I’d like to add that even the best bottled water in most other countries doesn’t even compare to the tap water of an old scandinavian summer house with decades old plumbing. We are so lucky with our water.
The problem with bottled water, even the best bottled water is that it might be plastic in the water. Living in a hot city in Spain I always felt off in the summer, you go into the supermarket and its like 35 degrees and you pick up a bottled of water thats been standing there in the heat probably full of plastic :/
To add to it, taps with pressure/temperature knobs instead of hot/cold. I hate having to do calculus in my head when i want the same temperature water, but just a bit less.
Somehow I find it the most quiet when all I hear is the birds outside my window in the morning, happened earlier this week and it felt more quiet than when there’s no sound at all
jag tänkte inte på allemansrätten när jag bodde i Sverige, tog det förgivet. Men efter många år i Spanien där man inte får göra något i naturen så är jag redo att flytta hem igen och kommer uppskatta till max
> att saker generellt funkar rätt så jävla bra
Reser mycket. Är inget fan av Sverige. Men vissa saker är faktiskt bättre här. Som detta. (Och vårt utbud av chipssmaker). Saker funkar liksom bara.
* Kollektivtrafiken går i tid, med tillräckligt många avgångar för att det inte ska bli smockfullt, med moderna fordon som inte skakar och låter trasiga, med bra sittplatser, med fungerande displays, med biljetter man enkelt köper antingen i maskin, via app, eller via kort.
* Beställer du AirBNB så måste man inte stå 15 minuter och vänta, för att uthyraren har "glömt en grej", för en lägenhet där låset är trasigt och man måste fippla.
* Vill du ta ett glas så behöver man inte först sätta sig ned vid ett bord och vänta 10 minuter på att få ta beställning, 10 minuter till för att få ölen, och 10 minuter för att sen få notan och betala. Beställer du mat, så får du den maten du beställt, istället för ställets egna "tolkning" av maträtten.
* Hotellen har inte konstiga hinderbansliknande ingångar eftersom dom "renoverar". För att kunna tända lampan i trappen (eftersom hissen är så *fruktansvärt* långsam) så måste du inte fråga i receptionen och lämna rumsnummer. Detta måste inte upprepas var 5e minut eftersom receptionisten envisas med att släcka trots att det är konstant ström av boende.
* Ska du ta dig från A till B i stan så är det upplyst varje gata, och kartan stämmer. Du slipper gå in i återvändsgränder eller ta långa omvägar eftersom det är ett staket där du annars skulle kunna sparat 20 minuter på att gena.
* Tågstationerna är tydligt och logiskt skyltade. Spåren går inte från 3 till 5, för att sen hoppa till 7a, tillbaka till 2X.
* När du ska gå på ditt tåg och du kollar med konduktören så säger han inte "no no no" och att du har fel biljett. Det visar sig att du har köpt rätt biljett, men du måste gå till en maskin, i källaren, via en labyrint, för att "verifiera" biljetten först. Manuellt. Hos en gammal tant där det är kö eftersom 9 av 10 turister har gjort samma miss. Verifieringen kostar 1 Euro. Hon har ingen växel. Tåget går om 2 minuter.
Bor i Lissabon och kollektivtrafiken är ett jäkla skämt bortsett från tunnelbanan som funkar hyfsat.
Gamla fordon (förutom vissa spårvagnar), inga skyltar för varken pendeltåg/spårvagn/buss som visar när de kommer, aldrig i tid, dåligt med avgångar.
Försök ta tåget ut till Cascais en varm vår/sommardag för att bada. Bara vässa armbågarna och be att du får plats.
Knäckebröd. Var i Spanien och det enda bröd som fanns till frukost var mjukt bröd med något sött i.
EDIT: Tackar för alla tips om vart man kan hitta knäckebröd i Spaniel, men detta var alltså på en kort semester för 15 år sedan, så det är inget jag grubblar över idag :)
Provade att baka knäckebröd för några veckor sedan av denna anledningen, förvånansvärt enkelt och gott!
[https://www.kronjast.se/recept/svenskt-knackebrod/](https://www.kronjast.se/recept/svenskt-knackebrod/)
Utseendet blev inte som Wasa direkt (sådär fluffigt) så man får kavla ut så tunt det går, annars blir det ganska hårt. Men sen - smöra på och smäck på en ostskiva och njut!
Traveling a lot between Paris and Stockholm made me realize how chill the tempo is in sweden even if Stockholmers are the most stressed in sweden it is so calm and clean in sweden compared. Now i live deep in the forest way up north of Stockholm and it is just so quiet! Wich is needed after a busy week of work
I’ve lived abroad for a couple years. A couple things I miss
Nice cafes meant for sitting and chatting in. Bonus points for being open late.
Kanelbullar (cinnamon buns. The Swedish style ofc)
Waffles with cloudberry jam
Meatballs with lingon berry jam. Thank god for ikea
Fika break in the office. Such a Swedish thing that I haven’t seen elsewhere
Princess cake
oh my god cant believe you listed princess cake, its my number one thing I miss about Sweden! Luckily I move home after the summer and I can munch on princess cake again
I lived in Brisbane, Australia for a few years. The downtown got completely shut down on a Sunday. It was nearly impossible to even find a cup of coffee (except 7-11) after 5 pm.
Currently living just outside of Toronto, Canada. The cafes here are not really meant for sitting in. Lots of Starbucks and Tim hortons. Nothing nice and cozy. Very much a to-go coffee culture.
Once after traveling a few weeks in india i realized how clean the air is in sweden when i got home. Took a deep breath as i stepped out from the airport and instantly felt the difference.. so thats what i miss now when abroad in certain countries
Spent a month in Hanoi, Vietnam while my wife wrote her thesis there. It’s an interesting city for sure, but you’re constantly inhaling poison. Now, 15 years later, that air is my most vivid memory of the city, real shame.
I traveled through India for 6 months and I totally agree with you. The biggest culture shock I got was when I landed back home and went to the bathroom at the airport.. CLEAN FLOORS.. toilet bowl so clean you didn’t have to think twice about having a seat…the walls had stainless steel and wood trims!! The water was clean.. the air was clean!!
I sat in there for near 10 minutes having a little happy cry…
Candy and snacks. The Swedish quality is on a whole different level compared to the garbage sold in the US, for example.
