I am planning to share more details later, but for now here is a quick summary of the trip I took this last week!

For context: I originally planned a trip to Stockholm to visit a high school friend who was working there. When the flights came around my friend was no longer working there so I switched gears to visit Swedish Lapland and also fly to Paris to visit my friend, Charlotte, whom I hadn’t seen in 9 years!

My mother-in-law flew to California to watch the kids and I set off on my first ever solo trip outside the country! The first thing I did was drop my phone in the Oakland airport taking it completely out of commission as a camera, made texting and calls difficult, and making navigation or internet surfing impossible. Oops.

Upon arrival, I had 4 hours to explore Stockholm before I needed to catch my train to Kiruna. I explored Gamla Stan’s Old Town and the Stockholm Palace.

After a 15.5-hour train ride, I found myself in Kiruna with 2 days to explore. I wasn’t able to spot the Northern Lights because it snowed (and was cloudy) the whole time I was there, but I took a dog sled ride and visited the Ice Hotel.

After Kiruna, I was supposed to have another 6 hours or so in Stockholm but my train was 8 hours late! I couldn’t believe it when I still managed to catch my flight to Paris!

In Paris, I met a friend who showed me around for the weekend. It was great catching up with her and I’m so glad I decided to add on this French side trip!

After leaving France, I had a single night (or a portion of one!) in a hostel in Stockholm before catching an early afternoon flight home. I probably could have squeezed in a museum in Stockholm that day, but I was exhausted and just spent the whole morning in a coffee shop.

It was such a wonderful trip and I’m already planning how to get back to both Sweden and Paris! Next time the opportunity arises, I think I will definitely take at least one of the children, if not the whole family. As HJ says, “MOM MOM MOM Will you please take me to Sweden 2 or 5 times because I LOVE hot chocolate?”