STOCKHOLM, SWEDEN 2017

*Outfit Details: Dress (Alice & Trixie)

Traveling solo has been on my list of things to do for a while now. I always found myself trying to convince my friends to go with me on a trip and now that I work for myself, my schedule is very flexible since I can pretty much go anywhere and anytime without time restrictions or pre approvals. I decided to go to Sweden mainly because it was very affordable when I looked at Skyscanner’s calendar and I can never pass up on a good fare deal. I’ve also never been to Stockholm and I had a few friends there so I thought it would be another country to add to my list.

As always, I love reflecting back on my experience and since this was a solo trip, I have included the things I’ve learned not only about traveling but about myself as well as a quick rundown on things to do in Stockholm.

I always recommend going on a free walking tour the first or second day of arrival because it’s a great way to get to know a foreign city. Most major cities have this if you just google it and all you have to do is show up at the meet up destination. This is how I started my trip and I familiarized myself with the main tourist attractions and was briefed on a little history of the city as well. Since I also had a friend in Sweden, it made my trip more enjoyable since I was never actually alone 100% and it was nice to have company and a local guide.

However, I did make sure that I also spent time alone as that was the intention of my trip. Below are the activities and attractions I recommend:

• Vasa Museum: This was actually listed #1 thing to do on trip advisor so I knew I couldn’t skip this. I don’t have a great interest in boats but I did read that the museum was definitely worth visiting so I listened to the reviews and decided to see what the hype was. Essentially, the Vasa is a 18 meter ship that drowned and has been recovered. It is astonishing that it is 98% original and there is still a lot of mystery around who was responsible. It was an interesting experience and I think a lot of people would find this attraction appealing. But if I am going to be completely honest, I don’t think I would’ve missed out if I skipped this visit. I think it just depends on your personal interests but I was expecting a little more based on all the reviews online.

• Drottingholm palace: People were comparing the Drottingholm palace to the Palace of Versallies so I wanted to see if this was true since the Palace of Versailles is a gorgeous place and definitely a must do in Paris. I took a boat ride there and the ride was awesome because it was a different perspective of the city and gave me a deeper appreciation of the beauty of Stockholm. The rooms in the palace itself do resemble the ones in France. Even the courtyard with the grass looked very familiar but I think the major difference was traffic. I’m not sure if it was the time of year but there was basically no one at the Drottingholm palace so I was able to leisurely tour the rooms unlike in the Palace of versallies where there’s always a long line to get in. The peacefulness made me appreciate Sweden even more and it became a perfect choice for a solo destination.
• Stockholm food tour: If you know me, then you know I love food! I’ve never actually took a food tour before so I thought this would be an interesting experience especially in a foreign city. I didn’t know what to expect but I was pretty excited since the tour would last four hours. Hands down, this was the highlight of my trip!!! I had so much fun walking around the city and sampling all of the delicious Swedish food including cheese, meat, candy, chocolate, cinnamon bun and fika. It was a great way to spend my Saturday morning and afternoon and this would probably be my #1 recommendation if you love food and want to get to know Stockholm at the same time.
• Abba Museum: I always feel like I need to do some educational activities upon traveling and museums are a great way to check that off. Again, this was highly recommended on TripAdvisor so I thought I’d check it out. I’m not a crazy pop music fan or knew most of the Swedish artists so I wouldn’t say this is a must when visiting Stockholm but if you’re into that, then you should definitely go. The museum itself was pretty cool as it gave history to all the pop music artists of Stockholm and a lot of fun interactive activities like karaoke. My visit was better than I thought because I was entertained by the activities and watching other people have fun. If I went with friends, I’m sure it would’ve been a better experience so definitely make sure you go with a group.
• Fotografiska: I am a huge fan of photography so when I found out there was a museum dedicated to it, I knew I would enjoy myself. The museum highlighted the work of Irving Penn and I studied his fashion photography in college so I was familiar with some of his work. However a big part of the exhibit showed his photography on war and it was very sad. The emotions he captured were powerful and I must say this visit definitely affected me emotionally but I would highly recommend it. I would give the museum and galleries two thumbs up and they successfully conveyed the message and emotions of Penn’s work.
  

  

  

• Old Town: This is also known as Gamla Stan and you can not experience Stockholm without experiencing old town. It’s basically what most people think of when they hear Sweden because this is the center place with alley ways and colorful buildings. I did a shoot there and it was a great place because it definitely had Stockholm vibes.
  
• Central: I love Central Stockholm mainly because this is where you shop. I feel like most European countries have this area since this reminded me of Old Town of Prague, Gran Via of Madrid, Trafalgar Square of London, etc. Theres also a lot of great restaurants and cafes so I made sure to spend my last day here relaxing and soaking up Stockholm as much as I can.
  
