Episode 13: Why Does Everyone in Denmark Have a Summer House?!

In this episode of The Scandi Shift, Meg and Selena dive into one of Denmark's most iconic summer traditions: the mysterious summer house.

The moment the weather turns sunny, it feels like half of Denmark disappears. Plans get declined. Cities empty out. Friends head "up north." And if you're new to Denmark, you're left wondering:

Where is everyone going? And how does everyone seem to have a summer house?

From classic Danish summer houses along the coast to the highly coveted kolonihave garden communities hidden throughout Copenhagen, Meg and Selena explore the culture, traditions, and realities behind Denmark's obsession with escaping to nature.

We talk about:

•  Why summer houses are such a big part of Danish culture 
•  What a Danish summer house is actually like 
•  The surprising rules around owning one 
•  The secret world of Copenhagen's kolonihaver
•  Why so many Danes disappear on sunny weekends 
•  The appeal of having a home away from home 
•  Whether summer house life is really as idyllic as it looks 
•  The hidden costs, maintenance, and realities nobody talks about 

Whether you're an expat trying to understand Danish culture or simply dreaming of your own Scandinavian getaway, this episode explores one of the most uniquely Danish parts of summer life. 

Danish summer houses, living in Denmark, expat life Denmark, Danish culture, Copenhagen life, kolonihave, Scandinavian lifestyle, moving to Denmark, life in Copenhagen, Danish summer traditions.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:10

Welcome to the Scandy Ship, the podcast where two ex-sat moms talk honestly about surviving, thriving, and building a happy life in Denmark. I'm Selena.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

And I'm Meg. And today we're talking about Danish summerhoosts or summer houses. Because the second the weather turns beautiful here, it suddenly feels like everyone in Denmark puts on linens and escapes to some tiny house somewhere. And you hear it everywhere. Like, oh no, we can't do something. We're gonna go up to our summer house. We're going up north. No will sound like a northerner when they're like, not up north. Um, oh no, we're away this weekend. And like as an expat, I feel like I'm sitting around being like, where is everyone going? How is everyone has this like magical place to like retreat to? And how do I get into that? Doesn't it kind of feel like everyone has somewhere to go? Yeah, you definitely can. And I'm sure you've been to a few, right? Because you've been here long enough. You've been here where you're like, this summer house isn't just like a myth of this like magical place somewhere that you go to.

SPEAKER_02 1:18

It should be a game of throw. Like no, upnell waste is coming. Everybody gets there quickly. But here it's the opposite. Summer's here. Rush to it. Summer's coming. Get to it. Yeah, and actually, everybody avoids the doll.

unknown 1:34

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:34

Like in the game of throw, let's travel. No one wants to go over the wall. I've I've been to a few and I experienced a Danish summer house a couple of years before we moved here. Okay. So 11.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Just a few years back. Just a few. Over a decade ago, and I have been quite recently, but my you never got invited. Exactly. And this is my in-laws. That's saying a lot in the Nair Papa.

SPEAKER_03 2:02

I made a really good first impression. But they've just recently moved from this one. They were still in the same area, and now I feel terrible, but I can never remember this area. Oh, it's outside of Copenhagen, and it takes like 30 minutes to drive there. So it's not the north-north, like the Danish Riviera. It's not Gililai, it's closer.

SPEAKER_01 2:22

Did you just call Gililai the Danish Riviera?

SPEAKER_03 2:25

No, the Danish, that is the definition. Gililai, Easelai, uh Tisvildi, all of those things. Yes. Is Hornbeck counted in there?

SPEAKER_00 2:36

All of that. It's that top house line.

SPEAKER_03 2:38

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 2:38

Yeah, the Danish Riviera.

SPEAKER_03 2:41

Fancy. Well, we weren't there. We were in my um a summer house community, like a development. Oh. Of uh how different size-shaped houses with gardens varying sizes. And it's very nice, very charming. And uh they actually uh I don't know if they still do this actually, but they used to disappear to that summer house and then rent their apartment out in Napole uh four months at a time. So very smart. Yeah, that is really nice. This is very the typical it's summer, goodbye. Or actually they left in May and came back in September.

SPEAKER_02 3:18

Yeah, they're like they're like, we'll see you when the weather turns poor.

SPEAKER_01 3:22

Exactly.

