A Stranger, a Train and a Night at the Ice Hotel

If you have been weighing up a solo trip, read this one. Kelly, who writes at Girl with the Passport, went to northern Sweden alone in winter and came back with a friend. Her story is part of our Travellers' Tales series; if you have one of your own, send it to [email protected].

Deciding to go was hard. I knew nobody in Sweden and would be alone the entire time, with no family or friends to spend the holidays with, and I was afraid of how lonely it might feel. But I needed to get away. I work full time and get little time off, so with a little residual guilt I booked the flight.

Once I landed I knew it was right. There were historic villages to wander and windmills to admire in the low, cool light of the setting sun. With so much culture around me I forgot to be lonely as I walked the cobbled streets of Old Town Stockholm. I was too busy eating my way through the city to notice I had no one beside me, until it was time to pack and board the train north.

Strandvägen, Stockholm. Picture: Europe Diaries, from our Stockholm photostory.

A town above the Arctic Circle

My destination was a tiny town just above the Arctic Circle, where the sun rose at 10 am and set at 3 pm. The brochures had dazzled me with reindeer moving across the frozen river, the sort of scene ecotourism sells so well. I was not going for the reindeer, lovely as they are. I wanted to see the largest Ice Hotel in the world.

The hotel had no rooms left. Rather than abandon the dream, I decided to go north anyway and take the public tour of the place.

The platform

That is how I came to be standing on a freezing outdoor platform waiting for an extremely late train. Around me were families and friends, talking happily about the trip ahead, and all of them had someone to share it with. I looked at the empty space beside me and felt my heart drop.

Then I noticed a woman in animated conversation with a family. I assumed they were together. As I watched, it became clear she was travelling alone too.

I am a social creature, so I drifted over and started talking about coffee, which in my view is the nectar of the gods and the one thing I would happily take by drip. We bonded over caffeine and then discovered we were both originally from New York.

The train arrived. I expected the usual ending to a casual conversation, a goodbye and separate carriages. Instead Danielle asked where I was staying. I told her the sorry tale of the Ice Hotel and the missing room.

A room, offered

Then she asked me to share her room at the Ice Hotel. I hesitated; spending a night with someone I barely knew is not nothing. But the adventure won, and I said yes.

I am grateful I did. We explored the Arctic together and survived a night in the Ice Hotel, and who else would have zipped my sleeping bag in complete darkness so that I did not freeze? Beyond the practical help, Danielle was the cure for that moment of holiday loneliness. Instead of sitting with the feeling, we giggled the night away and talked about the men we wished we could take home as souvenirs.

What stayed with me

I now have a travel buddy in Miami, who has already asked me to visit and to travel with her again. That kind of friendship is priceless, because not all of my friends organise their lives around travel. I will always be grateful to Danielle for her kind heart and her endless appetite for adventure.

About the author: Kelly Duhigg lives in New York City and works full time as a nanny. When she is not working she is building Girl with the Passport, a travel blog meant to inspire others to follow their hearts and chase their dreams. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

Thanks to Kelly for sharing her Traveller's Tale. We want to hear your stories too: send an idea or a post to [email protected], or share a photo story on Instagram with #shareTravellersTales.