Thanks for so many new subscribers and all your nice comments. Right now I’m back in Finland again. I’m traveling around the Nordics this summer and I’m also making videos about it. The first part is already uploaded to my channel and more will follow soon. The journey began in Sweden and later I drove to Norway and Finland. You can watch Part 1 here: ruclips.net/video/OrJrmop11AA/видео.html
i can understand your feeling about place in nature where you can return in your memory, when i was teen i visited some amazing place in Finnish forest/lake and still after 40 years i can return to that place in my mind.
Are you interested in making a video later about how you planned the whole trip with the expenses? I know Finland is no way cheap for eastern European standards but sharing your experience might benefit and encourage others, myself included
As a finnish person. Thank you for capturing the beauty of my homeland. And how you described Finland was just beautiful. Sometimes I become "home-blind" to what beauty I have so close by, it's nice to get a reminder from someone who doesn't live here once in a while, to remember not to take all this for granted.
I've only started to understand the beauty of Finland. There's no comparison between the nature of Norway and Finland as they're so different. I've lived in Norway and felt envious of the spectacularity and how breathtaking the landscapes are. In the end it is not that what defines nature to me anymore. Instead of how things look I've learned to see how they feel. Right now while writing this message I'm cocooned by a bedrock surrounded lake, listening the silence of the forest and I'm left feeling grateful that I can bike to such a place from helsinki and feel safe and part of the soft and forgiving side of nature which nurtures everything. This leaves me with a different feeling that is, to me, as spectacular and breathtaking.
That is a great point. Mountains look beautiful, but they are not particularly inviting for longer stays. Anyhow, both Norway and Finland are amazing countries.
As a Norwegian, I can relate to what you write. I come from Finnmark (the northernmost county of Norway) which is not as spectacular as other parts of the country. Now I live in the south, and our cottage is in an area with low hills, marshes and forest. It is not the view that makes you bond with the place. It's the silence, the sounds and the atmosphere. I love Finnmark, with its high sky, rounded mountains and wide view, and I love the place where I now live in south. It is beautiful without the spectacular nature that characterizes large parts of Norway.
Just out of curiosity where are you when you wrote this message. Im finnish and lived my whole life (26 years) in Helsinki. Are you in Sipoo or in Nuuksio or where excatly? :)
What you said about the spirit of nations and of Finland really resonates with me. I'm a half-Finn but grew up living far from Finland, on the other side of the world, in a large international city. I travelled the world a lot too. We used to visit the Finnish lakeside with my parents in the summer and winter seasons times, and compared to elsewhere, there was this feeling you describe here quite well. It's a kind of pure stillness, a calmness, like there was no place to rush anymore, no place else to be, you were existing in the moment, a place that felt close to a spiritual mediation. I understand where the Pagans got their inspiration, because when you're in the stillness of nature, just floating in a cool lake, a campfire burning in the distance, staring at the bright sky in the middle of the night, and you hear the loon's calls echoing across the lake, it feels like you're with the Gods, they're not somewhere high above you, but all around you, in everything.
Extremely well put. This is also eerily similar to a lot of concepts in finnish folk lore. Tbh its very common in animism from places all around the earth but we have this concept of väki, translating directly to folk, but it actually means a certain spirit or power in things like the forest or water. Everything is interconnected and alive. You and the creator of this video mentioning this meditative state is also very interesting to me. Ive always taken it for granted, but i really started thinking about it when a while back my ex (who lived in london) came to finland and said the place made her disassociate a lot, and not in a bad way. There really is something about the nature and even the cities that make it feel sort of like a limbo and i love it
The way you discribed Finlands spirit made me almost cry. I feel the same way about our nordic nature. There is this feeling. Almost like a presence that can be felt. Like all my ancestors see me when I walk in the woods and time stops.
The aboriginal finns must've felt the same, we used to have a pagan religion of peoples' spirits going into trees when they died. We still sometimes dedicate trees to people when they're born, I believe the Saami people have the most remenants of the religion though... But at large that whole thing has been wiped out.
@@Gnomereginam Aborginal Finns would be modern day Finns, no significant genetic difference there. So i would call them our ancestors, not just Aborginal Finns.
@@Gnomereginam Then you have no idea of Finnish genetic history. Finns are one of two European genetic isolates, and Finns are distant from every neighboring European population. Hell, there is even quite distance from Western to Eastern Finns. There is zero Slavic genetic ancestry in Finns, and even Swedish ancestry is hard to find if we don't count Fennoswedes. Your idea of Finnish history isn't really based on reality, for example: Swedes gained Finland by being allied to Western Finnish tribes, and they conquered together Karelians who were allied to Novgorod. There weren't any "run over" or "mixing genetic pool", otherwise Finland, specifically Eastern Finland wouldn't be a genetic isolate. Finnic paternal haplogroup, N1c, is found in 80% frequency in some parts of eastern Finland. So if there was any mixing happening, it only happened between eastern Finnish men and Russian/Swedish women. Otherwise you would find Swedish or Russian paternal haplogroups. Doesn't sound really realistic to me. Western parts of Finland have more I1 haplogroup, which is also found in Swedes. But as far as i remember, those lines have older markings from the time "Swedes" nor "Finns" didn't exist yet. I1 is originally from Scandinavian hunter-gatherers, who are ancestors of both Finns and Scandinavians. So, middle age Finns are the same as modern day Finns.
