Join Kat Shortsleeve on an exhilarating journey in the latest episode of the Shortsleeve Travel Podcast! From the snowy slopes of Niseko, Japan, to an impromptu solo adventure in Scandinavia right after graduation from Columbia Business School, Kat delves into the art of traveling to champagne destinations on a beer budget. Discover her unique experiences, from luxury horseback riding in Peru to the awe-inspiring Northern Lights and 24-hour daylight phenomena in Scandinavia. Whether it's exploring the world-class 'Japow' or navigating the vibrant streets of Stockholm, Helsinki, and Oslo, this episode is packed with tips, laughs, and insights on making the most of every travel opportunity. Don't miss Kat's personal anecdotes and practical advice on solo travel, embracing local cultures, and seeking out the extraordinary in the everyday.
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Youtube Shortsleeve Travel with Kat Shortsleeve
Join Kat Shortsleeve on an exhilarating journey in the latest episode of the Shortsleeve Travel Podcast! From the snowy slopes of Niseko, Japan, to an impromptu solo adventure in Scandinavia right after graduation from Columbia Business School, Kat delves into the art of traveling to champagne destinations on a beer budget. Discover her unique experiences, from luxury horseback riding in Peru to the awe-inspiring Northern Lights and 24-hour daylight phenomena in Scandinavia. Whether it's exploring the world-class 'Japow' or navigating the vibrant streets of Stockholm, Helsinki, and Oslo, this episode is packed with tips, laughs, and insights on making the most of every travel opportunity. Don't miss Kat's personal anecdotes and practical advice on solo travel, embracing local cultures, and seeking out the extraordinary in the everyday.
Instagram @katshortsleeve
Tik Tok @katshortsleeve
Youtube Shortsleeve Travel with Kat Shortsleeve
Hello everybody, welcome back to the Shortsleeve travel podcast. This podcast is all about how to travel to champagne destinations on beer budgets. So I'm Kat Shortsleeve, your host and guide. And I'm going to point you to experiences that are elevated and luxury, but all while on a budget. So we are here to redefine luxury travel and help you fill in your life with as much travel as you desire. Something that is so exciting is I have an upcoming trip to Peru that I'm bringing some people along with me. If you'd like to know more about it, check out the most recent podcast about Peru. And you can hear the itinerary or just reach out to me on Instagram or TikTok, whichever social media you like to use and we will help you get set up. The fast facts are that it's April 7th to April 14th. It is going to be 8 days, 7 nights. Will have guides with us the entire time. We are doing horseback riding for two days, hiking for one day, going to Machu Picchu on foot for two days, and then we're doing a biking tour for one day. Two nights we're camping and the other nights we're staying in a four star hotel. It's going to be an epic adventure and I'm looking to put together a group of minimum six people, maximum twelve. I already have a few people who are already interested in joining us, but if you'd like to join, please just reach out. But okay, this week I am telling you a story about some crazy travel that I went on just a few months ago to Scandinavia. So on May 14th I graduated from Columbia Business School and on May 15th I had a 5pm flight headed straight over to Scandinavia. I knew that I was starting my job full time. In two weeks after graduation, and so I wanted to capitalize on my last few moments of freedom and just go and explore. I wanted to hit as many countries as possible, so I thought hitting three in Scandinavia would be the best way to do this. I wanted to just cross off a few more countries, see some more places, and I actually kind of wanted to just go on my own and leave it very unplanned. And so I only booked my flights, but hadn't booked anything else. I had my first flight flying into Stockholm, Sweden. Then I had a flight from there to Helsinki, Finland. And another flight from then on to Oslo, Norway. And from Oslo, Norway back home. And when I flew over to Stockholm, so I need to get into the whole story, but essentially this trip didn't totally go as planned and ended up getting cut short for a few reasons. Despite it not being the best week ever, I am so glad that I went and saw it, and now I do want to go back and kind of do it a little bit better going forward. So I'll tell you about what I did, how I'd improve it, and just a little bit about what I loved in each place, and what makes each of these cities a bit different. So if you're planning a trip to Scandinavia, you can take some of this into account, or just sit back and listen and enjoy my stories. So first of all, I wasn't actually sure what made up Scandinavia. And... Officially, it's Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, but sometimes Finland and Iceland