‘I’ve by no means felt such a skin-zinging feeling of being alive’: my yr of swimming in Nordic seas | Scandinavia holidays

Warm lights shine from the homes that dot the wintry slopes of Mount Fløyen and a chilly wind blows as I stand in a swimming costume attempting to speak myself into becoming a member of my associates in Bergen harbour. Stars are already showing within the inky mid-afternoon sky.

Life-changing moments are simple to identify looking back, however on the time they will really feel so extraordinary. I didn’t know then that my wintry swim would result in a yr of adventures. I used to be a hair’s breadth from wimping out, however then I used to be in. The water was so chilly it burned. I gasped for breath. The bones in my toes ached with chilly as I trod water, legs frantic underneath the darkish floor. It lasted underneath a minute after which we had been out.

As we warmed up, fingers round mugs of scorching chocolate, pores and skin zinging from the expertise, increasingly more girls arrived on the cafe, hair moist from the ocean. As stars unfold throughout the early night sky, we chatted about swimming and the way it made us really feel. I’d been on the lookout for one thing to choose me up ever since I had left my job on the verge of burnout. I stated to my good friend: “I’m going to spend a year doing this. I’ve finally found what makes me feel alive. I’m going to spend a year swimming in the Nordic countries.”

There are some pleasant generalisations to make about Nordic folks. Finns, they are saying, are born within the sauna. Norwegians are stated to be born on skis. But for those who ask me, all Nordic persons are born with saltwater of their veins: that’s how a lot they love the ocean. In Iceland it’s so ingrained that individuals see water as a cure-all. If you want time to suppose, for those who want perspective, they are saying you must lay your head in water. It grew to become my mantra for the yr.

I made a decision to swim as soon as per week wherever I used to be. After my expertise in Bergen, I returned to my house in Copenhagen and began to plot a route across the area. Where would I swim if I might swim wherever? I might take a dip within the harbour exterior my flat – that was simple. But what about Sweden, 35 minutes away by prepare? What concerning the Arctic – might I do this? Maybe I’d swim in Allas Pool, the heated floating swimming pool in Helsinki harbour I’d seen on Instagram.

As a journalist protecting Scandinavia, the journey facet was simple; all I needed to do was pack my equipment wherever I went on task. I solely wanted a swimming costume, two towels, one for my toes and one for my physique, and an S hook to hold my bag from. That final tip got here from a girl I swam with one pitch-black morning in central Copenhagen: you don’t wish to inadvertently depart your bag in a puddle, in spite of everything.

I reached out to different Scandinavian swimmers on Instagram to ask if I might be part of them for a dip if I used to be on the town. I regarded up locations with saunas, pure spas and easy stretches of seashore the place different folks often swam. Serendipitously, issues began to occur. I went to write down a couple of tiny resort on a distant archipelago in Arctic Norway and I discovered myself packing a swimming costume. I landed in a snowstorm and the subsequent day picked my means down an icy path from the Arctic Hideaway’s sauna to the jetty in my flip-flops. Looking down, I might make out the darkish purple spiny sea urchins shifting on the seafloor. And then I used to be in, head underneath the water, in a sea the place an orca had been seen simply days earlier than.

At the Arctic Hideaway I met Siri, a champion freediver, and some months later I went to fulfill her in Oslo. I swam in a harbour pool all on my own, as if I owned it, with views of the Oslofjord’s rocky pine-covered islands stippling the horizon. At lunch, Siri instructed me how she had dived with orca in northern Norway and seen an enormous bull orca spot her, flip and swim in the direction of her. He had appraised her with one among his black eyes earlier than calmly swimming away. I used to be in awe of what yow will discover within the sea for those who go searching.

As the yr went on, my swimming confidence grew. I met dippers dressed as mermaids, whirlpool swimmers, lighthouse swimmers and a number of bare swimmers. I met folks setting themselves huge swimming challenges, and those that make a each day observe of submerging themselves within the water for his or her well being and for enjoyable. It has been a life-changing journey.

I knew I had actually modified when I discovered myself swimming in Greenland. On a tiny island known as Uunartoq within the south of the nation, I stripped all the way down to my black swimming costume. Just off shore, two icebergs, every the dimensions of a three-bedroom indifferent home, floated beneath stern black mountains. Up the hill, there was a pure scorching pool with gently simmering water. But all I needed to do was get within the sea.

My toes sank into the feather-soft sand of the seashore as I ran and threw my physique into the waves. Little items of seaweed drifted within the water and I might see all the way in which to the underside. I used to be out rapidly, unable to take the chilly for lengthy. But I ran up and down the seashore to heat up so I might go in once more, this time for longer. Then I climbed the hill and sank into the 38C waters of the island’s scorching spring, watching tiny bubbles percolate up from the silty flooring.

After a yr of swimming in a few of the world’s coldest seas, I’ve realized loads about my skill to do onerous issues. I’ve realized that doing issues that make you are feeling alive, with different individuals who really feel the identical, is intoxicating. I’ve discovered that sinking into nature frequently makes you are feeling a part of it. I’d began the yr feeling burnt out and depressed, undecided if I might discover a future for myself on this a part of the world. But I realized that whereas I’ll at all times be English, it’s nonetheless potential to get slightly saltwater in your veins.

The Year I Lay My Head in Water: Swimming Scandinavia in Search of a Better Life by Laura Hall is printed by Icon at £18.99. To assist the Guardian, purchase your copy at guardianbookshop.com. Delivery fees might apply