Laura Corridor and her household get an unique have a look at Intrepid’s new Finland household vacation and uncover a brand new solution to expertise nature in an arctic forest.
There’s a tree stump on the fringe of Halipuu Forest in Finland that tells a narrative. It’s just some steps down the woodland path from the automotive park and it’s the rationale this forest is standing at present.
‘That is the place my father’s lumberjack profession started, aged simply 12,’ says Riitta Raekallio-Wunderink, who runs Halipuu Forest together with her husband Steffan, patting the previous stump. It’s additionally the place it ended, a long time later, along with his realisation that he cherished the residing forest greater than the timber he gained by chopping it down.
Riitta’s father grew up right here, on a chunk of land given to his household by the state after they fled the combating between Finland and the Soviet Union within the south throughout World Warfare II. And, as she places it, it wasn’t a straightforward childhood: ‘Think about taking care of eleven kids in temperatures of -35°C.’ The household was saved by the forest; timber was scarce again then, so reducing down the timber offered them with essential earnings and a way of survival.
‘Ten years in the past, we had been sitting on the campfire grilling sausages collectively when a tree fell within the forest,’ Riitta recollects. ‘Dad stated it was an indication that it was time to chop the forest down. However he additionally stated he didn’t wish to. He had this loopy concept that as a substitute of reducing the timber down, we must always put them up for adoption on-line and see if we may encourage individuals to hire them as hugging timber.’
What seems like a loopy thought has grown roots and leaves and now thrives: the previous timber forest is now a spot the place individuals can undertake timber, attend the annual World Tree Hugging Championships and indulge within the delights of arctic cocooning. Arctic what? Nicely, we’ll get to that.
Strolling in a wonderland, whether or not it’s winter or not
I’m on vacation in Finnish Lapland with my kids, aged 10 and 14, exploring all the pieces the world has to supply, from husky canine buggy rides to hand-feeding reindeer. It’s honest to say that this forest expertise is probably the most uncommon. It’s October, and as we observe Riitta down the muddy forest monitor, we are able to see patches of snow that fell final week subsequent to inexperienced, star-shaped moss and frost-covered mushrooms. Excessive above us, wispy, beard-like lichen hangs from tree boughs, gathering raindrops. Because the light wintery solar shines by the timber, the drops sparkle like jewels.
Bushes are a treasured commodity right here, round 170 kilometres (105 miles) north of the Arctic Circle. Because of the local weather on this excessive location, they solely develop for eight weeks a yr – and while you chop a tree down, it takes generations for one more to develop as an alternative. It means, ‘while you plant a tree right here, you received’t take pleasure in it and neither will your kids: it’s one thing to your kids’s kids,’ says Riitta.
I’m hoping to plant a distinct form of seed in my kids’s minds: an curiosity in nature and an appreciation of the world round them. As a frazzled mum, I’m eager to cut back my stress and have a soothing vacation too. Whereas travelling with an area chief has definitely made the logistics simpler, it’s been some time since I’ve had a very restful vacation. What I didn’t realise was that these two issues can come collectively.
A heat welcome from the forest
We observe the trail by the forest, marked by orange ribbons on the timber, choosing ruby-coloured lingonberries from the bushes as we go. Riitta stops us half manner alongside it, asking us to place our glove-free fingers on the tree trunks beside us, one on a silver birch tree, one other on a pine.
‘What can you’re feeling?’ she says. ‘Is there a distinction between the 2 timber?’
We attempt laborious to work it out. ‘One is clean and the opposite is tough?’ volunteers Olivia. It’s true, nevertheless it’s not the proper reply. Riitta places us out of our distress and says that these two timber behave very otherwise within the chilly, and maybe it’s not chilly sufficient but to inform the distinction, however birch timber pull all their vitality into their roots, whereas pine timber are at all times heat, even within the depths of winter.
‘They really change their cell construction,’ she explains, ‘growing the sugar construction of their cells like a form of antifreeze to maintain them from increasing and contracting with the altering temperatures.’
Survival within the Arctic is an actual factor: in these elements, temperatures can drop beneath -40°C and within the polar winter evening season the solar sinks and doesn’t come up for over two weeks. Nature goes into hibernation beneath layer upon layer of snow, and winter can linger for as much as seven months of the yr. Simply as the bottom is roofed in mushy rolling moss as we stroll by it, in a couple of weeks will probably be coated in snow.
Forest bathing in full swing
It’s sufficient to make you shiver and attain for a blanket, and conveniently there may be one readily available as we attain the midpoint of the forest stroll: the arctic cocoons. Strung between the timber, three hammocks cosy with gray woollen blankets are ready for us, a couple of steps from a roaring campfire. We obligingly climb in, with Riitta readily available to tuck in one other blanket and set us gently swinging.
We’re laughing; no one has tucked me into mattress since I used to be a baby. Ellie appears to be like over with pink cheeks and says it’s like being a child once more, and Olivia simply appears to be like up on the timber above, a smile enjoying on her lips. The clouds above us are pure white; the tall timber beneath them so darkish they appear like paper cutouts.
It’s a supremely stress-free expertise as we swing within the quiet forest, inhaling its cool, clear air. As we breathe in, we’re additionally inhaling phytoncides, plant chemical substances that timber launch into the air to guard themselves from invasive species and organisms. These pure chemical substances have been confirmed to spice up human well being too, lowering cortisol ranges, lowering stress and reducing blood stress.
I really feel the stress drop from my shoulders and dissolve in my physique. The youngsters chuckle as Riitta swings them once more.
Embracing nature (and its well being advantages)
All too quickly it’s time to go, however not earlier than we do one final thing. Riitta tells us that actually, we shouldn’t go away the forest with out getting the most effective well being profit there: by hugging a tree.
‘Halipuu means “a tree to hug”,’ she says, explaining how they named the forest, ‘And it’s all come out of a love for the forest.’
It doesn’t really feel like a wierd factor to do, to wrap our arms across the tree trunks, shut our eyes and breathe of their woody scent for a second or two. It’s an appreciation of the forest and its survival expertise, in addition to an appreciation of how good it may possibly really feel to expertise nature in such a chilled manner. I’m grateful for a break, and a second of pure leisure within the timber.
Then we’re again on the monitor to the automotive, previous blueberry bushes and shiny pink moss, anthills and carpets of fallen leaves. We’ve been completely exploring Finnish Lapland’s treasures all week, from its eating places serving mushrooms and reindeer steaks to its native handicrafts, however that is the one expertise the children can’t cease speaking about after they get dwelling.
Laura Corridor and her kids travelled to Finland as company of Intrepid. You and your family members can expertise arctic cocooning on Intrepid’s new Finland Household Vacation.
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