SPEAKER_03 3:23

Yeah, they've got it right. But yeah, you know, I that was my first experience a long time ago, uh, before we even moved here. And I I remember just thinking it was like a gorgeous day. And yeah, we were eating out, we had a they had a barbecue. It was like the best possible use of the summer house at that point.

unknown 3:40

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

Uh and it was very charming.

SPEAKER_00 3:42

That was my first experience.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Uh so I have also been to a summer house, but or summer hoose. I know everyone, it's it's summer hoose. Summerhoose. Summerhoose. But we rented it. So we found it on it's when it was uh back in 2021 when we came here for my uh my son's bon adop. And we were here for three weeks. It was my first time in uh Denmark, and we rented a summer house for a week up there. Also, and I didn't realize in the Danish Riviera. Uh not that far from Hornbeck, a little bit south of the. So I fell in love with peel and eat shrimp at Hornbeck. I still dream about the like, and uh yeah, I had some last night and I was so tickled pink with being so happy, just digging my fingers into peel it and shrimp that I was like, it's like a day in a summer house. Except there was a restaurant in Fredrich's bag. Um, but yeah, so we rented one and it was really lovely. I mean, just describe it for people who don't know. Because if you haven't been one, it is kind of like a vacation house. It is a vacation house of sorts. But yeah, I I I think of it, I'll describe it the way I think of it. Yeah, they do vacation house. Yeah, you are not you, you know. You're not allowed to live there full time, right? Is that the rule? Something like that? I don't know actually.

SPEAKER_03 5:03

I I I actually don't know.

SPEAKER_01 5:05

I think there's some that have rules and some that don't have rules.

SPEAKER_03 5:08

Yeah, maybe it maybe it varies depending on actually where you buy them. And so like if you go on to one of those where my husband's dad and his wife live, if you go to where I was just talking about before, where it's like an actual community, maybe you're not allowed to live full time on there. Maybe that's but I should No, I don't know.

SPEAKER_01 5:29

You own it, so I know, but they're I I remember that they're like sorry, I'm like, we will look this up. Yeah, we'll look this up and we'll we'll or you know what, someone write in and correct. I'll look it up whilst Meg tells you. Five for Spervis. Um, no, but so the they are vacation houses, but they tend to be from my experience, my vast experience, no, but also like looking at them. They tend to be one floor. So sort of think of like a like a cabin-like thing, one floor, but are surrounded by nature woods, usually on the beach or near the beach. And it has that feeling of just rustic nature without being super rustic. So the house we did was really beautiful, very Danish design, lots and lots of windows. I think the thing I hear and feel about summer houses is that they end up having lots of windows, like bringing the light in, and you definitely have a lot of indoor-outdoor living flow that kind of naturally is designed to the house, I think.

SPEAKER_03 6:28

Um they are a bit like living in an apartment, but with a garden.

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Yes, exact, yeah, exactly. And if the apartment was just one floor with nobody above you or below you.

SPEAKER_03 6:37

Okay, I just quickly looked it up because I'm actually curious about this, and um, I'm sure other people um thinking about buying a summer house, yes, you know, renting one just to test it. You you can, but I think it's special rules, different, a different kamoon. So okay. In some areas they say from November 1st to the end of February, then it's only weekends and short-term holiday stays are only allowed to live, actually live full-time in the summer. Oh, that's why it's called a summer house. That was sunnerbulk. Yeah. But yeah, exactly. I think and also I think it's because you have different, maybe you have different rules on the mortgage and ring and all of the borrowing rights. Yeah, that's why it's all tied in.

SPEAKER_01 7:25

Oh, that makes sense. Well, now it okay. I just thought it was a weird way of calling a vacation house. I was like, what a strange name, just to literally call it a summer house. Yeah. But now it makes sense if you can really only be there most of the time in the summer. That yeah, that makes sense. But anyway, they're they are this escape from urban life. And you you kind of go out and you're in nature, or you're in by the beach, or you're just a place that you kind of escape the hustle and bustle of like Copenhagen or in or Aarhus or Oldinsa. Insert your yeah, relatively large city here, kind of thing. People have them all over.

SPEAKER_03 7:59

Yeah, but I you know, we uh a friend of mine, her family have one out in Uland. Oh but it's a hell of a drive, four or five hours. So you then you need to be going for at least a week. You know, you get the kids in the car. I mean, that's just we all know what it's like traveling with kids in a car for longer than an hour.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

It is a lot. Yeah, when you're talking three, four hours, now you're talking to what we had in Tahoe. So we had our version of a summer house in Tahoe. Uh, and you know, I mean, people realize a cat that the US is very big, right? Obviously. So it's not unusual to have your vacation half be two or three hours away.

