My Journey: Writing This Book

I thought I was writing a book about nature. About slowing down. About Nordic living and the small, beautiful rituals that help us feel rooted again.

But somewhere along the way, I realised: This wasn’t just a book I was writing it was a way of remembering.

Writing Friluftsliv: How to love the outdoors like you're Nordic changed me. And not in the big, dramatic way I might have expected. It changed me slowly. Softly. Like how the light shifts in late summer — almost without you noticing.

Here’s what the process taught me.

Stillness is productive

There were days I sat outside with a notebook, pen in hand, and no words came. I used to panic at moments like that. But over time, I learned that stillness is part of the work.

Looking up. Listening. Letting the world settle around me. That’s where the writing began. It didn’t happen at the laptop — it happened under trees and by a lake.

Nature is always near

I used to think I had to go somewhere wild to connect with nature. A forest trail, the windswept Dorset coastline, the deep silence of the North Wales mountains. But I wrote most of this book in the moments in between; in my garden or by the lake on a bench, wrapped in blankets with coffee beside me.

Nature doesn’t demand grand adventures. It just asks us to notice what’s already here.

Gentle consistency matters more than force

Some days I wrote three pages. Other days I wrote three words.

But I kept showing up. Walking. Observing. Trusting that something was unfolding, even when I couldn’t see it yet.

It turns out, nature works that way too — slow roots, hidden shifts, and seasons that arrive on their own time.

This book, at its heart, is not a manual or some kind of manifesto. It's a quiet invitation — to step outside, slow your pace, and remember what it feels like to belong to the world again.

You don’t need to move to Norway or hike every weekend. You just need ten minutes of sky, a patch of light, or the courage to pause.

Friluftsliv is not a lifestyle to adopt — it’s a rhythm to return to.

And I hope this book helps you find your way back.

With moss underfoot and wind in my hair,

Fiona x

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