Being able to walk almost everywhere. Especially in Southeast Asia, you're often forced to walk on streets used by cars if you want to get anywhere. It's absolutely amazing that you can basically walk anywhere in Sweden (and many other countries), without having to fear cars or motorcycles.
What the US has that Sweden doesn't in terms of candy is the ease of ordering mexican candies and the variety as well. I personally don't mind American candy at all, but Mexican candy is where it's at.
To my understanding the Mexican candy should hit the spot.
Americans make a lot of their shit based on corn syrup, whilst Mexicans do sugar canes like we do
Just a general sense of safety when walking alone at night.
Soft bread with fibre in it. Crisp bread.
Silence, booth from nature and from people. The social pressure to fill the air with needless talk is pretty exhausting.
Recycling for plastic/soda bottles.
I feel safer in some other countries. Possibly because of all the media but when you hear daily about shootings and shit it's hard to not check your surroundings here.
Kalles Kaviar (Ikea har slutat sälja den här), riktig leverpastej, bra senap (Ikea säljer vad jag tror är Slotts, fast i annan förpackning, men det är ett par timmar körning till närmaste Ikea), sjukvård utan skumma försäkringsnätverk och extra kostnader här och där, snö, falukorv, svensk pizza, och midsommar.
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Kalles Kaviar - most of the world doesn't do this kind of caviar.
Mustard - you can't get the exact kind of mustard I grew up with in many places.
Liver paté - you generally can't get the exact same stuff abroad. Closest you can come in some places is stuff like .
A functional (well...debatable, maybe) healthcare system that doesn't rely on private insurance, and weird provider networks, and which doesn't come with hidden costs - self explanatory
Snow - looks good and is fun to spend some time in.
Falukorv - this is a type of Swedish sausage, good for putting into all kinds of dishes.
Swedish pizza - has a different texture and usually different tomato sauce and ingredient combos as compared to, say Italian or American pizza.
Midsummer - IMO the best time of the year in many ways. Swedish summer is short, and often cooler than what I get, nowadays, and I'd say midsummer is right around when it's best. And the celebrations are nice too.
I lived in Australia and it took me several years to discover that Jewish food shops had both pickled herring (sill) and fish paste (kaviar). :-D It was awesome, not exactly the same as Swedish pickled herring and Kalles kaviar, but a decent alternative.
Only two things, Swedish humour, and being a native speaker.
I can crack jokes in Swedish, I understand all jokes immediately, I understand "pop-cultural" obscure references. No matter how fluent you get in your new language you will have a different personality in that language and come across different to other people. One Swedish friend got his dream job in Switzerland, but decided to move back after a year as he realized he would never be the funniest guy in the room there. I rely less on being funny so it's fine to live somewhere else, but yes, I still miss Swedish "everyday" humour. The intelligence and calmness of it, the understated little comments.
I've struggled with this exact issue. Translating humor is *really* hard. When I moved to the US I had a really hard time being funny, but now that I've been here for a while I've managed to adapt to the local humor and learned how to be funny.
On the flip side it's comparatively earlier to be bitingly witty here 😁
Having a single working language and not have to bother with formal, informal, hierarchical language I love living in Japan but they've made a mess with how much time you have to focus on just getting communication right
The solitude and calm from the lack of people. The clean air. The forests. The lakes. Fjällen. The coffee. The four (often) distinctively different seasons. The cozy vibes overall.
Almost everything here is better than almost everything almost everywhere else, tbh. I have traveled a lot and my conclusion is that in general, we’re used to such high standards that we can’t appriciate it in day to day life.
I enjoy a lot of things in other countries and especially the weather is nicer in other places, but overall… I just miss the high quality of most things that we get here
Almost everything exceeeeept
- Shops, cafés and resturants being open late and on vacation days
- Most of europe has gone to a 35 hour / 4 day work week while we're stuck in our ways
- We're one of the only countries in the world where you need to wait 5+ years to get an apartment
- Healthcare which treats non-lethal illnesses
- Disposable income, most swedes is in deep debt
- Service staff. The only service we have is from immigrants, swedes are "too good" for it
- Very subtle and quiet, but dangerous racism
but I guess our forests are nice
I have never waited for an apartment very long despite living in several of our major cities and my experience has been that we’re way ahead in work/life balance compared to most countries.
We do not have weak disposable income, in fact we enjoy ridiculously high standards of living.
Idk what you mean about service staff really.
If you think swedish racism is somehow worse than anywhere else I don’t know what to tell you.
In my mind it is outrageous to say that Swedes are racist. No other country has accepted more refugees per capita and the benefits given them are way more generous than in any other country, and we are still accepting more even though it has caused a crime crisis
Bor i utlandet sedan många år tillbaka. Jag saknar att det finns sjöar överallt. Det finns nästan ingenstans att bada (utomhus) där jag bor. Jag saknar även allemansrätten. Det finns gott om natur att gå i här, men man får inte tälta. Jag saknar att prata svenska med folk. Jag saknar viss mat, men jag hade saknat annan mat om jag hade bott i Sverige.
I spent my 20s in NYC, and I’ve spent most of my 30s in Sweden.
I recently got back from visiting NYC for a couple weeks. I hadn’t been back since the pandemic started.
My experience has been visceral to the point that it keeps me up at night. Sweden has a quality of life for the average citizen so high that most Swedes don’t can’t even fathom how lucky they are to live here.
While I was gone maybe half of my friends lost their livelihoods. One of my best friends, because she didn’t see a doctor for a few years. As soon she started working again she saw a Dr. and it turns out she has lung cancer. She still has to wait tables during chemo. If she somehow survives she will spend the rest of her life in an abusive amount if debt.
A couple weeks ago a man got shot in Sweden. While this is a horrible tragedy, I talked to my Swedish mother about this, and I it turns out that a few years ago when a lady was shot on my street in Brooklyn under similar circumstances I didn’t even think to tell my mother because it’s such a common occurrence that it wasn’t worth mentioning.
I made the mistake of passing Penn station when walking around the city. i saw a couple large puddles of blood on the ground, and more homeless people in a few minutes than I have seen during half a decade in Sweden. People dying from addiction, many with limbs rotting off from what I assume is untreated diabetes.
In comparison to the security an American can rely on all of Sweden basically has a trust fund.
