we are very happy to share this passion with you.

My dear husband Menno (currently 54 years old) has developed an enormous passion for working with his hands, creating beautiful things from wood, happily working in his own shed, in his own little world. Slowly, we began practicing making products. It started with wooden flower pots, both in natural wood and in colors like white and anthracite. This initially began for the Dutch market, and we are grateful and proud that our handmade flower pots are now widely available. Of course, these flower pots are also available for you. Check them out in our shop.

After that, Menno started making coasters, breadboards, lamps, pendant lights, boxes, coat racks, and much more. All products are handmade by Menno, The Nordic Craftsman. People are very enthusiastic about his work.

That’s why, in May 2024, we decided to start our own business. We think it is the beginning of a new adventure, a clear path on how to build our lives while living in Sweden.

Production and extra services

At the moment, we are working hard on producing products and placing them on this website. Our next project will be offering engraved products, personalized or even fully customized, and made entirely to your wishes. This production will start at the end of March, now the time to prepare. The website, our blog, and promotion on our socials, all of this will take some time, so we can now invest in this process.

We love nature and animals

Aside from this, Menno and I both deeply love nature. Every season has its own charm and its own story. We love walking straight into the forest behind our house. Our home is located right in the middle of the forest; nothing but nature surrounds us.

We are also both huge animal lovers. At the moment, we have 4 cats, 1 rabbit, 40 chickens, and hopefully, in the future, also 2 goats. In addition, we have about 4 squirrels that come to eat every day, and around 100 little birds that gratefully enjoy seeds in our garden every winter. I think our animals are our greatest passion and love (besides each other, of course).

Our other hobbies and passions?

Music is a big one. We love to listen to music, alone and together. Besides that, we also love the quiet moments; absolute silence is what we have around us. Sometimes hard to hear the silence, but we get better and better at it. We love games and puzzles, playing the piano, and watching movies.
Our ultimate goal is to let go of the materialistic life we have and go back to our roots, living as close to nature as possible. But it’s hard to change…

We have had our own water well drilled, we have solar panels, and our house is heated only by two wood stoves. Every spring, we chop more than 30 cubic meters of wood together, which is great for our fitness and endurance.

Where we are living in Sweden, the winter is long and cold, and when spring arrives we grow as many vegetables as possible in our greenhouse, have fruit trees, and in summer, more than 400 strawberry plants fill our freezer and we sell them to our local customers. In August, we pick more than 20 kilos of blueberries to last through the winter. So we have started our journey in independent living in Sweden. We know that it is hard to build a community around us that is self-sustainable, which will eventually be the higher goal.

I hope that through this story, you have gotten to know us a little better.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, you are always welcome to send us a message or reply to this post.

I would like to close with a beautiful life quote:

Life is one big celebration—you just have to put up the decorations yourself. 🎉

---