‘Covid turned my five-day holiday into a new life’

When Danny Welch flew to northern Sweden in March 2020, he expected a five-day vacation, but the Covid-19 pandemic changed his plans – and his life.

“I had met a Swedish woman who invited me to her family cabin and we ended up spending 10 and a half weeks together as airports closed across Europe,” he said.

The 38-year-old, who grew up in Woodston, Peterborough, had never been to the country before and knew little about it.

But he loved the relaxed lifestyle, being surrounded by nature and people – and he soon realized that he had found his new home.

“We stayed at my friend’s cabin north of Skellestae and for me it was amazing. We lit fires, camped and didn’t go into the town center, it was almost isolated,” he said.

“I didn’t know anything about Sweden, I didn’t realize how much English they spoke.

“I didn’t realize there could be 24 hours of daylight and what I like best about the Swedes is that they never have ulterior motives, they feel so authentic.”

Once the airports reopened, he realized he had “fallen in love with this place.”

Welch had met his friend in Malaga, Spain, where he had started a mobile cocktail business a year or two earlier, having always been a bit of a traveler.

After leaving Orton Longueville School (now Nene Park Academy) he spent many summers working in a bar in Greece for Thomas Cook’s Club 18-30 and his winters in Peterborough, staying with his parents and finding work.

Welch returned to Malaga in the summer of 2020 to resume activities, but then his van’s engine exploded.

“I had just enough money to go back to Sweden and see what was happening,” he said.

“I was thinking of going there for a few months and planting trees – foreign nationals are employed to plant trees – but I got a job in a cocktail bar.”

Welch was working as a bar manager for a hotel chain when it sent him to its new hotel in Kiruna, 200 km (124 miles) north of the Arctic Circle in Lapland.

Once there, he began guiding tourists on dog sledding trips, alongside his work at the bar.

He said: “It’s a world away from the rest of Europe, let alone England.

“They have heated streets, so the town centers and alleys don’t freeze; when the snow gets too heavy, they scrape it into big piles and throw it in the forest to melt it; and all the cars here have two sets of wheels for summer and winter.”

He managed to gain full residence rights under the Brexit deal, said his Swedish was “not too bad, better than I think”, and is currently applying for a Swedish passport.

Welch has since started his own Arctic guiding business, which he will operate alongside his bar job this summer.

“When I first arrived and saw the reindeer, the Northern Lights and the copious amounts of snow, camping in -25C, it was incredible,” he said.

“It’s super nice to relive this over and over again with the guests.”

So, what happened to the friend who started this life change?

“We are still close friends, but nothing more,” he said.

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