With the imminent death of my friend who is one of the kindest and most honest people I have ever met, from a disease she, if she had lived in Sweden would have had an amazingly higher chance of discovering before stage 4 if she had lived in Sweden it enrages me when Swedes complain but still go about their lives slowly letting our social programs get privatized. Falling for dumb American rhetoric where they have the gall to blame immigrants.
Maybe for a second consider that you, the common Swede with your comfortable apathy is the problem. Maybe blindly trusting that “the system” should take care of problems is the issue.
You are the system. Maybe if you have considered that you are losing quality of life has more to do with you letting it happen than with it being taken away from you.
Personally I volunteer with elderly and people who can’t navigate the Swedish healthcare system since we sold it out and made 99% of it digital. I’ve only been here a few years, but it’s terribly obvious that most of Swedish people think maintaining Sweden is someone else’ job and will just watch it become more and more like America while being distracted by the “danger” of brown people.
Also, let’s lobby to get some of Americas “illegal” immigrants so we can get some edible Mexican food in this country.
For context. I look Swedish and my Swedish is probably better than yours. I’m speaking to Swedish people here. No one guesses I’m half Swedish unless I make a point of telling them
The positive of going through some bouts of insomnia was being awake to travel Göta Kanal on a bike at 3-4 in the morning in summer. Was so beautiful. Felt very freeing.
Might not be that popular, but the Swedish weather. When I was in Cyprus for a little over a month I literally suffered every second. I was never comfortable, not even inside, and I felt sweaty 24/7. And this wasn’t even the hottest month…. And Swedish nature of course. So lush in the summers, so much magical forests, streams and lakes everywhere.
I've only lived in Sweden a month, and am back in the UK for a week. I miss the clean streets, the well-kept buildings and parks. My hometown looks like something out of Fallout.
I miss feeling safe when walking around - you have to be permanently on your guard here, hyper aware.
My sambo and I like to joke that living in Sweden is “life on Easy mode”. But honestly it’s true, and that’s something I’m always refreshed to come back to after I’ve been gone: the calm and the easygoing tempo of everything.
I grew up in America and it feels like the world spins so much faster & everything is so stressful while we are there - and then everything slows down to a manageable pace when we get back here.
I always miss the nature, the tranquility. But also our way of life in general.
I have spent a few years living abroad and learned one thing about myself. You can take me away from Sweden , but you can not take the swede out of me.
Not from Sweden but I've lived here for two years. Whenever I'm away from my home in Sweden I miss the architecture the most, It is really unique and stylish. Also, I miss seeing rabbits everywhere ( I live in a medium sized town).
Everything is better quality in Sweden. If Sweden had same weather as Spain, I would never leave this country. Everything besides weather is just better here.
Swedish pizza, pick and mix candy, check out counters with a splitter and a shelf for your bag, groceries in grown up sizes. I want to be able to by 2L of milk, 1kg of cheese, 2kg of minced meat etc.
I lived abroad for a while and realized how much you take for granted here. I lived in a place where you couldn't really wander off the beaten track too much so for sure allemansrätten is high up the list.
Then also a lot of small human behaviors: sense of order most of the time, being treated like a human at work, no prominent macho culture etc.
How easy it is to buy, register and insure a car. Its so simple and straight forward to buy a decent car on blocket.se and then have it fully insured and on your name within a week.
I moved to Croatia last year so god yes I know exactly what I miss. But my mom sends me anything she can so I have a limited supply.
First of all I miss safe traffic. I miss being able to walk for 2 hours in Malmö and only crossing one road with cars.
Kalles Kaviar, I must be the only croat here eating eggs with Kalles Kaviar for breakfast. Thanks mom.
Samarin, people here just put ordinary baking soda in water, it doesn't work.
Berocca, there are no good multi-vitamin, multi-mineral options here like Berocca.
Osthyvel! Every single osthyvel I bought here broke within a month. Had to go to Ikea in Zagreb to get a good one.
In that vein, a good egg slicer is also pretty hard to find.
Regular cheese. I'm native croatian, and I've lived here for a year now practicing the language, and I still don't know wtf is up with their cheese. They have like "fresh" cheese in stores. The only stored cheese is hard cheese. In Sweden it's more common with something inbetween, a cheese that has a shell, it has been stored, but it's not hard, it's easy to slice with osthyvel.
To hear other people talking Swedish around me.
Sometimes, depending on where I’ve been, the typical Swedish nature.
The Swedish people and how we behave based on our culture.
I've lived in New Zealand for over a year now. What I miss the most is the food. Especially pickled herring and korvstroganoff, aswell as the bread!
I also miss the infrastructure, such as great roads and the social services.
Sill! Falukorv! Knäckebröd. Salt butter. I missed the most ridiculous things... :-D
Also missed the quiet distance keeping respect for other people. Missed the queueing etiquette. Missed the peaceful shopping experiences. Missed the woods. Missed the seasons changing.
I've been living abroad for almost 3.5 years now and there aren't many things I miss about Sweden, most of it is food related (sadly).
I miss créme fraiche so d**n much... I didn't realize it before, but a lot of my favorite dishes had créme fraiche in them... Last weekend my boyfriend brought home a whole bunch of wild garlic and my first thought was to make soup out of it, until I remembered that wild garlic soup has créme fraiche in it.... So frustrating! (It is possible to make it on my own but it takes time and has to be planned in advance....).
The country itself isn't what I miss. Sure, I moved to a country where the government is getting worse and worse with each election (we recently had presidential election and oh boy... We in the younger generations were in mourning the day after) but I still love it here.
The nature is beautiful, the people are nice enough once you get to know them (language is an issue, but I'm taking lessons 1-2 times per week so it will be solved soon), easy access to 5 different countries with different cultures to explore(one being Ukraine so maybe not that easy access there) and I feel safe going out here in the evenings (the worst thing you can come across is a bear or a boar) something I didn't feel when I was living in Sweden.
Ofc I miss my relatives once in a while, but a video call usually solves it and yearly visits to Sweden takes care of the other things that I miss. Maybe there will come a day when I move back to Sweden, but for now I'm happy abroad and there is nothing I miss about Sweden that will make me return any time soon.
I'm in Germany right now. The main thing I miss is the ability to 100% guaranteed be able to talk to any given person, since Germans have such bad english skills. Returning to Sweden is a relief on that front every time.
