From Barcelona to Stockholm: What 4 Months of Darkness Taught Me

Four months ago, I left Barcelona’s sunshine for Stockholm’s darkness. Two overstuffed suitcases, a playlist full of Swedish House Mafia, ABBA and Ted Gärdestad, and absolutely no idea what I was doing.

My name is Laia, I’m 20 years old, and I just finished my Erasmus+ internship at XperienceSthlm. This isn’t a post about what I learned at work (though I learned a lot). This is about everything else.

How a Catalan girl ended up in the Arctic (well, almost

I’m from Barcelona – sun, beach, late dinners at 9 PM, life on the streets. Why would I choose a place where the sun sets at 3 PM in December?

But I found XperienceSthlm – a small tourism company creating cultural experiences and producing a podcast called “Somewhere in Stockholm”. Something about it felt right. Small team. Real projects. Actual responsibility.

So I said yes to Stockholm. To the cold. To the unknown.

When you start to meet the Nordic reality

On the first day, I was terrified. “What if my English isn’t good enough? What if I mess everything up?”

But Fran just said: “Here are your projects. You’ve got this. Ask when you need help.” No micromanaging. Just trust. 

That week I also discovered Swedish culture is very different from Catalan culture:

• Silence is okay. We sometimes fill every moment with noise. Swedes are comfortable with quiet. Took me weeks to not find it awkward.
• Punctuality is extreme. 10:00 means 10:00.
• Lagom = just right. The opposite of Barcelona’s “more is more” energy.

What I actually did

I helped produce a podcast (researched guests, wrote emails, created interview questions). I wrote blog posts about Swedish Christmas, vintage shopping, architecture and design. I designed travel guides and I also learned SEO.

But here’s the thing – nothing felt like “work” because everything was real. 

I wrote about Christmas markets after spending the afternoon at Stortorget tasting glögg. I wrote about thrift shopping after digging through vintage racks in Södermalm with the team. I created a blog post after each tour and visit.

The moments that actually mattered

1. The Vasa Museum: Massive 17th-century warship that sank on its first voyage. They pulled it out 333 years later. Pretty insane. Also the museum smells weird.
2. Christmas Markets: Overhyped but nice. Freezing cold, too many tourists, overpriced glögg. Went with the team one evening and just people-watched. A good moment.
3. Södermalm with Fran and Olesia: Some of my best memories are from wandering around Södermalm with them. Exploring vintage shops, talking about everything and nothing, just being part of the team. They made me feel welcome from day one—not just “the intern.”
4. Weekly Fika: Team meetings that turned into actual conversations. Talked about life, culture, and missing home. Fran asked how I was actually doing and I rambled about missing my mom’s cooking. She just listened. Mattered more than any work task.
5. Rågsved and Snösätra: Neighborhoods not in guidebooks. Graffiti, community centers, immigrant businesses. Real Stockholm. Reminded me of el Raval—real places, real people.
6. The Darkness: Late November was rough. Sun set at 2:45 PM. Called my mom feeling down. She said buy candles and stop complaining. I did. It helped. Got used to it by December. Still prefer Barcelona sunshine though.

What I actually learned

Living alone in a foreign country for the first time forces you to figure things out. All the little things you take for granted at home – navigating a new city, managing your own schedule, dealing with problems without your family there to help. In Barcelona, I always had people around. Here, everything was on me. And somehow, I survived. Actually,  more than survived – I learned I’m more capable than I thought.

Fran gave constant, detailed feedback. At first, I took it personally. Then I realized that she’s investing time to make me better.

Swedes master mys — coziness. Candles. Soft light. Warm blankets. Barcelona creates warmth through people — loud dinners, packed terraces, street life. Stockholm creates warmth through intimate spaces. Both are beautiful. I’m taking both home with me (plus six actual candles).

Neither is better, it’s just different. Experiencing both made me love Barcelona more while appreciating what Stockholm taught me.

What I’m taking home

More than completed projects and a better CV:

• Confidence that I can handle unfamiliar situations and proof that the scariest decisions are often the best ones. Confidence that I can handle unfamiliar situations and appreciation for different cultures – and deeper love for my own.
• Memories of snow, darkness, light, Christmas markets, vintage finds, and a team and friends here that felt like a second family. And knowing that home will always be Barcelona but part of me now belongs to Stockholm too.

To Future Students

If you’re scrolling through Erasmus options, wondering if you should go — yes. Do it! Of course you will miss home and maybe you’ll complain about the cold (you will also FaceTime home constantly). 

But you’ll figure it out. You’ll grow. You’ll surprise yourself. And four months later, packing your suitcases, you know that this experience, it’s irreplaceable!

So I just can say tack så mycket to this country and their people, and also to XperienceSthlm and Fran for trusting me and giving me space to grow but also learn a lot.

Laia Olivella

(c) Ana Barbosa @baoba.lab

P.S. – Currently crying while packing, already planning my return.