are also included. All of these countries make up the Nordic region, and I think what it's most famous for, and what I did not see, and what I do want to go back for, is Aurora Borealis. That's, I mean, you probably know it as the Northern Lights, or maybe you know Aurora Borealis, but that is something that you see in the wintertime, and it looks absolutely beautiful. You also need to go up a little bit farther north of... The major cities in these countries to be able to see the Northern Lights. I'm sure you've seen the iconic hotels where you can stay in like an ice dome, and see the Northern Lights. But one of my best friends, she actually saw the Northern Lights on her way to Stockholm, Sweden, out the window of the plane. This was in January, I think that's one of the coolest things I've ever heard. Never really hear of people seeing it from planes or helicopters or commercial flights like she did. Pretty cool. Okay, so like I said, I went May 15th for a week. And what's wild about Scandinavia is because it's on such a northern part of the globe, there are There are a few times of the year, two times a year, where there is 24 hours of straight daylight, multiple days in a row, and then of course if you go in the winter, there are 24 hours straight of just darkness, the sun does not come up, and so do not get caught off guard and accidentally go during the wrong week. I would not really want to go during the time when it's just completely dark for all 24 hours. And by 24 hours, I mean like 36, 48 hours. But I would be very interested to go during the 24 hours a day of sunlight. And so that was happening just a few weeks after I had been there. Actually, I think it's during the summer solstice, which would be June 21st or so. But even when I was there, it was wild that I was awake at 10pm going to bed, 10, 11pm, and it was still pretty light outside. So even though it does get dark at night, it doesn't get pitch black. It's pretty fascinating, and super cool to see. And they do this whole festival around the 24 hours of light and the 24 hours of dark, and I definitely want to go back for that. Aside from the fact that my siblings have been to Scandinavia and I just hadn't been to Scandinavia and that's why I wanted to go, I also was so intrigued by these countries because when countries are rated on the amount of overall happiness of their citizens, These countries rank the absolute highest. Their quality of life is so much higher and that's because their lives are just set up so differently. And that becomes clear when you're walking around the city, kind of exploring and seeing what is important to them. What do they value? How do they spend their days? And you really do get a sense that these people are so happy when you're there and it's very fun to be a part of. I planned this trip just a few days before graduation. I actually think it was about five days before graduation and thus it was six days before the trip actually was set to happen. It was super last minute and I just felt a major itch to kind of get out and a lot of times I've done that where I just feel the itch and I need to go. Honestly I kind of regret it because so many people stuck around after graduation in New York City and just spent time together and hung out and I was just on a flight the very next day. my family left New York city on the 14th, a few hours after graduation, you know, we spent the day together and had brunch, but then they took off. when the 15th came around, I was kind of more ready to mellow out and just lay low because so much had happened up until graduation so I ended up having a nice time, but it wasn't the best time, and while I was there I was in such a funk that I decided, okay, rather than spending, because the plan was three days in Sweden, three days in Finland, three days in Norway, I kind of just wanted to get back home, and when it came time for this at the end of the trip, I was glad that I rebooked, but what I decided to do is I decided to book Leaving from Oslo, Norway just slightly earlier, and by slightly I mean completely earlier, so Rather than spending three days in Oslo I decided to fly into Oslo in the morning and then fly out late that night So then hopefully I'd be able to sleep Which is what I ended up doing, but I'll get there. After Stockholm, I flew on to Helsinki. And I was obsessed. I was just in a better mind space at this point. I knew that I was going to be leaving early, and so it kind of helped me springboard and actually just start capitalizing on being here. And also, mind you, the entire time I was on this trip, I was working from home. So... I would explore during the day up until around 3 o'clock, and then I would go on my laptop and start working for the rest of the day. I would stop for dinner, and I was just doing an internship where it was about 20 hours a week, and so I still had time to do these other things. Okay, so I landed in Helsinki, Finland and immediately I was