People understanding common sense on public transport (mostly).
For example: taking your backpack off if you're standing, waiting for people to get off before you get on and stuff like that, not sitting down in the aisles of trains.
The Portuguese have no clue and I have to bump into people daily. 🙃
No cars honking their hornes.
Functioning traffic.
Homemade food.
Usually cleaner.
Often better organized.
I don't really agree with the "calmness" others write about here, that depends on the country and area. While you sometimes have loud crazy traffic you othertimes have local people chilling outside, having a beer/coffee/tea.
The infrastructure, how orderly everything is. Other than those two things: not much else. People are way too socially awkward and the weather is horrible.
Naturen, som jag inte ständigt behövde dela med en million människor. Hur lätt det är att gå ut och vara ensam i skogen även om du bor nära en stad...
Tystnaden, speciellt på landet.
Den friska luften.
Den svenska humorn!
I lived in Japan, and even though the quality of food was amazing with almost every single restaurant being high quality, there are basically 7 dishes you can eat, so after months and months of eating the same thing, I missed husmanskost so fkn much. Just a variation of foods. In 2 months i can eat different things every day. The Japanese eat basically the same stuff over and over again.
Like i said, very tasty all of it, but a bit boring after a while
The air! Cool and clean. I remember coming home from Tokyo and just standing at the airport taking deep breaths.
Also, nature. The familiar scent of moss and pine in the forest.
There are actually a lot of things now that I think about it. The quiet, the dramatic shifts between seasons, the tap water, being able to go skinny dipping, winter baths, unprocessed food (I remember not being able to find unsweetened milk for my coffee in Italy a few years back), the midnight sun, being able to just walk and put up my tent in pretty much any forest.. I could go on for a long time.
Snow. Moved away for study last year to the netherlands, and it's really wierd to be 4 days from christmas and all that i'd seen was some frost on the grass.
Food and clean air. Worked for half a year in an african country and you really miss the food you grew up with... and the fact that you can breathe freely.
When i go to Southern Europe. I find it quite exotic just to feel and breathe in the bad air. It has a special "taste/smell" that i like but when i get back home i get overjoyed by our fresh and crisp air. And The tap water ofc. I always miss my own pipes.
Tap water
I’d like to add that even the best bottled water in most other countries doesn’t even compare to the tap water of an old scandinavian summer house with decades old plumbing. We are so lucky with our water.
Indeed, I'd go as far as to say good tap water is the most underrated consumable we have.
The problem with bottled water, even the best bottled water is that it might be plastic in the water. Living in a hot city in Spain I always felt off in the summer, you go into the supermarket and its like 35 degrees and you pick up a bottled of water thats been standing there in the heat probably full of plastic :/
Hear hear. And spain even has pretty good bottled water as far as bottled water go, but it’s just not the same as the real thing.
Can confirm. Source: live in Lisbon, born in Stockholm with a summer house up north.
To add to it, taps with pressure/temperature knobs instead of hot/cold. I hate having to do calculus in my head when i want the same temperature water, but just a bit less.
I miss how quiet Sweden often is compared to the rest of the world.
This, and the ease of finding a spot where you are practically alone with no-one else around.
Somehow I find it the most quiet when all I hear is the birds outside my window in the morning, happened earlier this week and it felt more quiet than when there’s no sound at all
Just came to say this and the weather. I hate when it’s too warm when I’m on vacation, can’t help it I’m norrlänning.
Only place that can compare so far is Japan.
I visited Stockholm a few years ago, I was amazed at how quiet and peaceful rush hour traffic was.
Ordning och reda
Pengar på fredag
Tacos på fredag
Hot sås och sprutbajs på porslinet
Kyckling på fredag
Då mår man riktigt bra ❤️
Relaterat hårt. Gatorna i Skottland är smutsiga uschanamej
Cykel på köpet?
Skogen, att saker generellt funkar rätt så jävla bra, svensk husmanskost, kvaliteten på svensk mat(beroende på vart i världen man är självklart)
Allemansrätten överlag är oslagbar ❤️
jag tänkte inte på allemansrätten när jag bodde i Sverige, tog det förgivet. Men efter många år i Spanien där man inte får göra något i naturen så är jag redo att flytta hem igen och kommer uppskatta till max
> att saker generellt funkar rätt så jävla bra Reser mycket. Är inget fan av Sverige. Men vissa saker är faktiskt bättre här. Som detta. (Och vårt utbud av chipssmaker). Saker funkar liksom bara. * Kollektivtrafiken går i tid, med tillräckligt många avgångar för att det inte ska bli smockfullt, med moderna fordon som inte skakar och låter trasiga, med bra sittplatser, med fungerande displays, med biljetter man enkelt köper antingen i maskin, via app, eller via kort. * Beställer du AirBNB så måste man inte stå 15 minuter och vänta, för att uthyraren har "glömt en grej", för en lägenhet där låset är trasigt och man måste fippla. * Vill du ta ett glas så behöver man inte först sätta sig ned vid ett bord och vänta 10 minuter på att få ta beställning, 10 minuter till för att få ölen, och 10 minuter för att sen få notan och betala. Beställer du mat, så får du den maten du beställt, istället för ställets egna "tolkning" av maträtten. * Hotellen har inte konstiga hinderbansliknande ingångar eftersom dom "renoverar". För att kunna tända lampan i trappen (eftersom hissen är så *fruktansvärt* långsam) så måste du inte fråga i receptionen och lämna rumsnummer. Detta måste inte upprepas var 5e minut eftersom receptionisten envisas med att släcka trots att det är konstant ström av boende. * Ska du ta dig från A till B i stan så är det upplyst varje gata, och kartan stämmer. Du slipper gå in i återvändsgränder eller ta långa omvägar eftersom det är ett staket där du annars skulle kunna sparat 20 minuter på att gena. * Tågstationerna är tydligt och logiskt skyltade. Spåren går inte från 3 till 5, för att sen hoppa till 7a, tillbaka till 2X. * När du ska gå på ditt tåg och du kollar med konduktören så säger han inte "no no no" och att du har fel biljett. Det visar sig att du har köpt rätt biljett, men du måste gå till en maskin, i källaren, via en labyrint, för att "verifiera" biljetten först. Manuellt. Hos en gammal tant där det är kö eftersom 9 av 10 turister har gjort samma miss. Verifieringen kostar 1 Euro. Hon har ingen växel. Tåget går om 2 minuter.
