Sustainable and creative life in the Arctic Circle
Okay here’s the deal. What I’m about to tell you next is completely and honestly straight from my heart, not a pitch. The life in Lapland is just pure magic and I couldn’t imagine myself living anywhere else in the whole wide world. I’ve been traveling a lot and living abroad also in tropical places during the years of my studying and I think that’s the reason why I love Lapland so much. It is safe, it is pure, it is bliss, a real paradise.
Child of Nature- Life in Lapland
So let me introduce myself. My name is Inka Holck. I’m 27 years old, a child of nature born on Midsummer day, an entrepreneur with two independent businesses, a creative mind, an outdoor spirit, and we have a small sleddog kennel of with my husband. I’m originally from a small town called Kuusamo which is officially just below the Lappish border but practically the same as Lapland by its nature and partly culture too. I moved to Rovaniemi exactly seven years ago to study at the University of Lapland and became an actual local. And like I said, I don’t see myself moving outside of Lapland anymore.
Lapland Love
I finished my studies at the Uni two years ago and graduated with a Master’s degree from the faculty of Arts and design. My major was media science. Already before that I’ve been working as a photographer and after I graduated I knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. It is not the easiest way of making your living but it’s definitely something that allows me to do what I love: to create, to be in a deep connection with the nature and to be part of developing a sustainable Lapland. Basically what I do for living is different kinds of things on the field of media as a freelancer such as photography, filming, graphic design, social media and the list goes on. The other business that I have is a new ecological clothing brand VALOTUS Design which was launched in the beginning of this year. I’m also about to publish soon a blog/platform that emphasises the sustainable choices of local Lappish businesses.
Arctic Life in our Lapland
What I love about being an entrepreneur in Lapland is the freedom of concentrating on the things that actually matters. Lapland offers a quite good platform for creative minds and passioned people with its wide range of possibilities and larger understanding of a community. Even though you might live in one place you can still expand your working area to all over Lapland. A 100 km-one-waywork-trip for the locals here is not an issue but an opportunity. It also gives a possibility to have a bigger network and develop yourself more. Lapland gives me so much inspiration.
On my free time, I basically spend all my time outdoors. The arctic lifestyle with its culture of respecting the nature and all the changes of the eight seasons that we have is vital to my soul’s wellbeing. Hiking, camping, fishing, freeskiing, you name it. And as mentioned, we have a sleddog kennel with my husband Jussi and our fluffy family is the therapy for the mind and body and the perfect counterbalance for my work which consists quite much of sitting on a computer. Working with sleddogs resets my mind onto the source the authentic life in the forest where all you need is the nature and the unconditional love of the dogs. Watching them bursting out of happiness and doing what they love is magical and inspirational.
For me as a nature spirit, protecting the nature and our winters and thriving towards more ecological life is really important. I’ve witnessed the changes in the climate from the front seat here in Lapland so I want to make sure that whatever I choose to do in this life has a positive impact on the healing process of the Mother Earth.
⇐ Story & Images By Inka Holck ⇒
If you would like to follow more of my life in Lapland, you will find me on Instagram @salsaink
