I could vividly remember watching a local tv show called”Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho” during the last quarter of 2016. The travel destination featured in one of its segment is Finland. In summary, Finland is being featured as one of the main destinations for 2017 hence the hashtag #VisitFinland2017. After watching the show, a light bulb moment struck, a “fernweh” feeling or that desire or longing to see some place far came about and made me tweet “I’ll see you Finland in 2017”.

Fastforward April 2017: my manifestation of visiting Finland came into reality. Long story cut short, I resigned from work and decided to do a 3 month backpacking in Europe. And to date, has visited the land of Santa Claus and sauna more than once.

After seeing Helsinki, I now understand why world travelers are raving about this Scandinavian city. Helsinki has a serene, relaxing atmosphere, sceneries landmarks and other destinations that are vivid enough to stand out from its European neighbors.

From having a great spot to witness the northern lights (although one needs to head north to have higher chances of seeing the aurora), to being the home of the largest forest in any of Europe, to enjoying endless walks within the city and breathe with nature, to enjoying the numerous sauna offers, and to being one of the safest countries in the world – every corner and every moment in Helsinki is surely worthy of satisfying your inner fernweh or wanderlust.

If you are still on the fence whether you will include Helsinki in your bucket list or not, here are some photographs from my two previous travels to give you a little convincing. It’s surely houses more than what it is commonly known for.

Don’t be a wasted soul, be JUANderlust. Take it easy everyJUAN.