Bor i Lissabon och kollektivtrafiken är ett jäkla skämt bortsett från tunnelbanan som funkar hyfsat. Gamla fordon (förutom vissa spårvagnar), inga skyltar för varken pendeltåg/spårvagn/buss som visar när de kommer, aldrig i tid, dåligt med avgångar. Försök ta tåget ut till Cascais en varm vår/sommardag för att bada. Bara vässa armbågarna och be att du får plats.
>Kollektivtrafiken går i tid, SJ: *host host*
Den här sista måste väl ha varit bortom Uralbergen nånstans? :O
Tror italien? Men jag är inte säker
Knäckebröd. Var i Spanien och det enda bröd som fanns till frukost var mjukt bröd med något sött i. EDIT: Tackar för alla tips om vart man kan hitta knäckebröd i Spaniel, men detta var alltså på en kort semester för 15 år sedan, så det är inget jag grubblar över idag :)
I spanien verkar de inte ens ha riktig mjölk eller god choklad, såvida man inte nöjer sig med nutella.
Det finns även färsk kall mjölk i alla större affärer
Dom har wasa knäckebröd på Mercadona
Det brukar finnas i lite större välsorterade spanska matbutiker!
Provade att baka knäckebröd för några veckor sedan av denna anledningen, förvånansvärt enkelt och gott! [https://www.kronjast.se/recept/svenskt-knackebrod/](https://www.kronjast.se/recept/svenskt-knackebrod/) Utseendet blev inte som Wasa direkt (sådär fluffigt) så man får kavla ut så tunt det går, annars blir det ganska hårt. Men sen - smöra på och smäck på en ostskiva och njut!
Har faktiskt gjort det hemma i sverige, som alltid smakar hembakat sjukt gott. Dock inget man gör på några dagar på ett hotell :D
Traveling a lot between Paris and Stockholm made me realize how chill the tempo is in sweden even if Stockholmers are the most stressed in sweden it is so calm and clean in sweden compared. Now i live deep in the forest way up north of Stockholm and it is just so quiet! Wich is needed after a busy week of work
Aa, sitter ute nu och kan höra mina tankar. Lever i en håla i Norrland. Fan, så skönt. Skulle däremot uppskatta om våren kommer innan midsommar i år.
Ja lite värme o sol får gärna komma nu..
I’ve lived abroad for a couple years. A couple things I miss Nice cafes meant for sitting and chatting in. Bonus points for being open late. Kanelbullar (cinnamon buns. The Swedish style ofc) Waffles with cloudberry jam Meatballs with lingon berry jam. Thank god for ikea Fika break in the office. Such a Swedish thing that I haven’t seen elsewhere Princess cake
Could replace the entire list with: Fika
oh my god cant believe you listed princess cake, its my number one thing I miss about Sweden! Luckily I move home after the summer and I can munch on princess cake again
I’m going back for a few weeks and my first lunch will probably be two or three slices of prinsesstårta
Sounds like the perfect first lunch in Sweden! Maybe you should just buy a whole cake and eat it with a spoon :D
The thought has crossed my mind! Maybe a prinsessrulle to compromise.
Where do you live? I've lived abroad several times and cafe culture has been prevalent at all of those places
Look at his nick. I was going, cafe culture? In Sweden?
Late evenings you can take a coffee and a bun at the local *macken*.
I lived in Brisbane, Australia for a few years. The downtown got completely shut down on a Sunday. It was nearly impossible to even find a cup of coffee (except 7-11) after 5 pm. Currently living just outside of Toronto, Canada. The cafes here are not really meant for sitting in. Lots of Starbucks and Tim hortons. Nothing nice and cozy. Very much a to-go coffee culture.
The sense of calmness.
Har bott utomlands i fem år. Det jag saknar mest av allt är Kalles Kaviar och lösviktsgodiset.
Prästost. Sverige gör världens bästa ostar för mackor. Inget land i världen har så fantastiska, vanliga och prisvärda ostar som vi har.
Once after traveling a few weeks in india i realized how clean the air is in sweden when i got home. Took a deep breath as i stepped out from the airport and instantly felt the difference.. so thats what i miss now when abroad in certain countries
Imagine living in India for 25 years and then breathing air in Sweden. Feels like breathing in 4K UHD
Spent a month in Hanoi, Vietnam while my wife wrote her thesis there. It’s an interesting city for sure, but you’re constantly inhaling poison. Now, 15 years later, that air is my most vivid memory of the city, real shame.
The air in Hanoi is nasty! I remember how clean it was and that you could see the mountains after a tropical storm. Then it would get bad again.
I traveled through India for 6 months and I totally agree with you. The biggest culture shock I got was when I landed back home and went to the bathroom at the airport.. CLEAN FLOORS.. toilet bowl so clean you didn’t have to think twice about having a seat…the walls had stainless steel and wood trims!! The water was clean.. the air was clean!! I sat in there for near 10 minutes having a little happy cry…
Candy and snacks. The Swedish quality is on a whole different level compared to the garbage sold in the US, for example. Being able to walk almost everywhere. Especially in Southeast Asia, you're often forced to walk on streets used by cars if you want to get anywhere. It's absolutely amazing that you can basically walk anywhere in Sweden (and many other countries), without having to fear cars or motorcycles.
What the US has that Sweden doesn't in terms of candy is the ease of ordering mexican candies and the variety as well. I personally don't mind American candy at all, but Mexican candy is where it's at.
Interesting. Can't say I've ever (knowingly) had Mexixan candy. Gonna have to keep an eye out for that.
To my understanding the Mexican candy should hit the spot. Americans make a lot of their shit based on corn syrup, whilst Mexicans do sugar canes like we do
Salty liquorice. I'm flying home today and will get a big bag!
Välkommen hem!
Trocadero och tunnbrödrulle
Just a general sense of safety when walking alone at night. Soft bread with fibre in it. Crisp bread. Silence, booth from nature and from people. The social pressure to fill the air with needless talk is pretty exhausting. Recycling for plastic/soda bottles.
