A Swedish Summer: Family, Roots, and Learning
- cmterner
- 11. Sept.
- 3 Min. Lesezeit
Aktualisiert: 19. Sept.
In late July, just 19 hours after returning from our summer vacation in Sardinia, we were back at the airport. This time heading north. Our destination: Sörby, a small village just outside Falkenberg on the Swedish west coast, where my parents live.
It’s a journey we’ve made many times before: flying into Copenhagen, then continuing by train across the Öresund Bridge into southern Sweden. And yet, every trip still brings something new.
The purpose this time was clear: to give our children time with their Swedish grandparents, Farmor and Farfar. And with that, a chance to connect more deeply with their roots: to experience culture, history, and family not just as stories, but as part of their own living heritage.
This trip wasn’t just about vacation. It was about honoring identity and belonging. Two values I also hold deeply as a leader.
Blending Work and Family
This journey also highlighted how modern work models can support family life in meaningful ways. My wife joined us on a workation, a great benefit her employer offers. It allowed her to work remotely while spending time in Sweden, giving us the flexibility to make this extended visit happen together.
I stayed for the first week before I had to return to the office, while she remained with the kids for the full two weeks. During the second week, the children stayed in the care of their grandparents. This is something we truly value in our international family life.
As a parent and a leader, I see this as a reminder of what it means to lead with empathy and awareness: to create environments that respect different life stages, personal needs, and human connection.
Swedish Culture in Real Life
We make a conscious effort to give the children more access to Swedish culture. Not only by telling them about it, but by showing it to them.
In the first week, amongst other trips, we took a day trip to Gothenburg to visit World of Volvo, an impressive and modern exhibition that walks you through the history, values, and vision of one of Sweden’s most iconic brands. The kids loved it. The interactivity, the design, the stories behind the engineering. It was more than just a museum; it was a story of innovation, identity, and progress.
In the second week, their Farmor (grandmother) took them, together with one of their cousins, to Astrid Lindgren’s World in Vimmerby. For anyone who grew up with Pippi Longstocking or Emil of Lönneberga, it’s a place of magic. But it’s also a brilliant way to explore Swedish storytelling and imagination. Something I’m happy to see passed down to my kids.
🏡 A House of Generations
The house we stayed in isn’t the house I grew up in. It was originally my grandparents’ summer house, and has been in my family since it was built in 1885.
I spent lots of time during my own childhood summers there. Surrounded by the same trees, swimming in Lake Sjönevad, and walking the same paths with my grandparents and family. Now, it’s my children walking those paths. Eating breakfast with their Farmor and Farfar. Listening to stories. Asking questions. Learning, in the most natural, unforced way, about who they are and where part of them comes from.
This, to me, is the essence of honoring identity and culture: giving the next generation the tools and space to understand their roots, in their own way and at their own pace.
Final Thoughts
It was a lot of travel: Sardinia, then Sweden, with just 19 hours at home in between. But looking back, it was worth every connection and every mile.
Because what we gained was time: time with family, time in nature, and time to pass on something deeper to our children: a sense of continuity, curiosity, and belonging.
It’s a journey we’ve made many times. But one we’ll never take for granted.