I, Paul, had visited Scandinavia many times before for winter-time snow adventure trips and had already had the dream of living here for many years, but obviously any possible move like this would need to be a family decision and so back in late May of 2018 we took an exploratory family holiday to Sweden, sadly minus our eldest daughter, Chloe-Ann, who was busy studying away at University.

Thankfully, both of us and our youngest daughter, Lilly-Fe, fell in love with the place. The forests, the river, the space, the wildlife, the fresh air, the amazing light, the friendliness of the people we met and the absence of traffic all made us feel incredibly at home right from the start.

And, on top of this, we were lucky enough to find a super property in a beautiful setting that was perfect for us to live in and to provide, once renovated, the accessible guest accommodation needed for us to offer the inclusive holiday experience that we wanted to. It was also in a great location for offering all the fantastic holiday activities we want to share with our guests.

And so 6 weeks after our first visit and with some hard work to raise funds, thank you to everyone who has supported us, we had the keys to The Friendly Moose and our new adventure had begun.

The relocation to Sweden, the setting up of a new business and the complete change of lifestyle have certainly provided plenty of challenges, but we are so happy to be living in such a beautiful part of the world, with the amazing contrast between the seasons and can’t wait to be sharing our passion for the North with our guests and creating magical holiday memories.