An American Moves to Iceland

Hæ, ég heiti Krista! - Hi, my name is Krista!

For years I have been interested in connecting with my Scandinavian roots. My mom's family is from the west coast of Norway - Stavanger and a small island, Karmøy, and my dad's family is from a farming village in Denmark. Twelve years ago (this week!) my parents and I took a trip to Sweden and Norway to see friends and family, and that was it, I was hooked!

I fell in love with Nordic culture, art, architecture, the gorgeous scenery, and even some of the food (not fish - feel free to revoke my Scandi Card!). That trip was the inspiration for starting my shop, Scandinavian Design Studio! Over the years I have traveled back to Norway, Sweden, and Denmark several times, and thought about what my life would be like if I lived in one of those locations. At that time, I was working in software engineering, in a constant state of stress and way too little sleep, and I viewed the Nordic countries as a utopia where all my problems would magically disappear - I would find a job I loved, have the perfect work/life balance, look like a Danish yoga instructor/fitness model, and meet the Viking of my dreams. In this dream world I might even learn to like fish, or at least, try it once. It's good to have goals, no matter how unrealistic.*

In 2017 I was laid off from my engineering job, which felt like a load was lifted from my shoulders. I sold my house in Boston and moved home to Bend, Oregon. This was the point in my life that allowed me to shift from a part time side hustle of selling on Etsy, to building a company that would become my full time job. As I grew my Scandinavian store, I started getting more involved in the Nordic community in the Pacific Northwest - I attended all of the midsummer and holiday markets and joined all the social groups. I started following more and more Nordic Instagram accounts, and one country seemed to pop up in my feed over and over. Iceland. 

In 2021, before the travel restrictions had even lifted, I found an amazing deal on Icelandair, with the guarantee that the ticket could be changed or refunded if travel restrictions weren't lifted before my travel date. I threw myself into researching and planning, looking at countless Instagram posts and blogs about Iceland, and then three years ago this week, I had my first trip to Iceland. From that first trip I knew this was where I wanted/needed to be.

From that first trip in 2021, I have constantly had my mind on moving to Iceland. I have talked about Iceland to anyone who would listen (or couldn't escape). I have saved countless posts and resources, and researched everything I needed to do in order to make it work. I saved up money and found a way to keep my business running while I was overseas. I packed up my house and said my good-byes to friends and family. 

This week, I made that dream happen! Iceland, I am here!

Krista

*Spoiler alert: I have not yet found the perfect work/life balance, do not look like a Danish yoga instructor/fitness model, and have not met the Viking of my dreams. I have also not tried fish, but this feels like easiest one to achieve, so I guess I will start small.

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