SPEAKER_03 8:36

And, you know, we live are you talking about a vacation, just like everybody has one, you know. Yeah, yeah. I mean, just average Bob and Susan, you know, vacation house.

SPEAKER_01 8:47

It's gonna be two to three hours, don't worry. No. But we had one uh in the Tahoe area and it was uh I loved it. Okay. So what I one of the most desirable areas in the country.

SPEAKER_03 8:58

I've been there. I can actually attest to this.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

It is stunningly beautiful up there. It is like stunningly beautiful. It is a different feeling than the summer house here, because obviously the landscape's different, right? We were in the mountain. We actually called it our mountain house, and my son will still reference it, be like, Mama, do you remember our mountain house? And we called it the mountain house because it was up on top of a mountain.

SPEAKER_03 9:19

You also called them happens, right?

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Yeah, but only if they're yeah, but only if it's literally that. Like ours was a house. It was built in like 1930, but it happened to be on a mountain. But so we called it the mountain house. And then we were only about 15 minutes drive down from uh Donner Lake, which is this beautiful lake. It's not Lake Tahoe, it's a little bit smaller, but we had a beach there. We went picnic, like it was, you know, I loved it because I really understand the pull probably of the summer house here, where you're going somewhere that you don't have, it doesn't have to be fancy vacation because you're just going to your own area. Home from home. It's a home from homes. Like I see. Yeah, like you're not, you don't have to pack up a lot of stuff. You probably have Mo's up there. You're putting a bunch of groceries in the car and you're driving up and you unpack them, and you get that sense of like you arrive and you just for me, we would drive up to that house, and the second I saw it, I would just feel all the tension drain away. And it was my happy place. It was somewhere where like we had um almost a half an acre. So quite a bit of property around, and it was a private road, and we knew the three neighbors we had, and it just felt very communal, very relaxing. And I mean, honestly, we would never have sold it if we hadn't moved here. I we still, it was a hard decision to sell it. It was really hard, but I love it. It's some perfect little place that you get away from everything. So I kind of assume that's the summer house here. I don't have one, but if you have one you want to, you know, share with me.

SPEAKER_03 10:56

They're hard to bet. They're like, I I don't really like talking about these Danish clubs, but I have to say, summer houses here are literally a Danish club. And if you don't have special permission to own one, you are not getting in that club. No. Uh they've made it very difficult for foreigners. I think it's easier when you're married to a Dane. Yeah. But if you are two foreigners living here, even if you have permanent residence, you have to apply the special permission to own a summer house. It's not just a given. Even if you own an apartment or a house here, yeah, you still need special permission in a lot of cases.

SPEAKER_01 11:37

That's crazy. I did not know that. I guess so our We did look up. Okay. So we get special treatment because we married into the club. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:48

And it's it is kind of it's sad, but yeah, I'm true. So it's it's it's it feels I think it appeals to foreigners probably to us, right? Yeah, it's a bit more exclusive. It's just it's not it's not the most attainable thing. Of course, you live here for five years plus you have permanent residence, then you apply for the permission. I'm sure you get it granted. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:11

But it's just funny that they have it's like Well, we just want to do an extra check.

unknown 12:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:16

Are you Danish enough? Yeah, or Danish adjacent enough to join our club.

SPEAKER_02 12:23

You bit this area.

SPEAKER_01 12:26

But it's not the most exclusive thing that you could get here of the tiny houses that people go to the summer. Oh, there is another house, right? The summer house, the summer hoose people talk about going away, da-da-da. But there is another thing that is very, very Danish, or maybe Nordic, but I don't know. I only have experienced it here in Denmark, and I haven't really experienced it. I've seen it from afar in a longing kind of puppy dog way, where I'm like, can I please experience this? And what is that, Selena? It is something really cool.

SPEAKER_03 12:55

Yeah, is this the real this is a really small ones, right? Yes. The Colonilleo. Colonieo. Even the name is cute.

SPEAKER_02 13:02

Yeah, but I I it took me really long time to be able to see that. I would hear it, I'd be like, what are they talking about?

SPEAKER_03 13:10

Like, isn't this just a summer house?

SPEAKER_02 13:12

No. No.