obsessed. I got this great feel from the airport. It was stunning, by the way. And then I also just had a great feel when I was in the train station going downtown. It was just a little bit different from Stockholm and I was all in. Better mind space. It was great. So I stayed at a very nice hotel. I felt like I needed an upgrade from staying at the hostel. And I got a great hotel, and When I walked in and I was checking into the hotel, I asked them for an upgrade. Which you should always do, just ask for an upgrade. There's no harm in asking. They might just say no, but... They also might just say yes. And so I had an upgrade. It was about 20. I asked her to waive a lot of the fees because I was by myself and just working and not going to destroy the hotel room. And so she said, of course, and I had this great space where I could sprawl out and just work from the room much more comfortably. It was way better. Also, when you're traveling by yourself, it is good to switch on and off between if you're staying at hostels and then do an Airbnb and then maybe a hotel. It doesn't need to be expensive, but just so that you can kind of change it up a little bit because I do think it gets to be pretty rough, especially when you're older, staying in a hostel night after night. Also, I think this is so funny, but when I was in Helsinki, I just had some great food. I had some amazing Asian food. I was loving the restaurants. I wasn't. getting recommendations and going to specific places. I was just finding whatever looked good to me because I was much more go, go, go. I was biking, running, having more adventures. And I kept going to Joe and the juice. I was just on a crazy fix. And also I swear to God, the Joe and the juice in Helsinki is amazing. So somebody please confirm or deny this for me because I'm obsessed. One of my favorite things that I decided to do is I decided to take a free walking tour of the city and I loved it so much that I ended up doing this again in Oslo. This was such a good way to explore the city and I was able to meet people. It also killed a bunch of time and it showed me parts of the city that I wouldn't have otherwise seen as well as gave me history which then gives me a deeper appreciation and understanding for where I am. On this walking tour, they took us to the library, and I know this is going to sound lame at first, but hear me out. This library in Helsinki, Finland was absolutely amazing. They had video games, every video game you could think of, 3D printers that people, just random people could use. I don't think that exists anywhere in the US, unless you're at a private university. They had game rooms. They had... Cafes where it subsidized food, it, this place was gorgeous, it was an architectural, like, design mystery to me. It looked like shelves were floating, it was just beautiful. Okay, they have this kitchen where anyone can come use the kitchen and throw a dinner party with their family or their friends. And it's a beautiful kitchen. It looks like you're in a restoration hardware magazine. And you can go in there, use all their pots and pans, you just have to bring your own things. So you have to bring everything from the butter to the spices, of course. And then you just need to clean up at the end. But if people don't have huge houses and they still want to throw a dinner party, they can go to the library and throw this amazing dinner party. I don't know if you can light candles and set the mood and the whole bit and play your own music. You can play your own music, just not super loud. Because you're in a private room in the library. But, how cool is that? I've never seen that before. Never heard of that. And the kicker is that there's a sauna in the library. But even better than that, I found out on this walking tour that there's a sauna in the Burger King. In Helsinki, Finland. How incredible is this? First of all, why does there need to be a sauna in the Burger King? Second of all, I have heard that everyone goes into the saunas naked in Europe. So, is everyone eating their burger and fries and then hopping in the sauna naked? I'm very concerned. Also, in the library, it was very cute. There was this... Parent child class where they were kind of reading to the kids and the kids were infants or I'm not great at guessing kids ages but they were very young obviously couldn't read and It was so many mothers and so many fathers there and it was a random Tuesday. It was just such a cool thing to see Right there in the library and they had all sorts of different working groups and people kind of gathered up together having coffee and pastries and this library was massive, probably about six floors, just such a cool thing to see. And it's funny that now if I go back to Helsinki, one of my first stops is going to be this library. Okay, now I want to tell you about my favorite thing that I did in Helsinki because this was so epic. So my hotel was epic. Amazing, and I think most