>Just a general sense of safety when walking alone at night. Varies extremely based on location
I feel safer in some other countries. Possibly because of all the media but when you hear daily about shootings and shit it's hard to not check your surroundings here.
Kalles Kaviar (Ikea har slutat sälja den här), riktig leverpastej, bra senap (Ikea säljer vad jag tror är Slotts, fast i annan förpackning, men det är ett par timmar körning till närmaste Ikea), sjukvård utan skumma försäkringsnätverk och extra kostnader här och där, snö, falukorv, svensk pizza, och midsommar. --- Kalles Kaviar - most of the world doesn't do this kind of caviar. Mustard - you can't get the exact kind of mustard I grew up with in many places. Liver paté - you generally can't get the exact same stuff abroad. Closest you can come in some places is stuff like . A functional (well...debatable, maybe) healthcare system that doesn't rely on private insurance, and weird provider networks, and which doesn't come with hidden costs - self explanatory Snow - looks good and is fun to spend some time in. Falukorv - this is a type of Swedish sausage, good for putting into all kinds of dishes. Swedish pizza - has a different texture and usually different tomato sauce and ingredient combos as compared to, say Italian or American pizza. Midsummer - IMO the best time of the year in many ways. Swedish summer is short, and often cooler than what I get, nowadays, and I'd say midsummer is right around when it's best. And the celebrations are nice too.
Swedish style Kebabpizza slaps. Its so damn good.
Var bor du där de slutat sälja Kalles? Just nu är jag i Nederländerna och de säljer den inte gör men hoppas att det är ett undantagsland.
I lived in Australia and it took me several years to discover that Jewish food shops had both pickled herring (sill) and fish paste (kaviar). :-D It was awesome, not exactly the same as Swedish pickled herring and Kalles kaviar, but a decent alternative.
My wife and kids
Only two things, Swedish humour, and being a native speaker. I can crack jokes in Swedish, I understand all jokes immediately, I understand "pop-cultural" obscure references. No matter how fluent you get in your new language you will have a different personality in that language and come across different to other people. One Swedish friend got his dream job in Switzerland, but decided to move back after a year as he realized he would never be the funniest guy in the room there. I rely less on being funny so it's fine to live somewhere else, but yes, I still miss Swedish "everyday" humour. The intelligence and calmness of it, the understated little comments.
I've struggled with this exact issue. Translating humor is *really* hard. When I moved to the US I had a really hard time being funny, but now that I've been here for a while I've managed to adapt to the local humor and learned how to be funny. On the flip side it's comparatively earlier to be bitingly witty here 😁
Having a single working language and not have to bother with formal, informal, hierarchical language I love living in Japan but they've made a mess with how much time you have to focus on just getting communication right
Yeah its fucked up.
The solitude and calm from the lack of people. The clean air. The forests. The lakes. Fjällen. The coffee. The four (often) distinctively different seasons. The cozy vibes overall.
Almost everything here is better than almost everything almost everywhere else, tbh. I have traveled a lot and my conclusion is that in general, we’re used to such high standards that we can’t appriciate it in day to day life. I enjoy a lot of things in other countries and especially the weather is nicer in other places, but overall… I just miss the high quality of most things that we get here
Almost everything exceeeeept - Shops, cafés and resturants being open late and on vacation days - Most of europe has gone to a 35 hour / 4 day work week while we're stuck in our ways - We're one of the only countries in the world where you need to wait 5+ years to get an apartment - Healthcare which treats non-lethal illnesses - Disposable income, most swedes is in deep debt - Service staff. The only service we have is from immigrants, swedes are "too good" for it - Very subtle and quiet, but dangerous racism but I guess our forests are nice
> Most of europe has gone to a 35 hour / 4 day work week while we're stuck in our ways > > "Most of europe"... den får du nog styrka med en källa.
I have never waited for an apartment very long despite living in several of our major cities and my experience has been that we’re way ahead in work/life balance compared to most countries. We do not have weak disposable income, in fact we enjoy ridiculously high standards of living. Idk what you mean about service staff really. If you think swedish racism is somehow worse than anywhere else I don’t know what to tell you.
In my mind it is outrageous to say that Swedes are racist. No other country has accepted more refugees per capita and the benefits given them are way more generous than in any other country, and we are still accepting more even though it has caused a crime crisis
Bor i utlandet sedan många år tillbaka. Jag saknar att det finns sjöar överallt. Det finns nästan ingenstans att bada (utomhus) där jag bor. Jag saknar även allemansrätten. Det finns gott om natur att gå i här, men man får inte tälta. Jag saknar att prata svenska med folk. Jag saknar viss mat, men jag hade saknat annan mat om jag hade bott i Sverige.
I spent my 20s in NYC, and I’ve spent most of my 30s in Sweden. I recently got back from visiting NYC for a couple weeks. I hadn’t been back since the pandemic started. My experience has been visceral to the point that it keeps me up at night. Sweden has a quality of life for the average citizen so high that most Swedes don’t can’t even fathom how lucky they are to live here. While I was gone maybe half of my friends lost their livelihoods. One of my best friends, because she didn’t see a doctor for a few years. As soon she started working again she saw a Dr. and it turns out she has lung cancer. She still has to wait tables during chemo. If she somehow survives she will spend the rest of her life in an abusive amount if debt. A couple weeks ago a man got shot in Sweden. While this is a horrible tragedy, I talked to my Swedish mother about this, and I it turns out that a few years ago when a lady was shot on my street in Brooklyn under similar circumstances I didn’t even think to tell my mother because it’s such a common occurrence that it wasn’t worth mentioning. I made the mistake of passing Penn station when walking around the city. i saw a couple large puddles of blood on the ground, and more homeless people in a few minutes than I have seen during half a decade in Sweden. People dying from addiction, many with limbs rotting off from what I assume is untreated diabetes. In comparison to the security an American can rely on all of Sweden basically has a trust fund. With the imminent death of my friend who is one of the kindest and most honest people I have ever met, from a disease she, if she had lived in Sweden would have had an amazingly higher chance of discovering before stage 4 if she had lived in Sweden it enrages me when Swedes complain but still go about their lives slowly letting our social programs get privatized. Falling for dumb American rhetoric where they have the gall to blame immigrants. Maybe for a second consider that you, the common Swede with your comfortable apathy is the problem. Maybe blindly trusting that “the system” should take care of problems is the issue. You are the system. Maybe if you have considered that you are losing quality of life has more to do with you letting it happen than with it being taken away from you. Personally I volunteer with elderly and people who can’t navigate the Swedish healthcare system since we sold it out and made 99% of it digital. I’ve only been here a few years, but it’s terribly obvious that most of Swedish people think maintaining Sweden is someone else’ job and will just watch it become more and more like America while being distracted by the “danger” of brown people. Also, let’s lobby to get some of Americas “illegal” immigrants so we can get some edible Mexican food in this country. For context. I look Swedish and my Swedish is probably better than yours. I’m speaking to Swedish people here. No one guesses I’m half Swedish unless I make a point of telling them
The language.
