Jan & Astrid(62)

Astrid and I both worked for the municipality of Almere — she as a policy officer, I as a project manager. After forty years of working we wanted something completely different. No cruise or camper, but a new life. We had rented a stuga in Dalarna every summer for thirty years and had fallen in love with the landscape: red wooden houses, vast forests, quiet lakes.

As retired EU citizens, registration with Migrationsverket was slightly more complex. You need to demonstrate sufficient income to support yourself — our state pension and occupational pension combined were more than enough. The folkbokföring at Skatteverket took six weeks. Once registered, we were entitled to Swedish healthcare through Försäkringskassan.

Our house in Dalarna — a classic rödfärgat hus from 1920 — cost 850,000 SEK, about 75,000 euros. In the Netherlands you can't even buy a garage for that. The house has four rooms, a large garden and views of a lake. The renovation cost another 200,000 SEK, but we did most of it ourselves. Swedish hardware stores are excellent and wood is cheap.

Daily life in Dalarna revolves around the seasons. In spring we pick vitsippor (wood anemones), in summer we celebrate Midsommar with the neighbors — dancing around the midsommerstång with flower wreaths in our hair. In autumn we pick lingon and chanterelles in the forest, and in winter we cross-country ski across frozen lakes.

Healthcare was a concern, but turned out to be well organized. The vårdcentral (health center) in the village is twenty minutes' drive. For specialist care we go to Falun, the provincial capital. Costs are low: maximum 1,300 SEK per year for doctor visits, thanks to the Swedish högkostnadsskydd (ceiling on healthcare costs).

We sometimes miss the Netherlands — the gezelligheid, the directness, the bitterballen. But when we wake up in the morning with a view of the lake and the only sounds are the titmice and the wind, we know we made the right choice. Our advice: start by renting, get to know the winter, and only then take the step. Dalarna isn't for everyone, but for us it's paradise.