SPEAKER_03 13:14

It's they are they are quite different. Uh they're a bit like we must have all seen them. We have we have them all, they're dotted in little bits all over the city, but you will go past and they're like they almost look like the English equivalent, like an allotment, but it's a tiny house that you're not allowed to stay in.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

I think of it like if you think of like the secret garden, if you think of that book, The Secret Garden, and you imagine there's tiny little house sitting in some beautiful landscaped, uh, secret, well, I guess garden, then that's what it is. It's a small house on a tiny piece of property surrounded by other small houses on tiny properties that are then circled in like a colony.

SPEAKER_03 14:03

And you think it's hard to own a summer house? Forget about a colony here. No. I think this is they they just get passed down from generation to generation. I'd I unless there was no one to pass it to, and then I imagine the wait list to get in. Crazy. Yeah. We used to shoulder net line wheels, like that kind of uh whole thing, right? You would you need to be signed up at birth and 25 to 30 years later, you might get an offer for one. You may never get one, seeing people talk about this all the time. So, but I have actually been to one. You now I deal quite critical.

SPEAKER_01 14:46

Really jealous. I'm so jealous.

SPEAKER_03 14:49

I keep looking at these and be like, Can I make a friend? Yeah, this is one of my husband's close friends, and I don't think that's still in the family now. I'm not sure. Oh, sorry, it is. Okay. I was like, did they sell it and not to you? Because they used it recently. Ah, okay. Um, but it's quite close to Christiania in that part of the city. Um, very tiny, very cute, just enough facilities with a little garden and lots of sun. So it's great for barbecuing. Mahano, his friend, he still brings his friends together there and they do barbecues and have a beer or whatever. So but it is it's very charming. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

But uh I think it's the I mean it's the way of having, like in a city that's filled with lots and lots of apartments, it's a way of having your piece of land where you can enjoy privately, not just hanging out in a park.

SPEAKER_03 15:43

Very private.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Yeah, you have like hedges around and whole hectares, fencing.

SPEAKER_03 15:47

Yeah, he's very private.

SPEAKER_01 15:49

So my first experience with them, again, just looking in longingly, was we stumbled on the one that's in the Fredericksbeg Gardens, which that must be beam baldust. Yeah. I was like, people said unicorns don't exist. It's those Colin sitting in the middle of Fredericksbeg Gardens. And it was so cute. We're wandering the little path because it's sort of it feels like you're uh getting into this little area, and it was so cool. And there's varying degrees of gardens, right? Some were just a little bit just grass and you know, other things, and others had cottages that were, I swear, were like something out of uh, I don't know, uh Martha Stewart living or something like that, where it was like perfectly well designed, one room, cute little like things, and then beautiful roses everywhere. And then one was quite run down, and I was like, is this one for sale? Um, but talk about rules. We when we went out, there's a little board and it had all the rules of being there, reminding you what you had, like what all the stuff. And I was like, oh, okay, this is a very regulated piece of desirable property.

SPEAKER_03 17:02

They do have like a real sense of community. And some of these, yeah, so and again, it's like summer houses. Yeah. You can own one in Gilulai and it can be completely separate to everywhere else. Yeah. And it will probably feel more like your own home, but very private, and you're not necessarily part of a community. Because you're so separate. But then in the same way, the Colonihio, they're built around community. And this one where we were, if you watched around the corner, it had the little stage that silly had concerts going on and what? Yeah, so it it's and there's like a little playground. Like they have a few facilities there, and you know, you can probably get an ice cream. So it it's the same at my in-laws where they have they have there's like a a little shop on site, and there's playgrounds dotted around, and that's woodlands, walks all around there, and so this is like the the best club you could ever be part of.

SPEAKER_01 18:03

Yeah, like this true idyllic Danish summer life. Yeah, you just have to get into this club.

SPEAKER_03 18:11

But it they have a lot of rules around the colony here. Yeah. A lot of rules around maintenance, gardens, privacy, overnight use is really restrictive. Yeah, right. You can't really sleep there. You can, but you're not allowed to sleep there for long. And there's it's seasonal and there's all kinds of rules. And interestingly, it's ran it's funny, like the equivalent. It is like the allotment association that is responsible for them. So it's like diarrhoically translated, it's allotment, which is what I always think of. Yeah. But allotments in England are more like where you go and it's like maybe you put a shed or a greenhouse on there, and you're probably growing vegetables and fruit and herbs. And you know, maybe, maybe you see like Fred and Vera sitting out on two deck chairs, you know, once in a while. I know my parents used to own an allotment and they used to drive out to it. It's not like just next door. An allotment is just like a little piece of land. A little huge piece of dirt. Okay. And they have the cut, they do actually have the concept here where you can buy certain square meters of dirt because a good friend of mine did this some years ago. And then you can go out to it and you can plant, you know, tomato, straws, whatever you want, herbs. And you just have to tend to it. There's an overseer for the land, but it is a concept that I believe is quite popular here if you're along to growing your own stuff.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

