Two weeks of living Danishly

I read ‘a year of living Danishly’ while we were in Copenhagan and couldn’t stop fitting Danish facts into every conversation. We learned about Hygge, which encourages appreciation of coziness and contentment in everyday life, and Jante’s Law, where the group is valued over individual achievements. Throw in play-based education, a trusting/direct culture, and an incredible social safety net (two years of 80% salary if laid off!!!), and it almost felt like utopia. 



We could feel a difference soon after crossing the border into Denmark. Little towns with very skinny flags and the best cycling infrastructure we'd experienced. People were incredibly friendly. One morning Clara accidentally opened a bakery shop door backwards onto her fingers. The Icelandic owner invited us into her house for medicine and filled our arms with free baked goods. A few hours later, we were resting to read a chapter on the roadside and a man came out of his home to give us free popsicles. Our tent broke in one of the country's millions of free campsites and the guys at the next site who were walking across the countryside tried to help us fix it.  Towards the end of the trip, after a 60km cycle, we ended up at a site that only allowed camper vans. The site staff had left, and local residents helped us to find a spot to pitch our tent. The next morning, the staff member insisted we know a better place to camp "next time"-- and who knows, I guess we could end up there again. I'm writing this description of our time in Denmark from back home in Canada, and it's interesting that these are the memories that are strongest. Memories of times when things worked out, without going to plan.... 




Not that there was all that much of a plan. Our goal was to 'travel north' to Legoland, and then 'travel east' to Copenhagen. We figured out our specific stops along the way: "Take me home, country road, to a place, where we can charge our phone-- north of Hamburg, south of Blind, take us home, country road." Lego House was everything we hoped it would be. It was well designed-- full of interesting art, and with an excellent cafe we came back to the next day. Camping at LegoLand was quite the experience as well. We stayed in a country-themed section and the music in the bathrooms at 2 in the morning was quite incredible: "If I had a boat, I'd ride it on the ocean; If I had a pony, I'd ride it on my boat". 








We ended our huge adventure in Copenhagen, a beautiful city with the world's best cheese sandwich. What a journey. 



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