In this latest series, I will be going through all the countries I’ve travelled to on my mission to visit every single country in the world. In this article, we will be covering country #60: Finland. If you haven’t gotten a chance already, read this story first to find out why I’m trying to visit all 193 UN-recognized countries.
Finland is a country with really friendly people. I loved my time in Finland so much that I actually went back to that country twice! And most likely, it will be a country that I visit again and again in the future.
VIDEO – Country #60: Finland
Blog post on Finland
- My Complete Finland, England, and Scotland Spending Breakdown
- My Spending Breakdown While Travelling In Russia, Malta, Cyprus, Ireland
Flying from Oslo to Helsinki
The first time I went to Finland was after my trip through Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. I was working on checking off all the Scandinavian countries and my next destination was Helsinki.
Upon boarding the plane, a friendly Finnish man started chatting with me. He started sharing with me stories from Finland and what the culture is like. It was my first experience with Finnish friendliness.
When we were nearing Helsinki, I wanted to take pictures from outside the plane’s window. I then walked down the aisle of the plane looking for the perfect spot. That’s when a Finnish girl went out of her to ask me if I needed help taking pictures outside. Damn, Finnish people are really friendly!
Helsinki Airbnb adventure
When I arrived in Helsinki, I started using the local public transit to go to my Airbnb. Eventually, I got lost and a local Finnish girl came up to me and helped me find my way. Man, these Finnish people are really helpful!
Before long, I made it to my Airbnb where the friendly Finnish woman who owned the property was kind enough to get me settled in. She even helped me do my laundry for just 1 Euro. Fantastic service from the friendly locals.
I left the next day but vowed I would go back one day to this super friendly country.
Visiting my friend who moved to Helsinki
Two years later, one of my friend who was married to a Finnish girl decided they would love to Helsinki and live there. I decided to visit him and we would team up to travel to Russia.
After our Russia trip, I stayed over at his place in Helsinki and hanged out with him and his wife. He also introduced me to his co-workers and we ate some local Finnish food.
Visiting another friend who lives in Helsinki
Later on, I would visit my friend. Hanna, who I interviewed in my other YouTube channel that’s unrelated to travel.
She took me to a local Finnish buffet. The first thing she told me is to try the fish but I won’t like it. She was right, the fish sucks. The other food was good and I enjoyed it.
Afterwards, we checked out the local area and visited the famous Oodi Central Library of Finland
The library was super epic. I loved the design and the sheer number of books. It was also technologically advanced and just a great place to hang out in.
After staying in Finland for 3 days, I wrapped up my trip to Europe as I headed back home.
Conclusion
Finland is one of those rare European countries that I decided to visit more than once. And I would attribute that to the friendliness of the Finnish people. Often times, people claim that Finnish people are introverted and keep to themselves. But, I never experienced that when I was there. In fact, I found them very easy to talk to.
Regardless, I can see myself returning here again one day to visit my friends. The only bad thing about Finland is that it’s not a cheap country to visit. Otherwise, I can definitely recommend it as solid a tourist destination.
Subscribe to Travel and Live Free’s email list to get the latest blog post, updates, and to follow my journey as I work towards visiting all 193 UN recognized countries in the world!
Like me on Facebook to get the latest updates on my journey around the world. Don’t forget to subscribe to my YouTube channel to watch the latest video on my travels and travel tips.
