🇸🇪 Back to Our Roots – A Journey to Sweden With My Son

In early June, my son and I traveled to Sweden, a place where, for me, so much began.

It was more than just a trip. It was a return. To family. To language. To tradition. To a part of my identity that I carry with me every day but rarely get to live so consciously.

For my son, it was a discovery. For me, it was a rediscovery. And for both of us, it became a powerful connection, one that spans generations.

Halland is what I call home in Sweden

🎓 A Special Occasion

The reason for our trip was a meaningful one: the high school graduation (Studenten in Swedish) of my twin nephews, both 18. The older one is also my godson. It’s a role I haven’t always been able to fulfill actively, due to living abroad. But that doesn’t make it any less important to me. I care deeply for both boys. Not just because they’re family, but because they’ve always shown genuine love and warmth toward my own children, their little cousins.

In many ways, they are the long-term bridge to Sweden. Someday, if I’m no longer around, they will be part of what “home” means for my kids. That’s why their relationship matters so much to me and why I do my best to nurture it whenever we can.

✈️ Getting to Halland

Our journey began early with a 7:10 a.m. Austrian Airlines flight from Vienna to Copenhagen. That might sound unusual, but for us it’s a familiar route. During the pandemic, Kastrup Airport in Copenhagen was often the only practical way for us to reach Sweden’s west coast. There’s a train station directly under the terminal, and the Öresund Bridge makes it easy to reach Malmö, on the Swedish side, and beyond.

On the road again

It's always intersting at the airport

My parents live just outside Falkenberg, between Malmö and Gothenburg. Copenhagen offers multiple flights a day. Gothenburg, by contrast, only two or three per week. So door-to-door, the travel time ends up roughly the same, especially since driving from Gothenburg Landvetter Airport to Falkenberg still takes about two hours.

Atlas always makes the trip worthwhile

Early flights are never an issue for my kids. They're always excited. Especially when the destination is Sweden.All I must do is whisper, “We’re flying” and they’re out of bed and ready to go.

Early morning departure from Schwechat

🎁 Tradition, Preparation, and Meaning

Graduation in Sweden is a big deal, and there are traditions to prepare for: Gifts to wrap. Flowers to buy. Small stuffed animals to hang around the graduates’ necks.

We did all of that together. And in the process, my son began to understand: this was something important.

Graduation party preparations

Celebrating achievement, marking the end of an educational journey, gives that moment real meaning.

It was a chance to talk about learning, about effort, about what it means to finish something. It was also a way for me to share my own story, where I come from, what I’ve experienced, what shaped me.

🥨 Two Cultures, Many Possibilities

None of this takes away from where my children live or who they are today. I value both sides of their cultural background deeply. In fact, it was my son’s own idea to show up in style wearing his Austrian Lederhosen on our first day in Sweden. He was proud. I was too.

He moves between cultures with ease. He can choose what to bring into each moment. That kind of flexibility is something I truly admire—and yes, sometimes envy.

Wearing his Lederhosen was his own idea

The same goes for language.

Cultural and linguistic diversity doesn’t create barriers—it creates possibility. It allows us to blend ideas, challenge assumptions, and create something new from a broader reference point.

Children show us this every day. They combine what they know without hesitation or judgment, sometimes just because it feels right in that moment. That’s creativity. That’s innovation. And that’s why diversity matters not just at home, but also in the workplace.

People from different backgrounds, no matter how or why, bring new perspectives, better questions, and a unique kind of thinking.

In today’s world, that’s not just an asset. It’s a strategic advantage.

🌱 Growth Happens in Experience

Once again, we learned a lot. And once again, we grew together.

With every experience, my children develop: in language, in confidence, in cultural understanding, in who they are.

My biggest wish? That one day, they’ll be able to navigate the world with confidence, wherever they are. That they’ll feel at home in many places and carry their story with pride.

👵 Returning With More Than Memories

After five days on Sweden’s west coast, we flew back to Vienna, this time directly from Gothenburg. We came home with new memories, with old stories rediscovered, with familiar moments newly appreciated.

Ready to go back home to Vienna

And we didn’t come home alone. Farmor, their Swedish grandmother, joined us for another week in Austria. And just like that, our journey into the past extended itself into the present.

Farmor is always happy to visit

🧭 Final Thought

Going back to your roots isn’t about living in the past.It’s about understanding where you come from, so you can carry it forward.

For me, this trip was a gift. Not just to my son, but to all of us. Because heritage isn’t inherited passively.

We live it. We share it. And we pass it on through presence, through stories, and through love.