hotels are like this because I've checked online and most do this. But they give you a bike where you can use it for the entire time you're there, and they give you a lock as well. And so I took my bike and I went venturing off for about four miles in the direction of this sauna. Now, there are saunas all over the city where you can go in the sauna and then jump in the bay. But I want to go to this specific one because it's the most famous. It is built by the people in Helsinki, for the people in Helsinki, so it's all community run, community based, and it's very natural. I guess they're using all natural materials, and so I needed to go experience it because people say it's a must do activity. So I hopped on my bike and I biked over there, and so I saw on the map that I'd be biking just through the city to get across. And kind of down to the outside of the city a little bit. But I was fascinated. I'm biking through the middle of the city, next to all these buildings. And then all of a sudden I'm biking on a dirt path. And I'm biking in the middle of absolute nowhere. I was taking photos. I just was on this dirt path in the very middle of the city. Surrounded by a field. Surrounded by trees. And there were no buildings in sight. One second I was downtown, next to all these buildings. Not skyscrapers, but you know, six story, four story buildings. And then the next second, I know, I'm just in this random field, in the middle of nowhere, biking alone. I was a little bit worried for my safety, but I thought, okay, we're just gonna go, and there's not a lot of crime in these countries anyways, I'm just gonna hope I'm okay. But it was insane. I've never been in a place where you're in the middle of the city, and then you're in the middle of the field. And then... I kept biking and I was in more of an industrial, industrial area, and then I kept biking, kept biking, more dirt roads, and got down to the sauna. So when I got there, it was pretty crowded actually. There were probably about 40 people there, and people do go in naked, but you can also go in with a swimsuit, which is what I decided to do. If you ask Europeans, they'll say it's criminal to go in in a swimsuit, but I just was alone, and I felt like I wanted to do that. So. I went in my swimsuit, you go into the sauna, it's super hot, super sweaty, kind of like, a little bit gross. Maybe I'm just not used to it, I love saunas, but it was sweaty. And then you go outside and you jump into the bay, and you cool off. And the first time that I went from the sauna into the bay, I thought I was going to have a heart attack. It was absolutely freezing. But then for some reason... You turn a little psycho and you want to just keep going back and forth, back and forth, because you get so much energy from it. And then when I left the entire trip, I just kept wanting to do this so badly, and so I've, I've been finding saunas all over the place now, because I love it. But there's nowhere like this in Helsinki, where you go sauna, straight into the actual natural water, right in the bay. Ugh, it was just so amazing. But anyways, I... I was a little skeptical and people were so nice and people were like, Oh yeah, come over here. Put your towel here. Make sure you bring your own towel with you. Also make sure you bring water because saunas are so dehydrating. So you're going to be extremely thirsty and there's nowhere to buy drinks around here. Like I said, it's all community run and it's just like a little bit run down. So bring your own towel, bring your own water. And then, at the end, you go jump in the water again. And that's the last bit. You don't go back in the sauna. You jump in the water just to rinse off. And then you'll probably definitely want to shower when you get back home. But I hopped back on my bike and I actually had a call at 3pm which is 9am back in New York. And so I needed to race back home because I ended up spending so much more time there than I expected. I think I spent an hour and a half. And you think that when you go to a sauna you'll just go in for a little hop out, maybe go in the cold water and then head home. But... It's such a ritual just to go back and forth and kind of meditate and spend time and relax and it was so deeply relaxing and I also didn't have phone service while I was there, which was so nice and just having my phone away and Relaxing enjoying that was such a treat. So I highly recommend doing that The next day I flew on to Oslo, Norway, and I was also just very, very obsessed with this place. So like I said, rather than spending multiple days here, I flew in in the morning and then flew out about 13 or 14 hours later at night. I actually was considering at that point just to stay and take my... Other existing flight two days later, but I really was hoping to save money and I thought let me just enjoy the city Let's not go crazy here and spend too much time. I mean upon Reflection now, I do wish I had just stayed because Oslo