Summer vacations

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In Sweden, summer vacation is a cultural phenomenon deeply rooted in the nation's soul. It is a time when the whole country enters a collective summer break, an annual escape from reality that puts Swedish society into a state of summer trance. This extended vacation, spanning weeks to an entire month, is a sign of the appreciation of work-life balance, closeness to nature, and family time and a prime example of the quirky idiosyncrasies of Swedish working life.


When the summer vacation begins in Sweden, the office becomes a haunted house. Many Swedish colleagues leave, and "oh-so-important" projects are suddenly put on hold. The first year you experience this, you ask yourself: is this possible? In the second and third years, a typical (or often seen) Swedish shrug of the shoulders sets in. From the fourth year onwards, you are glad that this summer vacation exists because it is a time of deep relaxation, no or hardly any emails, no meetings, no nagging from offices that have to produce work so they don't lose their raison d'être. That's why I was brilliant at some point and deliberately scheduled my vacations during this time.


Business life in Sweden goes into a deep sleep during the summer months. Decision-makers are nowhere to be found; employees are in vacation mode. The concept of "lagom," which emphasizes the importance of balance, is taken to extremes during the summer vacations. It's as if the whole country decides that "enough work" has been done for the year, and it's now time to focus on the essential things in life - like catching the biggest fish or finding the perfect wild berry.


The summer months in Sweden are a time of contrasts. On the one hand, they are filled with joie de vivre, nature experiences, and family celebrations such as Midsummer. On the other hand, they reveal the darker side of Swedish work culture: a sometimes disturbing indifference to work, a tendency to avoid making decisions, and an almost comical dependence on collective vacation plans. This clashed with those not from Sweden or who did not identify with this way of life. Our Swedish colleagues often looked at us with a shake of the head when we handed in our vacation before the deadline and couldn't make it to the meetings that had to be held quickly and without fail before the summer vacation. We were met with the typical Swedish rejection: not openly, not offensively, even presented in an almost friendly manner, but with a crystal-clear position: We would like you to adapt your vacation to ours. But that's precisely what we didn't do, so one of these small boundaries always remained between us.


I sometimes asked why we wouldn't meet in the middle of summer. Why should we give up vacation or adjust it to the schedules built around the Swedish summer vacations? Wasn't it always said that we were all the same and everyone was essential to the company? This sizeable Swedish company with such an international structure could not show consideration for others as a whole. To think such a thing would have been very suspicious for the Swedish colleagues, as I gathered from the countless little jibes directed at the "foreign mafia" in particular. Yes, Sweden welcomed us, but only with the expectation that we would assimilate well.


In this sense, the Swedish summer vacation is a two-faced monster. On the one hand, it is a beautiful example of the Swedish way of life, emphasizing the importance of relaxation and personal happiness. On the other hand, it reflects a society that sometimes risks losing itself in its relaxation. It is a dance on the tightrope between indulgence and carelessness, between joie de vivre and lethargy.


If you're intrigued by my entertaining account of spending a decade in Sweden and want to delve deeper into my experiences, please click the link to discover more about my book.

Book "Ten Years in Sweden"




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