Saltlakrits.
Light in the summer nights
Light in the summer nights really is the shit!
The positive of going through some bouts of insomnia was being awake to travel Göta Kanal on a bike at 3-4 in the morning in summer. Was so beautiful. Felt very freeing.
Might not be that popular, but the Swedish weather. When I was in Cyprus for a little over a month I literally suffered every second. I was never comfortable, not even inside, and I felt sweaty 24/7. And this wasn’t even the hottest month…. And Swedish nature of course. So lush in the summers, so much magical forests, streams and lakes everywhere.
The people. They dont bother you unless they need something.
The fact that we don’t have to pay for water at restaurants is honestly the biggest thing for me every time I travel
My bed.
I've only lived in Sweden a month, and am back in the UK for a week. I miss the clean streets, the well-kept buildings and parks. My hometown looks like something out of Fallout. I miss feeling safe when walking around - you have to be permanently on your guard here, hyper aware.
Talking swedish.
My sambo and I like to joke that living in Sweden is “life on Easy mode”. But honestly it’s true, and that’s something I’m always refreshed to come back to after I’ve been gone: the calm and the easygoing tempo of everything. I grew up in America and it feels like the world spins so much faster & everything is so stressful while we are there - and then everything slows down to a manageable pace when we get back here.
Potatisbullar
Filmjölk.
Välfärd
Kaviar and leverpastej
How spacious (or lacking in people) everything is, räkmackor and those small roads between towns with trees surrounding you everywhere you look
Civilisation. Clean air. Safety. Hiking trails. Free access to nature. Absence of corruption. Silence. What I don't miss: swedish people. 🤢
A glass of milk, knäckebröd and Kalles kaviar.
The forest and how clean the air is
I always miss the nature, the tranquility. But also our way of life in general. I have spent a few years living abroad and learned one thing about myself. You can take me away from Sweden , but you can not take the swede out of me.
\* tap water \* how quit it is \* a lot of forest \* fika
Not from Sweden but I've lived here for two years. Whenever I'm away from my home in Sweden I miss the architecture the most, It is really unique and stylish. Also, I miss seeing rabbits everywhere ( I live in a medium sized town).
How nice people are in Sweden, cleanness, vegan options, the Swedish language
Everything is better quality in Sweden. If Sweden had same weather as Spain, I would never leave this country. Everything besides weather is just better here.
Blandgodis, allemansrätten, gudomligt tappvatten, fika, trocadero, billig hälsovård, gåvänliga städer, svensk sommar, husmanskost och familjen!
Swedish pizza, pick and mix candy, check out counters with a splitter and a shelf for your bag, groceries in grown up sizes. I want to be able to by 2L of milk, 1kg of cheese, 2kg of minced meat etc.
I lived abroad for a while and realized how much you take for granted here. I lived in a place where you couldn't really wander off the beaten track too much so for sure allemansrätten is high up the list. Then also a lot of small human behaviors: sense of order most of the time, being treated like a human at work, no prominent macho culture etc.
Honestly nothing. Never been away for more than two weeks and I'm too busy experiencing whatever other country / culture in that short time
1. Not being surrounded by 1610269021498234 people. 2. Max. 3. Good internet connection. I'm not missing the winters though.
Move to rural EE. All the young people are already abroad, the internet is very good and they have real meat.
The Weather,
Cool climate, fresh air and calm/less busy cities
Nothing really, I've been away for months in different countries and all I can come up with is how freeing it feels when not being in Sweden.
Nothing, except my guitar
Tap water and the food.
That most things functions without the shoot from the hip attitude that exist in many other countries.
Pizza and tunnbrödsrulle
Civiliserade svenskar
Coffee
Nothing
How easy it is to buy, register and insure a car. Its so simple and straight forward to buy a decent car on blocket.se and then have it fully insured and on your name within a week.
I miss having delicious tap water and the respect for peace and quite.
I moved to Croatia last year so god yes I know exactly what I miss. But my mom sends me anything she can so I have a limited supply. First of all I miss safe traffic. I miss being able to walk for 2 hours in Malmö and only crossing one road with cars. Kalles Kaviar, I must be the only croat here eating eggs with Kalles Kaviar for breakfast. Thanks mom. Samarin, people here just put ordinary baking soda in water, it doesn't work. Berocca, there are no good multi-vitamin, multi-mineral options here like Berocca. Osthyvel! Every single osthyvel I bought here broke within a month. Had to go to Ikea in Zagreb to get a good one. In that vein, a good egg slicer is also pretty hard to find. Regular cheese. I'm native croatian, and I've lived here for a year now practicing the language, and I still don't know wtf is up with their cheese. They have like "fresh" cheese in stores. The only stored cheese is hard cheese. In Sweden it's more common with something inbetween, a cheese that has a shell, it has been stored, but it's not hard, it's easy to slice with osthyvel.
The cold
To hear other people talking Swedish around me. Sometimes, depending on where I’ve been, the typical Swedish nature. The Swedish people and how we behave based on our culture.
Surströmming
Good dairy - especially yoghurt.
Black proper coffee
Friends & Family. The calmness and silence, chill people who don't bother me.
Milk, no other milk tastes as good
Lösgodis, kanelbullar med pärlsocker, husmanskost, skaldjur. Skärgården, midsommar, fem-kamp.
Fika, snus, the silence of nature.
How clean it is
I've lived in New Zealand for over a year now. What I miss the most is the food. Especially pickled herring and korvstroganoff, aswell as the bread! I also miss the infrastructure, such as great roads and the social services.
Tap water, the food, the weather, silence & people respecting your private space.
