Finland

Last year (2025) I arrived at a beautiful eco-lodge in Turku, Finland, for a retreat that ultimately fell through the moment I got there. How I experienced that trip is still on my backlog ;-). But anyway, through that retreat I got in touch with owner Sami, and together we came up with the plan to develop a workout retreat. When I noticed along the way that the collaboration wasn’t stable enough, I chose to cancel the program. Instead, I suggested to the group that we come as “volunteers”: in exchange for lodging, three hours of work per day on the land.

With six of us, two friends of mine and three people I met along the way, we formed the group, split across two Finnish cabins and two households.

Arrival

I arrived first, on Wednesday, July 22nd, by ferry from Stockholm. On the way from the harbor to the eco-lodge, I found an unexpected Netherlands fan in Uber driver Helmi: born in France, but lived in the Netherlands for fifteen years.

At the eco-lodge I met other volunteers, Carlo (from the Philippines) and Marek (from the Czech Republic), and we had coffee. In the afternoon I unpacked my things, and at the end of the day I lit the Finnish sauna, which needed an hour to heat up but was just right afterward. Luckily Carlo had cooked (tasty pasta with ketchup and hot dogs haha), so I didn’t need anything else after the sauna…

Fishing, cooking, and cherry liqueur

The following days we went fishing (perch and roach — quite a job to clean), cooked food from the land with Sami’s mother Marja and her friend Kristina, and Sami, Marek, and I experimented with a homemade Blood & Sand cocktail (cherry liqueur, Martini Rosso, whiskey, orange juice, essential orange oil, ice, and shake away). This in preparation for picking cherries for our own cherry liqueur. In the evening, Tumppi, Sami’s carpenter, taught us that boiled potatoes with butter are really delicious (okay, not something to do too often).

Sunday was dedicated to work on the land: picking cherries, chopping wood, moving tiles, and in the evening I cooked with what I was given as a gift from the garden: zucchini soup and grilled vegetables.

The group complete

On Monday, Nicole, Lotte, and Gerard arrived, welcomed enthusiastically after a long travel day with pasta bolognese and broccoli, eaten outside with a view over the property. The next day we got to work together: weeding, gathering wood, and in the afternoon Mariette and Indigo also arrived, the last two of the group. We got acquainted, everyone settled in, and in the evening, on the dock by the water, we had the most beautiful conversations.

Swimming, smoking fish

Wednesday was the first truly sunny day: we made a salad from the abundance of spinach Sami gave us and went skinny-dipping in the Baltic Sea. Meanwhile we had our three hours of labor, which consisted of weeding, chopping wood, and picking berries. It was important to watch your own limits, because before you knew it you’d be working 12 hours a day ;-).

The city of Turku

After a few days off the grid, we also felt the need to head into the city of Turku. So we did. We took the bus and settled into town. Lotte had already done some research, so we ended up in some nice spots. First we went for coffee and pastries at Café Qwensel (like stepping back in time). Then a nice walk through the city, a beer at a beer garden (where we actually got to try pretty much every beer, and Nicole ended up going for cider). And at the end of the day we of course had to eat: we found a really nice spot by the water at Tinta. We ordered pizza with gorgonzola and pear, and tenderloin.

The last days

Friday became a special evening: Tumppi had found wild salmon, and with the piece of elk that Nicole and Lotte had brought along, we smoked, sauna-ed, and laughed together until late. Saturday was quiet: cleaning, doing laundry, taking the last photos, and slowly getting used to the idea that we’d be leaving the next day. I then went on to Helsinki for a few more days.