Written by Joshua
30 May 2025
“I am not afraid to try it on my own. I don’t care if I’m right or wrong. I’ll live my life the way I feel, no matter what, I’ll keep it real.”
– Whitney Houston
My soiree into reluctant singleness took flight, or should I say train tracks, a few weeks ago when I randomly decided to take myself to Gothenburg. Now, my reasons for making this decision may not have been completely rooted in my acceptance of the single life, but it definitely helped me to realize how much fun I can have all by myself ☺️. In this week’s blog – arguably one I may regret posting for the rest of the world to see 😅 – I’ll talk about my solo trip from Stockholm to Gothenburg.
Booking the trip 📑
On Friday night, after spending the day doing a mental back and forth 🤔, I raced to book my tickets and accommodation. Luckily, that wasn’t very difficult because of all our student discounts through Mecenat. Annamaria spoke about all the benefits of having a Mecenat card in a blog post a while back. I booked my train through VR (approx. 1100 SEK roundtrip), and my accommodation through Scandic hotels (approx. 750 SEK/night), both of which I received discounts for, and just like that, I was on my way 😃.
The train 🚄
My train was scheduled to leave at 6:30AM, so I was up really early (bearing in mind I booked the ticket after midnight). A tired Joshua proceeded to Stockholm Central Station, and ran through the building, desperately searching for the railway section, only to realize that I was an hour early 🙄 (completely my fault). Anyways, I hopped onto the train and honestly, it was giving 💅🏾. The ride was really smooth; the train wasn’t very full and almost everyone had a free seat beside them to stretch out. There was also food for purchase inside and free wifi. I would book with VR again in a heartbeat!
The hotel 🏨
Scandic Hotels has an amazing student discount. If you’re like me, and you feel a bit too bougie to stay in a hostel, and want your own private space while on vacation, look no further 😁. Scandic has hotels all over Sweden, and you can get a student discount for every single one of them. Be ready to show your Mecenat card at the entrance though. All in all, my hotel experience was really good! The room was really nicely outfitted with your standard amenities, including a TV, which is something I’ve really come to miss ☺️. You also get a free breakfast option at some of the hotels, which is really great if you don’t want to go out and buy food.
What did I do?
- Went on really loooonng walks 😂🚶🏾♂️ – You know those main character moments where, for some reason a specific occasion in time is etched into your memory 🤔? Well, I have a lot of those from Gothenburg. Walking through the city’s old town, the parks and open spaces, and seeing and interacting with the people just felt different on that day. I don’t know if it was just how good the weather was, or maybe just something about being in a new place by myself, but I just felt so alive. All of that to say, I walked for milessss until my feet hurt, just going wherever I felt led 🥰.
- Went to see the Volvo Exhibition 🚗 – Now, this was lowkey a life’s dream of mine ☺️. When I was younger, I was really interested in cars, so much so that I once conscripted my entire family to take me on a 10-hour drive to a car factory 😂. So, yeah, my inner child was very excited at the thought of going to the Volvo exhibition at some point during my time in Sweden. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint 😁. The exhibition is interactive, and there is so much to learn about the history of Volvo and the automotive industry in general. I loved every second of it!
- Took myself out to meals – I had 2 notable meals while I was in Stockholm. One of them was dinner at a local Korean restaurant called KOMO Korean Steakhouse, and the other was lunch at a local bar on the edge of the street. Surprisingly, my favourite of the two was the lunch. I ordered a chicken salad, and yes I know I’m basic, bite me 😤, but it wasn’t so much the food that appealed to me, it was actually more the service. In all my time in Sweden, I think it’s been very rare for me to be able to smile or share a moment with another Swedish person, but for some reason, the staff at Foxes were so nice to me🥹. Oh yeah, and the salad was good too😅!
Gothenburg on Saturday the 10 of May 2025 made me love Sweden. For the first time, walking through the gardens in the sunlight in a smaller Swedish city, I understood why Swedish summer is so important to people here 🥹. The atmosphere is just so relaxed and refreshing, not too hot 🥵, not too cold 🥶 and at just the right pace ☺️. Not only was I able to experience a new city (which I may or may not like more than Stockholm 😅), I was able to just be. I spent time with myself, did the things I enjoyed, and although it was scary or hard at times, I loved every second of it 🥹🥰!
I’m coming down to my last few posts at Study in Sweden, and it has been such a fulfilling experience. Stay tuned, I promise the next ones are gonna be really worth it 🥹!