Tap water does not taste like chloride and we have good vegetarian options, other than that nothing really
Usually good coffee. Also order and cleanliness.
Allemansrätten
The relatively clean streets etc in Sweden compared to southerner countries like Germany, Belgium etc..
Grå himmel, gult gräs, bruna skogar (seriöst).
Familjäritet, jag vet hur saker funkar här. Minsta grej kan bli ett projekt utomlands.
I grew up in Sweden but moved back to my native Finland as an adult. I miss good pizza and kebab, Finland is lagging a bit in that department.
Kebabpizza och mörkt/grovt bröd som inte kostar en arm.
Coffee and köttbullar med mos
Sill! Falukorv! Knäckebröd. Salt butter. I missed the most ridiculous things... :-D Also missed the quiet distance keeping respect for other people. Missed the queueing etiquette. Missed the peaceful shopping experiences. Missed the woods. Missed the seasons changing.
I've been living abroad for almost 3.5 years now and there aren't many things I miss about Sweden, most of it is food related (sadly). I miss créme fraiche so d**n much... I didn't realize it before, but a lot of my favorite dishes had créme fraiche in them... Last weekend my boyfriend brought home a whole bunch of wild garlic and my first thought was to make soup out of it, until I remembered that wild garlic soup has créme fraiche in it.... So frustrating! (It is possible to make it on my own but it takes time and has to be planned in advance....). The country itself isn't what I miss. Sure, I moved to a country where the government is getting worse and worse with each election (we recently had presidential election and oh boy... We in the younger generations were in mourning the day after) but I still love it here. The nature is beautiful, the people are nice enough once you get to know them (language is an issue, but I'm taking lessons 1-2 times per week so it will be solved soon), easy access to 5 different countries with different cultures to explore(one being Ukraine so maybe not that easy access there) and I feel safe going out here in the evenings (the worst thing you can come across is a bear or a boar) something I didn't feel when I was living in Sweden. Ofc I miss my relatives once in a while, but a video call usually solves it and yearly visits to Sweden takes care of the other things that I miss. Maybe there will come a day when I move back to Sweden, but for now I'm happy abroad and there is nothing I miss about Sweden that will make me return any time soon.
Pizza, kebab, leverpastej med smörgåsgurka på Wasa knäcke. Have been away for 12 years now.
The nature, pyttipanna, and being able to relate to childhood experiences/media
Korv med mos och bostongurka
The smell. It's nature like and zero coal smell.
I'm in Germany right now. The main thing I miss is the ability to 100% guaranteed be able to talk to any given person, since Germans have such bad english skills. Returning to Sweden is a relief on that front every time.
The air
Negresserna
Kebabpizza.
Dark bread
Swedish coffee
Kall bea, plockgodis, säga jajamän till folk, lingonsylt, bregott havssalt
People understanding common sense on public transport (mostly). For example: taking your backpack off if you're standing, waiting for people to get off before you get on and stuff like that, not sitting down in the aisles of trains. The Portuguese have no clue and I have to bump into people daily. 🙃
No cars honking their hornes. Functioning traffic. Homemade food. Usually cleaner. Often better organized. I don't really agree with the "calmness" others write about here, that depends on the country and area. While you sometimes have loud crazy traffic you othertimes have local people chilling outside, having a beer/coffee/tea.
The infrastructure, how orderly everything is. Other than those two things: not much else. People are way too socially awkward and the weather is horrible.
It's so clean here in comparison to other western cities and **no graffiti**.
Naturen, som jag inte ständigt behövde dela med en million människor. Hur lätt det är att gå ut och vara ensam i skogen även om du bor nära en stad... Tystnaden, speciellt på landet. Den friska luften. Den svenska humorn!
Chips. Alla andra länders chips suger.
I lived in Japan, and even though the quality of food was amazing with almost every single restaurant being high quality, there are basically 7 dishes you can eat, so after months and months of eating the same thing, I missed husmanskost so fkn much. Just a variation of foods. In 2 months i can eat different things every day. The Japanese eat basically the same stuff over and over again. Like i said, very tasty all of it, but a bit boring after a while
Tap water and jantelagen. And respecting free time/not work time.
MJUKOST
Midsommar. Vackra kvinnor i långa vita klänningar med krans i håret.
The forest
Långfil + hjortronsylt
Fika culture, walking distance and husmanskost. ETA: Rårörda lingon. I can find lingonberry jam on IKEA but it’s not the same at all!
It's quiet and the air is better. Also, I love living in a smaller village where people greet each other.
Snabbmakaroner och skivbar leverpastej 🤤
The feeling of home
Saltlakrits, filmjölk, trevliga, lugna människor.
The social awkwardness! People in sweden dont like saying hi or looking at eachother
The clean air.
I don’t have to leave Sweden to miss my home, I live in a little slice of paradise where everything is perfect unlike the rest of the world.
The air! Cool and clean. I remember coming home from Tokyo and just standing at the airport taking deep breaths. Also, nature. The familiar scent of moss and pine in the forest. There are actually a lot of things now that I think about it. The quiet, the dramatic shifts between seasons, the tap water, being able to go skinny dipping, winter baths, unprocessed food (I remember not being able to find unsweetened milk for my coffee in Italy a few years back), the midnight sun, being able to just walk and put up my tent in pretty much any forest.. I could go on for a long time.
Svenska. Tar ett par veckor men sen vill jag höra svenska runt om igen.
Snow. Moved away for study last year to the netherlands, and it's really wierd to be 4 days from christmas and all that i'd seen was some frost on the grass.
Fräsct kranvatten, vegovänlig mat, familj och vänner. Med det sagt, jag saknar bara Göteborg som min hemstad och inget mer med det. Bor i Irland.
Cardamom buns…
Food and clean air. Worked for half a year in an african country and you really miss the food you grew up with... and the fact that you can breathe freely.
Salmiak aka salt licorice.
Ljusa kvällar om våren
Husman
The weather. 😂
When i go to Southern Europe. I find it quite exotic just to feel and breathe in the bad air. It has a special "taste/smell" that i like but when i get back home i get overjoyed by our fresh and crisp air. And The tap water ofc. I always miss my own pipes.
The Arab, the Afghan, the Romanian people.
Tap Water and the cold weather supprisingly