We have a few of those, uh a few in San Francisco, and then um my friend has one in DC, which is like a like a community garden, and you get your little piece of the garden that you can, you know, but you can't build anything on it because it's not big enough. You can like sit by it.

SPEAKER_03 19:52

That's the sub, but that's the saying here. You're not allowed to build, you're allowed to plant. Okay, and you can be there, but you are not allowed to plant. Uh sorry.

SPEAKER_02 20:01

You yeah, you just go and you sit with a piece of dirt. They're not allowed to put anything into it. I'm really not selling this sunset. Everybody's like, why the hell would I do that? I can just do that on my balcony, minus the dirt.

SPEAKER_03 20:16

No, you can plant, plant away, but you cannot build like put a shed.

SPEAKER_02 20:22

You can't just stop for like this open space and be like, I'm just gonna bring my shed and build this now and excuse me, and put up my little bench.

unknown 20:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:36

And actually you just rent it by, I think, the season. Okay. And you pay that's really cool. Yeah, it's uh sorry, it's a slight side note. But if it the dream of the colony here is being crushed by the wait list and being foreign and all the other stuff that goes with it, then go and check out like these allotment type owner pieces, or only a piece of dirt, and uh go and plant away.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Oh my god, anything's possible in Copenhagen.

SPEAKER_01 21:06

I'll be farmer Meg, I guess, and it's the one way is like a foreigner. I'll be foreigner, foreign Meg. Because I don't think that all the, I mean, it's great to have these, and the rules feel a little like you're like a barrier to entry, but I don't always think it's an intentional exclusion. It's more practical than that. It's like, oh, you know, that's the long wait list, like as you said. It's the fact that that um sorry.

SPEAKER_02 21:32

How's that?

SPEAKER_01 21:34

Okay, oh we we have a visitor today. My dog Nopa is hanging out with us, and he's just stolen Selena's socks.

SPEAKER_03 21:42

And he was full on, which none of us have noticed, just chewing away and stretching them and pretty gross.

SPEAKER_02 21:50

So we'll nopa. Add dog.

SPEAKER_01 21:56

Oh my god, side. We are full of side tangents today, and we're I'm totally keeping this in. I'm not editing in it out. Um, okay. All right, he's not coming to be our guest uh speaker anymore. Uh but yeah, so the Colony Hio are passed through families. The, you know, the summer houses are one of these things where you're like, okay, probably trying to get into it, trying to, you know, find a family connection. So it can feel very exclusionary, but it's just because it's how everything's been done here, right? You're just passing it down. And honestly, there are versions of this in the US too, and I'm sure in England where the things get passed down, you know, you just keep it in the family. So it's not like Denmark is purposely trying to say, not you, foreigner. It's just how everything has happened. And it's up to us as foreigners to find our way in. How do we get in? How do we get this? Yes. So Colony Hill basically out.

SPEAKER_03 22:54

Yeah, I think I would it is possible. I don't know if it's possible as a foreigner. I I don't know the rules and I know they're probably stricter, but it is run like it's like an andeal. So you there's the association has to value corrupt. You can't just, you know, stick it on the market and yeah, price it at whatever. So it is it's regulated, just like what the andeals side are. So yeah, I would say, yeah, I think summer house is probably a more realistic dream. Um would you get one? Yeah, I when I'm at a summer house and the weather is good, yeah, I think I understand this. This is wonderful. Look at the kids running around making memory space because my kids are like seven, five, and two, and the two-year-old is just wandering Walter right now. So it's like any tag on him. Has to be an eye on him at all times. He's like, it's anxiety provoking. But I was like, you know, it's enclosed, you can, you know, it's very safe. We're just running around. And because we live in an apartment, right? We don't have that stairs like connected to our house. But my husband and me are very much, and and I know he listens to this, so he's probably done nodding at this point. We are aligned on this one. We went and stayed in two summer houses, one in Gililai, one in Leaselai. We did staycation, as did most people when it was um COVID. Yeah. And we did a week each, 2020-2021. It rained every single day, both breaks in July. Oh no. And we were like, we are never owning a summer house in Denmark. This is super depressing. As the problem is that all of those places are geared up to good weather. Yeah. Weather's not great. You're okay. You're that. Well, it's stuff. And the houses were beautiful, the gardens were lovely, but of course you don't use the gardens if it's powerful. Poor rain, yeah. Uh if it's pouring down, you know, hit my kids like the rain, but you don't want to be in it constantly. So I feel like those two experiences ruled it out. Yeah. I do understand why people have them, and I I I love visiting, but I'm not sure I'm up for owning it. In fact, our longer-term plan would be to own something in Italy.