was beautiful but it will be nicer to go back with friends go back with family and enjoy it with people and I'm glad I'm glad that I saw the city, but I just At that time I just wanted to get back home. So anyways, I arrived, took the train right downtown, super easy, love all the public transportation in Scandinavia. Of course they pride themselves on that. It's cheap, easy, quick, gets you right downtown. The airport is super close to the downtown. So I walked around for a few hours, I went in a few stores, I grabbed some coffee, met some people, I met this lovely lady who's a model and she just was telling me all about her life in Oslo. She came from Russia and she was just fascinating. Killed some time, made a friend, that was nice, and then I walked around the bay. I had about two hours before my bike trip, because I had organized a bike trip, I just wanted to make sure I was surrounded by people and do something really active for the entire day. And so I booked a bike trip that was about six hours, which I'll walk you through. But, I had two hours before going on this bike trip, and so... So, what I wish I had done, and I need to tell you about this so that you're prepared when you go, but all along the bay, in Oslo, they have tons of saunas, again, like what I had done, but also just a little bit bougier, a little nicer, a little, like, cooler, and less run down and less people because they're all private, so, for very inexpensive, you can take a whole sauna for two hours, and you need a swimsuit, though. Of course, which I did not have with me because I I had checked my bag and wasn't going to walk around Oslo for the day with my suitcase. So I could have tried to buy a bathing suit, but none of the stores were open yet, because it was only 9am. And the stores opened around 11. So I couldn't get a swimsuit, but what you do need to do is bring a swimsuit with you, and as soon as you land at the airport, no matter what time it is, if it's night or if it's morning or afternoon, I would go to your hotel, drop your bag, And then head straight down to the bay and go experience this because this is not something you want to save to the end of the trip. It's something you want to experience right away because I think you're going to want to do it multiple times throughout the rest of your trip. It's just such a cool thing that's very specific to Scandinavia and specific to Oslo and it's very cheap. And of course, if you can split it with a bunch of friends, I think each sauna can fit about four to six people. And... Do it with friends. It's going to be just the best few hours. So I was walking around the city watching other people in their saunas, enjoy the sauna, in their bathrobes, and then jump out, jump in the water. Again, most of the time you need to bring your own towels, but that looked so cool. So I had so much FOMO and that's another reason why I just can't wait to go back to Oslo because I really want to go sauna, water, sauna, water. The air in Oslo just felt so clean compared to all the other places, especially compared to Stockholm. Then again, it was a beautiful sunny day in Oslo, not a cloud in the sky, whereas Stockholm, like I said, poured the entire time. Uh, I did this great bike tour, it was called the Viking Bike Tour. It was very inexpensive, but it ended up being incredible. Took us all over the city, taught us tons of history. It was so nice. It was me and a ton of old people, which is kind of the typical when I'm going traveling on my own. Um, they brought us to this amazing statue park at the end. It was just so cool. And again, you leave with such a richer knowledge of the place. And so something I want to make a practice and every single time I'm traveling is always going on these biking tours, going on these walking tours, learn the history because they are inexpensive. It's so fun. And actually, so I'm from Boston and I really want to do one of these walking tours in Boston to learn more about my own city. And I spend a lot of time in New York and have an apartment in New York and so I also want to do it in New York City as well. I'm sure I have so much to learn. So now, before I end, I just want to give you a little bit of more information about Stockholm and Helsinki and Oslo. So that you have a better sense and kind of a better picture of these places. So going back to Stockholm, Sweden. This is built on 14 islands that are connected by 50 bridges. What that might ring a bell and sound like is going to be Venice, and it's actually nicknamed the Venice of the North. As you walk around the city, you'll notice that it is a true center for modern design and fashion, and they seem to really be leading the way in so many of these respects. More so than Helsinki and Oslo are. If you work in tech or are interested in tech, Stockholm is definitely the place to go. They have a vibrant tech scene, and it's a very big startup hub. With extremely high living standards. they have a strong