Amber Mist

Umeå Airport (UME) is a quintessential outstation. Typically, flights get in from Stockholm-Arlanda, spend 25 quick minutes on the ground before flying back south. The mood aboard these flights fascinates me. Although not as explicit as when leaving Norway, there is a sense of collective relief mixed with anticipation as the plane flies out over the Gulf of Bothnia for its hour-long jump down to Stockholm. From there, all of the world lies open. Returning home, the mood is quite different. Already at the gate at Arlanda, there is a warm sense of familiarity as friends bump into each other and prepare for a new sojourn in the High North. While flights to Kiruna may be more extreme in this regard, it still feels like you are now part of a secret club of which all its members share the same fate.

To me, Umeå has come to represent an alternative reality of sorts, a refuge where the kids can live a life quite different from how most kids grow up these days. A car-free existence with the forest just outside the door. However, living here also means foregoing strolls through the Retiro Park or a chance to browse the shelves of Liberia on Hanbury Street. Obviously, every choice means that something else is not chosen. Fortunately, that does not necessarily hold for good cheese as I was able to secure some Snowdonian cheddar at our local COOP.