SPEAKER_01 25:12

I mean, you can depend on the weather there, but it gets blazing hot in the Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_03 25:17

Like now you have to be more northern Italy to stand a chance of surviving the summer. I mean, even Tuscany can have these cream beans in Umbria, Tug can be crazy too. But I think, you know, there's a lot of pull. It's hence the cliche of the weather, the food, there's an option of the sea. Yeah. Um they love kids, you know, it's just it is really Italy, it is just a dream of mine. And yeah, so I know there's hidden costs and maintenance with all summer houses. Yes. But I like the idea of investing in one where I can see myself living with more and more as I get older. Oh, like I have higher memory to go to. Yeah, yeah, that's more of the dream for us. I think uh the Danish summer one that is unlikely.

SPEAKER_01 26:05

Yeah, I I see both sides because as I mentioned, you know, our vacation house, I loved being there and it was this relaxing place, but there were costs. I mean, the house was built in 1933, so it is almost a hundred years old. And it was originally when it was first built, a um a sheepherders like hut or farm, and then built out into a house from there. So it was really cool and had a really cool history, but that also means history means old, which also means upkeep. And if you ask my husband, he'll talk about all of the projects on the house that he would do while we were up there and not as much the relaxing, because he's the one who's like stripping paint, fixing a fence, and I'm the one that's sitting there. I mean, my filth cliche, but I was sitting there drinking a coffee and enjoying the veal, and he's like sleeping a wet in the back, scraping. We did mix cement once together. And when we had the wood delivery, because it was a wood-burning heating, it was just wood-burning stove, heated the whole house. So we had to have wood deliveries, and you get these big, massive pallets. I would move them into our shed. I did do that, and that took hours and hours of time. And I did it pregnant. My mom was like, Are you insane? Are you insane? Don't haul wood pregnant. Like, what is wrong with you? Yeah, so that is the downside. And you're right, there's a lot of maintenance. And so if you can get something that doesn't have that much, or you can just have someone do it, then it kind of makes it a little bit more worthwhile. But it is a cost that I mean, there's a cost to it.

SPEAKER_03 27:39

And I I interestingly, in England, the very wealthy may have a summer, a place, or a vacation home. Yeah. And it's always like, and sorry, I have to just say as well, there is an absolute range and variety. Yeah. You can have everything from a static caravan. So the big long caravans that like don't move anywhere that could be us, they need to be like towed somewhere. I got it, yeah, yeah. To those parts. Like there or caravan. Like a camper. Now, camper van, you can still move. Ah, okay. You would call them trailer. Ah, okay, okay, yeah. And uh that brings up all kinds of vision. Yeah. But we stayed in the equivalent, like a log cabin. A little had that feel like on a holiday park last last summer, and it was wonderful. It was such a nice place. But I think there's a stigma to some of these places where it's not the nicest. Yeah, yeah. So that's like the starting point. And then, and they're obviously much more affordable. Then it goes all the way through different cabins. Then it's just when you own a second house, yeah. In England, it's a home. Yeah. It would have to be a house for someone. It's not a summer house, it's a cottage in the cotswolds or down on the coast or in the you can it's just owning a house. So the attack obviously comes with a significant cost associated. That's true. It's really not. I would say because of weather, because of cost, it's not really a thing unless, like I said, you're very wealthy. Yeah. And you're into Airbnb and those things, because we don't have as much regulation as they do here. So you're not going to be able to do that. Yeah, they really cramp down on that. Yeah. Yeah, you could make good money owning an Airbnb in the UK, still for sure. But it that's why for me, it's a huge luxury to have your own summer house. It's not a given. No. I wonder if sometimes when it's such a thing here that it's like a goal is automatically created for Danes, and it's like, we'll own a summer house, yeah. You know, we'll go home from home in a garden. For me, I don't have that feeling. Yeah, I get that. I'm still like literally I see Italy as a dream. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:50

