Nearly half of Brits say they’re introverts, myself included, so Sweden is coming to Marylebone to sell us a holiday where nobody bothers us. I could’ve done with this a few years ago.
I once had a mini meltdown in a restaurant kitchen in Småland. I was on a press trip to southern Sweden, and I was trying to escape. Not from Sweden, but from the intense schedule. One so tightly packed that we hadn’t a single moment to ourselves since we arrived. From eight in the morning until midnight, three days in a row, we were constantly in the company of others, visiting multiple places. Meals were accompanied by endless PowerPoint presentations, and any attempt to have a break was met with a livid face and a harsh “shhh” from one of the organisers. They even had a finger to their lips. I’m not kidding.
Our host, meanwhile, had a habit of standing over us while we ate, hands on the table, leaning in a bit too closely and asking, with some force, whether we were having fun. This was usually followed by a reminder that we weren’t actually there to have fun. We were there to work.
That’s why I burst into that busy kitchen on the final night, much to the chefs’ surprise, with a desperate look on my face, blurting: “How do I get out of here?” I must’ve looked hilarious; hair slightly out of place and a wild look in my eyes.
Now, press trips are busy affairs. Any journalist will admit that. It’s the deal, and it’s a fair one. But most of them leave you room to wander off, recharge in your hotel bedroom, and remember your own name. (Shout out to Mary and Antoinette in Ireland, still the best hosts I’ve ever had.)
So you can imagine my face when a press release arrived in my inbox today, announcing that Sweden is opening a travel agency for introverts. Ha. Proper flashbacks.
The Introvert Travel Agency is a pop-up from Visit Sweden, opening later this month. You can walk in, and someone will help plan a Swedish holiday for you, built around space, quiet, and travelling at your own pace. There won’t be any packed itineraries, and you’ll be allowed to have fun, I’m sure.
The Introvert Travel Agency. Photo: Visit Sweden
The Introvert Travel Agency. Photo: Visit Sweden
It’s an idea based on research commissioned by Visit Sweden and carried out by YouGov across nine countries. The main finding is that 48% of Brits identify primarily as introverts – the highest share of any country surveyed. Even ahead of the US, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden itself.
The rest of the numbers will sound familiar to anyone who’s found themselves desperately trying to escape another slideshow during dinner through a professional kitchen at a nice restaurant. Some 79% of us feel recharged after time alone, and 72% say social situations become draining after a while. Half of people in the UK and US say they at least sometimes need a “vacation from the vacation” once they’re back home. I can totally relate. I think I was so zonked after Småland that I caught a cold and was wiped out for two weeks.
So why Sweden? The tourist board argues that the country has been really good for introverts all along. “Many travellers are looking for something surprisingly simple: the freedom to decide when they want company and when they don’t,” says Susanne Andersson, CEO of Visit Sweden. “Sweden has always offered that kind of space, in our nature, our cities and our social culture. The Introvert Travel Agency makes it easier to experience Sweden on your own terms. Here, being social is an option, not an obligation.”
It’s a fun angle to take when there are so many places to visit in the world. It’s tough to convince people to part with their hard-earned cash, let alone compete with popular destinations like the Philippines and Costa Rica. Sweden is leaning into its strengths. It’s selling the fact that it’s a country where having a coffee alone is unremarkable, and people enjoy some silence. There’s also something called allemansrätten, the right of public access, meaning you can roam freely through much of the countryside. I don’t know about you, but I immediately think of silent forest walks and paddling across a quiet lake. Heaven.
Visby. Credits: Linus Bergman/imagebank.sweden.se
Canoeing in Strömsholms waterway. Credits: Emmie Bolmstedt/imagebank.sweden.se
“For introverts, recharging is often less about being alone and more about having control over when and how we interact with others,” says Mattias Lundberg, a licensed psychologist and associate professor of psychology at Umeå University. “Environments with less social pressure, more personal space and the possibility to withdraw can make it easier to preserve and regain energy. Sweden naturally offers many of these qualities, which makes it particularly well suited to travellers who want to experience a destination on their own terms.”
Control over when and how you interact with others… If only I’d had the age and wisdom to speak up all those years ago and say politely, “I’d like to go home; this isn’t working for me. Can you arrange my transfer, please?” OK, so I’ll move on. Visit Sweden has come up with a lovely idea, and it’s funny, too. Travel is usually sold on doing more, not less. And genuinely, Sweden is a beautiful place with so much to offer.
If you’re interested in finding out more, the London pop-up runs from 28-31 October at 3 Paddington Street, Marylebone. It follows stops in Berlin and Paris this month. But if you’d rather not leave the house, then you can explore and book online via Visit Sweden. As for me, I think I’m ready to give Sweden another go. But it’ll be on my own terms this time.
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