First and foremost I needed a place from where I could work during the day and I found it in a form of a guest house in Ranua.

The place was Arctic Guesthouse & Igloos.

(picture linked from Arctic Guesthouse & Igloos website)

They offer rooms for rent, but also floating Aurora Huts with heating, panoramic windows, toilet, kitchen, motor to drive them around on the lake and all sort of other comforts. During winter time, when the waters are frozen, the huts can be towed to a suitable location with a snowmobile.

This place provided some food, warmth, place to sleep and two saunas (one traditional with a wood burning stove [pictures below] and one modern with a electric stove) for a worker enjoying the some winter time.

(pictures linked from Arctic Guesthouse & Igloos website)

They also have a restaurant that serves meals and breakfast for a hungry worker and some dishes made from local ingredients of course.

The place was somewhat quiet, maybe half a dozen other guests, as the Covid-pandemic has kept the tourists away from the Lapland and I was there just before finnish eastern holidays.

A view from the room window toward the frozen lake.

. . .

During those days in Ranua I of course visited the Ranua Zoo, but also went to see a local horse worker who offers rides on horse sledge and not just with any horse, but with a finnhorse.

There was still enough snow that we could have a half an hour or so sledge ride and have some hot berry juice and biscuits by the fire during the sun down.

The owner was eager to talk about the horses and their business in Ranua and the history of the area and horse work in general. All this was really interesting learning experience and yes, the horse does move quite fast when pushed, even with a sledge with some people onboard, if asked to.

 . . .

Another interesting trip was to a kennel of wolfdogs…

Tho wolfdogs, those clever and playful half-breeds are interesting thing to see and get to know. One needs to understand that they are not dogs and they will walk over you if they ever get the chance.

Even tho I got to visit the wolfdogs and even to play with them, my main reason for coming to see this family was the reason that they are trying to sustain an off-grid lifestyle and live from the land as much as possible.

They aren’t 100% independent, but they have livestock addition to the dogs, like goats…

…and sheep…

…and a henhouse with some chicken.

They also farm some vegetables and collect mushrooms and berries from the forest during the summer and autumn. Collected food is preserved for the winter and some of the yield traded for other goods. They also knit and sow some of their own clothes and build and repair their own tools and utilities.

The house is heated with wood from their own forest and electricity comes from solar panels and is stored on batteries inside the house. As I gathered, they don’t use that much electric devices and have things like root cellar to store their food. They also have a backup generator for those dark autumn and winter days, when the sun is most of the day below the horizon.

Was very interesting to chat with the owner for a hour or two about their lifestyle, struggles, victories and life in general here in the north.

. . .

Summa summarum: this was a very nice trip and a good way to test how I can work remote. I started in a new job at the beginning of the year and  can do almost all that the work I need to do with a laptop and a internet connection from where ever I might be.

→ Life of digi nomad here I cometh!