emphasis on sustainability Helsinki, on the southern coast of Finland and it's spread across the peninsula as well as onto numerous islands. Helsinki is known for the coastline as well as the water that's surrounding the city. You'll learn a lot about education, technology, and welfare when you're in Helsinki, because these are the three most important things that make this country kind of stand out among the Scandinavian countries. It is a little bit cooler because it's in a more northern location and so the winters are super long and super cold and while the summers are kind of mild and pleasant but not very hot. And finally Oslo, this is more of a mountain and fjord region. It is truly so natural in my opinion, it's very breathtaking and the Oslo fjord is the central feature of the city. Just watching the boats kind of float by in the forward and seeing all the activity is so much fun. Going to Norway, I think you can experience some of the best hiking and skiing as well as camping. Tons of people in Oslo. Go camping! And, oh, I found out that you can actually go camping anywhere you want in Norway as long as it's, I think, 50 to 100 meters away from buildings. So, you can really camp anywhere, and the city is so small and there are so many trees that surround the city that people just even go beyond the city limits and can go camp out there. Similar to the, to how when I was in Helsinki, Finland, and I was biking through the middle of the city, feeling as though I was in a field, off in the middle of nowhere. Oslo is similar in that the city downtown is dense, but just beyond the city, it just begins to be forest area. And so you can go camping not too far outside the city. Another little staycation, which I love. Also, interestingly enough, and you get a sense for this, Oslo has a really high cost of living and they have very high standards of living. And it's one of the wealthiest countries in the world So while all three cities share some common Nordic traits, such as high standard of living, focus on sustainability, and rich cultural scenes, each has a totally unique flavor that I think you need to experience for yourself. Please let me know if you plan to head to any of these and I would love to let you know some more places that I went as well as where you should go. it's kind of wild when you're solo traveling and the entire trip is going to be on your own when you leave your apartment because you leave with all of your things and then you realize that the entire time you're just going to kind of be on your own. Of course, you meet people and talk to people and have different experiences and you know, if you go to a cooking class or going on a walking tour, you interact with people, but you leave and you're going by yourself. So what I recommend doing, because I've done a lot of solo travel, is rather than. Doing a entire solo trip on your own, especially if it's your first solo trip. I have more so recommend Do a solo trip before or after meeting up with other people So I've done this before where I did a solo travel week to Ecuador and I was spending time in The Amazon Rainforest, and then after that ended, I went and met up with all of my classmates in Columbia. And now I didn't feel sad, and it was okay because I knew I was going to be on my own for a little while, but then I met up with all these people and had so much social time. Whereas, when I went over to Scandinavia, I live in a studio apartment in New York, so I left the studio apartment by myself, and then had this whole trip by myself, and then came home, back to the studio, and again was by myself. And then of course you make plans and see friends and life gets busy, but it's just a different feel for sure. I think I was just a little bit sad when I headed out on this trip to begin with so That definitely set the tone and kind of changed things and also when I got on that flight over to Stockholm Sweden I could not sleep. I had crazy insomnia this entire week And I wanted to do everything so cheaply because I wanted to see these three countries, like, on a dime. I wanted it to be as cheap as possible. My flights, because I booked them so late, I got some crazy deal, and it was 600 for all of my flights. Like, all four of the flights to Stockholm, Stockholm to Helsinki, Helsinki to Oslo, Oslo to home, yeah. Four flights, and they were 600. Sometimes if you book things super last minute, you get great deals, and that's also partially why I chose to go there. Thank you all for listening and thank you for hanging out with me. I really appreciate all of you who do come listen and if you enjoyed this, please feel free to subscribe to the Short Sleeve Travel Podcast. New episodes coming out each week. You can also follow me on any social media platform that you could possibly think of at katshortsleeve. So that's Kat Shortsleeve. You can also email me at katshortsleeve at gmail. com. Cannot wait for the next episode. Thank you all and cheers.