I I'm so torn. I love it. And maybe, yeah, the weather part. I mean, today is beautiful and sunny. So imagining us being up in a summer house and recording right now would be a love, like lovely dream. Um, but I kind of come off of the sting of having these like hidden costs in our Tahoe House, including one that people don't talk about that much, which I'm gonna share our bear story. And no Dane is having that problem here in their summer house. So we had a bear break into our house while we were gone, and we have cameras set up around the property, like mostly wildlife cameras, so we could capture well, wildlife. So this is the funniest thing. It went up to the main window on the living room side and it took the screen off, like it like plucked it off, not ripped it, just plucked the screen off, put it aside, and then it leaned in on the window and basically. I mean, bears are very heavy. It basically pushed the window out of its pane, didn't break the window. I mean, we were so lucky, and then it slid down the window onto the sofa. Season pro. Oh, yeah. These bears are very smart, and then walked across our glass coffee table. Again, so lucky it did not break it, and then ravaged the kitchen. Like all the pantries are open, refrigerator was open. Again, very lucky it didn't rip it off because I've seen it where it rips things off. But and then it it took snacks, it went in and out several times, including making its own s'mores. Like it grabbed a chocolate and more shit. This is jackpot.

SPEAKER_02 31:31

I know, right?

SPEAKER_01 31:32

But um Yeah, so then I was a bit nervous from that then on because once they know that they can have food, it could be a problem. So we had to make sure then the house had no food that was not in a can for like some time. It even ate the dog food. It took the entire dry thing of dog food out into our woods a thousand feet down. My husband found it and had to bring it back. He's like, again, he didn't. This bear was very neat and tidy. It didn't rip and destroy, it just went ahead and had some snacks. So, yeah, that was a hidden cost of repairing the window and kind of bear-proofing a little bit that I don't think that's in the hidden cost here, but is something that you would have to think about. Here it's gonna be something else, like I don't know, rain, rain damage from all the rain of the winter.

SPEAKER_03 32:14

So, yeah, after hearing all of this, I'm like, maybe best summer house is one that your friend owns.

SPEAKER_02 32:20

Yes! No cost, so chin it.

SPEAKER_03 32:26

All the perks, none of the hassle.

SPEAKER_01 32:28

But then this is the problem though. Which of us is gonna own it and invite the other? No, obviously you.

SPEAKER_02 32:41

You you get the one in uh Hornbeg. I'll get it on the Danish Riviera.

SPEAKER_01 32:48

Exactly. And you'll get it on the Italian Riviera. Louis, like, I think one of our Rivieras is a little bit better than the other. But I don't know if we've solved anything here. I think we both understand the appeal, and I hope it's helped listeners understand what is this mystical summer house, Colinio, these like tiny places that people are escaping to um when the weather gets beautiful. Um, but I think it's the best version is like as you said, someone else owns it and you go get to visit. This is scuffering our plan.

SPEAKER_03 33:20

I feel like you need to own. We just made an agreement. Did we not? Owl for one in Italy, you get the one in five people switch around. Oh no, but exactly. I mean, I like the access version, I like being invited. I really have enjoyed time there. There are magical moments and memories to create. It's lovely to go to a place where you can just barbecue freely and you're not bothering neighbors or you know, yeah, you have all of that when you live in the apartments, right? But you know, I think I could live without the maintenance, the wait list, or the overall responsibility.

SPEAKER_01 33:53

Yeah. So maybe that's the key for expats, right? Like we can't get on the wait list early, but your goal is to find a Danish friend who has a summer house.

SPEAKER_03 34:04

Yeah, no, the wait list is for the colony. Oh that's true. The the summer house is private. So you can up to you can't need people to move if you have a desirable one you want to be in. It has to be vacant, but yeah. There's no wait list. Oh my god, no. But if you have a summer house story or a colony hail story, that would be fun. Yeah. Just please write to us at thescandyship at gmail.com or DM us on Instagram.

SPEAKER_01 34:33

And if you enjoyed this episode, like other episodes, please rate, review, subscribe, send it to a friend. It really helps uh other people find the show. Yes, thank you for spending a lot of your day with us here on the Scandy Shift. Tack free day.