@@molotovribbentrop2839 I do admit I've not read up on the subject much but that sounds physically impossible. "In addition, the Finns were relatively isolated, making the country’s population of 5.5 million today relatively homogeneous genetically. These features make the Finns well suited to gene mapping studies. In such a population, a genetic mutation in one of the population’s “founders” - that is, the small group of ancestors who survived the bottlenecks - can be more easily tracked." From Pfizer.
Norway has the mountains and fjords that strike awe and signs of infinite potential and adventure. Most people would say the scenery wins Finland in every regard. Finland may lack the verticality and scope, it doesn't strike your adventurous spirit... But it wins in the vibes. The melancholy it fills you with is so incredibly difficult to achieve somewhere else, perhaps impossible. I like your description of it: "Like stepping in an afterlife where you can just exist"
Finnish Lapland will forever have a very special place in my heart. My parents took us there every year since I was 3 years old. In my early teens I was bitter because all my friends were going to places like Turkey, Greece or Spain and we went to Lapland😂 Since then in my later teens and early adulthood I’ve traveled around more and seen the world but still one place calls me over any other and thats the finnish Lapland. The last frontier of Europe and the last true wilderness. I’m REALLY not a superstitious person but there is something almost spiritual about the north. A hike through the Kaldoaivi Wilderness is on my bucketlist.
Love the way you describe countries having different spirits which add to the ambience of the places. Finland for sure looks unique and mystical - hopefully heading there later in the year. Greetings from Scotland!
Having visited Scotland and walked the high fells of the Cairngorms, I can safely say that Scotland and Finland shares much of the same spirit. Hope you get the opportunity to experience that as well. Greetings from Finland :)
That's lovely to know before I go, glad you enjoyed the fells. As the national animal of Scotland is the Unicorn, I'm thinking we share some offbeat eccentricities too ha
Excellent photography and storytelling. Being born in Finland this is what I can agree with "A feeling of having completed all worldly tasks and having arrived in a neutral afterworld where my only duty is to exist" you can imagine even here people have their complaints in their daily lives if they yet haven't gotten it :D but it really is THAT place.
And then you wake up and realize that a finns only right and duty is to pay tax so the socialist government can give the money to other competing countries...
@@lappi_wojak well duh, probably because we have the steepest tax progression in the world and cars are taxed to death by purchase tax which can be up to 100-200 thousand euros per car and then you have to pay annual tax to sweeten the deal up.
There's a spirituality, regardless of belief or what you put into the word, indeed. In Norway we have an unspoken rule; "Do not think you're something". We perform amazing feats and the point is not to not be able to celebrate, but it is to not be arrogant, and: When you live under massive landscapes, fjords, "trolsk"/foggy features, massive forests, grand views... you become so very small. In the best way possible. We are shaped by our history, but I believe our history is also shaped by our land. Mentalities, events, decisions. Edit: Also the harsh and varied weather makes a strong mind and adventurous spirit. I have family in Finland too and it does indeed have its own "spirit", and while I can never live in a flat landscape I love her (Finland) to bits and will die for her if needed.
Just a reminder. Although you can walk and temporarily stay overnight almost everywhere (for example in forest and lakesides) in Finland making a fire is a different thing. If you want to make a fire you basically need property owners permission to do that. And to find out who owns this land is quite tricky so... It's better to use official fire making places. And of course if there is a hazard / warning for forest fires making a fire is course prohibited also in these places.
Using a Trangia or a gas burner is also a good option as it does not count as an open fire. You should of course still be careful especially if there is a fire hazard in the area.
In Lapland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu and North Karelia, outside the nature conservation areas, based on the decision made by Metsähallitus, making fire is allowed using dry branches, twigs and roots on the ground. But even there you should use a maintained fire place, if one is available less than half a kilometer away.
@@kke But I guess that applies only on the forests that are owned by government. Not in forest owned by private individuals, cities / towns or churches?
As half a finn, half a german person I can definitely relate to your love to this beautiful country. I'm looking forward to visiting it again some time in the future. Enjoyed your videos on your trip back then. Great work!
You have a very profound way of describing Finland, I agree about the spirits, it's something almost undescribable, but you can feel it almost instantly when you go into the forests
Banana campfire trick is to slice an opening in the peel along the length and stuff pieces of chocolate in. Then you put it on the fire so it melts. Good stuff.
I felt the same as you when I first came to Finland. So I returned an stayed and don't plan to ever leave again (ofc travelling and visiting my family in Germany excluded). The feeling of melancholy you describe has a beautiful word in Finnish - Kaiho. It's one of my favourite words because it's describes that feeling of melancholy and longing but being at peace at the same so well. Amazing road trip and you captured it beautifully in your videos and words.
