One of the most important trips of my life was one that I had been dreaming of since I was 5 years old. In reality, it was more than I ever could have imagined. Since I was little, my family has talked about our Scandinavian ancestors and roots. They taught me a bit about certain foods and this land that I originate from. Scandinavia, is a region in Europe that includes Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Iceland. They are also referred to as the Nordic countries.
“I am not my self, I am the result of all my ancestors” ~Santiago Martinez Delgado
My family is Danish and Swedish on my father’s side as well as Finish on my mom’s side. My last name is Andersen and is often misspelled. By default, I learned a bit about the origins of my name and the Scandinavian naming systems. The countries utilized a naming system where people in a family had different last names based on their father’s name. (Ex: Andersen means Ander’s son. The Danish spelling of son is -sen. So as a female, my Danish last name should be Markdotter meaning Mark’s daughter. My hypothetical brother would then be named Marksen while my parents would be named after their father’s). This system called patronymics became quite confusing and was phased out of the various countries as early as the 1860's.
Eating traditional foods like aebleskivers, “Swedish pancakes,” lingonberries, and homemade gløgg, a mulled wine, was a fun way to experience our family culture. I would, however, skip the pickled herrings that appeared for Christmas celebrations. Being exposed to this family background, made me want to travel to Scandinavia at a young age. I remember looking up pictures of the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden and of the Northern lights on the computer as a kid. My older sister got the incredible opportunity to study abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark during her college studies. As a family, we had a glorified layover to Copenhagen in 2015, on our way to Italy. We met up with an old family friend as well as meeting my sister’s host family who she lived with for four months. We toured around seeing sights such as their amusement park, Tivoli, at Christmas, the Little Mermaid statue, and Rosenborg castle.
While this was an amazing, although brief visit, I had been dreaming to visit all 3 countries of Denmark, Sweden, and Finland my whole life. More than anything, I wanted to stand in and experience the lands of my ancestors. My senior year of university, my school was offering an interesting trip to Norway to learn about their prison systems. I mentioned the trip to one of my friends from study abroad. I was thinking about trying to extend the trip to spend a bit of time in Sweden. She had already been looking into affordable trips to Scandinavia and our trip was born. I could not believe that I was about to embark on the trip of a lifetime.
Now, I’ve obviously traveled before. It has become an extremely important part of my life. Traveling on this dream “heritage tour” to places with significance to my family was a whole other level. Taking the ferry from Estonia to Finland on the Baltic Sea was an unreal experience. From that point forward, I had this continual feeling of amazement of walking where my ancestors once started. The Lutheran Cathedral in Helsinki, the family farm in Hovmantorp, Sweden, and gløgg in Denmark, the traditional mulled wine drink that my dad makes every Christmas, all gave me that feeling of connection. Read about my once in a lifetime adventures in the lands of my ancestors.