• Södermalm: People say this is the Brooklyn of Stockholm. I made it a priority to explore the different neighborhoods of the city but I’m not exactly sure if I would say this is the Brooklyn of Stockholm. There’s definitely some cool and artistic shops you can visit but I think it was lacking in terms of the hipster vibe.
• Östermalm: This is a posh residential neighborhood in Stockholm with a lot of nightclubs and shopping stores. I just like experiencing all the different districts and compare them to each other to see what they have to offer. You can find the Östermalm Food Hall here so definitely check this place out for all my foodies out there!

Below are the places I ate at:

• Tures: Stockholm is known for its Swedish meatballs so I made sure my first meal would be just that. My friend and I went to Tures and I must say the meatballs were absolutely delicious. It came with mashed potatoes and lingon berries which tasted like cranberries but the combination was amazing. Needless to say I finished my plate and thoroughly enjoyed the restaurant’s atmosphere so I would highly recommend eating here.
• Sara Art Cafe: I also went into this random cafe in Old Town because it seemed cozy and cute. I had a cinnamon bun and tea and it was a lovely way to spend a rainy afternoon. There’s also gluten free and vegan options here so for those with dietary restrictions, I think you would enjoy this cafe!
• Icha Icha: My friend and I stumbled across this cute cafe at a mall and was captivated by the pink lighting and decor. It was a relatively healthy place as you can build your own bowl with protein. It’s a causal and cute space to hang out and the food was also pretty decent so if you want an Instagram worthy place to eat, check this out.

  

  

• Meatballs for the people: I researched a little bit of the food scene in Stockholm before I arrived and this restaurant was on a few of the lists. I decided to check it out and I couldn’t help but to order meatballs as the name suggests. To be quite frank, I don’t normally eat meatballs back at home so I thought why not. I went with my friend and we decided to get the classic as well as the salmon meatballs. I’ve never had fish meatballs before so I wasn’t too keen on the texture but it wasn’t bad, it just felt a little odd. The restaurant is very cute and not too fancy so it’s a good spot to check out.
  
• Cafe Saturnus: This cafe was also on my list because it serves the Swedish cinnamonbuns but what makes it so special is the size. I saw photos on Yelp and knew I wanted to spend an afternoon here for a quick bite and coffee. I loved the atmosphere and I enjoyed spending time alone in this cafe because it was very relaxing and therapeutic.
• Espresso House: If you visit Stockholm, Espresso House is like their version of Starbucks. It’s a chain coffee shop and it’s basically on every block but it’s actually such a great place to take a break and have a coffee. I didn’t try their food or pastries but my friend told me that they are very good.

I documented a little bit of my trip on Instagram stories and wanted to share the issue I faced during my first night. I booked all of my tours in advanced because I didn’t want to go into this trip blindly. I received an email from viator, the tour company, at midnight informing me that all my of bookings were cancelled due to the guide’s sickness. Thanks to my jet lag, I was able to retrieve this information around 5 am and please remember that I had a tour that day at 11 am so this was a very last minute inconvenient cancellation.

From my years of traveling, I have come to realize that things don’t always go as planned, in fact they actually never do. I think that’s why my reaction was calm because I knew that getting upset wouldn’t solve the issue. Instead, I had a free day and decided to do the free walking tour and meet my friend to explore the city. I ended up rescheduling all of my tours and had to rearrange my itinerary. I thought everything would be fine but to add to this, Viator cancelled my guided tour of the Vasa Museum literally 15 minutes before I was going to leave my airbnb. I was upset at first but I decided to still go to the museum without a guide tour and explore it myself.

Even though things got moved around, it still all worked out. I am usually quick to react based on my emotions and I think it’s natural because we’re human but over the years, I’ve learned to become more patient and put more effort into how I react to the problems instead of what I cannot control.

I also didn’t know what to expect traveling alone but it wasn’t as bad or difficult as I thought. In fact, this trip has made me love the idea of solo traveling because I realized that I am a huge fan of alone time. I feel at peace and it’s great to know that I don’t have to answer to anybody else and I can do things my way and on my terms. For example, I love walking and actually walked pretty much everywhere even though it took on average 45-60 mins to get to the city central. I know anybody else that I would’ve travelled with would not have been down to do this. I also went to the grocery store and even prepped some breakfast since I stayed at an airbnb. These are little things that I love and it’s great to know that I was able to please myself by doing what I wanted.

When you travel with someone, you have to consider their wants and needs. I could be selfish on this trip and I obviously was since I was by myself. This is the time of my life that I am allowed to be selfish so I made sure to take advantage of it. Overall, I fulfilled my goals during this trip because I wanted challenge and grown myself emotionally and mentally. I definitely feel like I have a better understanding of who I am and I know that there are rooms to always improve but traveling helps with it.

I hope you guys enjoyed my recap and as usual I already have an itch to travel again. The best part is that I can just do it again since I’ve already experienced a solo trip. Have you travelled alone before? If so, what was your favorite part and if not, what’s holding you back?