2:48 Dont clean the dishes in lake, take water from lake and clean and dispose dorty water on land. This is how the water will stay clean even if there are several people doing dishes. It is common to swim in lakes, so excess food leftovers are not nice in lake and pose a health risk. 11:41 *DING* and the axe is dull :D
As usual, you captured the beauty of the tour perfectly. But what I really liked is the commentary and the personal insight, right down to what it was you were feeling. Excellent, Merlin.
Really appreciate the analysis on the spirit you felt about and in Finland. Despite the way it is described, as a Finnish person I get what you mean. It is indeed the combination of many things, language, culture, landscape, history, architecture, nature, probably the feeling of air and smells as well. Its just the feeling you get when occupying the area. Whenever I traveled as a child, I got this "feeling", different in every country, and I was similarly reminded of the "feeling" of Finland when I returned. Every place has a different feel to it, a unique combination of who you are and the new environment. Not everyone might find the same feeling you found, but glad you found it. A rare feeling.
You saying that when you sat on the Finnish island by yourself and couldn't put it into words but somehow, you just knew you had "arrived". I can relate to that, as a Finnish person. I have felt the same at the bottom of Japanese mountains. Especially early in the morning, when the mist rises from the mountains and the autumn air is crisp and clean. I had "arrived", without knowing that I was that I had been "lost". I'm so happy you found your soul place from Finland! Perhaps, if reincarnation is true, you just returned to your own homeland from the old times :)
You speak so wonderful things about finnish nature that it made me emotional to the point i almost cried lol, im grown up man and i love being in nature out of all peoples problems all by myself in the wilderness.
Great video! Love the music . I am an American who moved to Sweden and I absolutely love these Nordic lands. I got back from Norway 2 weeks ago visiting the fjords north of Bergen. Looking forward to watch your other content.😊
❤ Tervetuloa! Willkommen! ❤ Loving that cultural sensitivity. Especially to the Gods of cooking - Italians. And my beloved nature of Finland. After living and working in over 20 countries, I couldn't be more more proud of the Finnih nature, returning to live and breathe here. And working as a nature and wilderness guide.
This is absolutely fantastic! Grew up in Ostrobothnia and been living in Åland for 20+ years, I'm used to these places but perhaps not appreciating them as much as I should. Also been several times to Norway. Thank you for this eyeopener!
This was so soothing and deep, feeling touched by your experience. And a 10/10 for production quality along with splendid narration and lovely sounds. Greetings from the land of a thousand lakes!
You guys have something we call "asenne", attitude. It is neither good or bad, it depends on the situation and the person, its pretty close to "sisu" but not quite. In this case you have "oikea asenne", positive attitude. That reindeer WAS special, it was near white and had a really good rack (antlers), 12 points on my count on each, pretty good and rare for some.
hello merlin, I really enjoyed the video. Really relaxing and yes Finland and Norway look really beautiful. I live in Ireland and do lots of hiking all over my favourite parts. It is also my dream to visit the Nordic countries. Great video
As a guy who was born and lived my whole life in Helsinki, it still always baffles me how beautiful Finland is the more north you go. Thank you for the kind words. Northern Norway is something I personally want to visit soon enough.
I bloom so much! This video perfectly explains why & HOW your love (and maybe of much other People) for the northern countries began. Thank you for this video. I hope that sometimes you can return to your favorite lake. 😊
your firestarting perfection is something else in the ocd scale 😅 i dont have nerves for so beautiful campfire. really nice story telling and good look of Finland and Norway
Thank you so much for sharing! It's so to easy to forget how truly magical ones homeland is when you are always surrounded by it. It helps to see it again through the eyes of people from different countries. I am lucky to able to visit Lapland and Norway again in a few weeks. The Spirit of the North is truly still alive there! You gentlemen are always welcome back anytime.
Danke Dir, ich wollte die alten Videos einfach nochmal aufpoliert zusammenfassen und das kam dabei heraus. Mit dieser Reise begann auch meine Liebe für die Länder da oben.
Just stumbled across this. I really want to do something like this next summer. I went to Finland last summer, and was planning to go again, but this time see Lapland in Finland and Norway.
Die Aufnahmen, die Musik, die Kommentation.. es hat sich wie eine ganz neue Reise angefühlt, obwohl ich die ursprünglichen Videos kenne. Very nice done!
Erlier this summer I did a roadtrip in northern Sweden, Norway and Finland, with my motorhome. It is so beautiful up there, and I really wants to go there again! 🙂
As beautiful as Finnish nature is, I absolutely adore the vericality of Norway. At one point you're mile underground in a tunnel, and next you're looking down into a foggy fjord with lush hillsides rising beyond your eyes. Norse mythology has the tree in the center of the universe, Yggdrasil, and travelling the countryside of Norway always feels like you're hopping from one branch of the tree to another. Always something above, and always something below.
The reindeer always remind me of this thought, that they appear so at home in the wild, while we people have to prepare and plan and agonize over everything to cling to the northern land. We really are just visitors here in the far north. The reindeer are who the land belongs to, day on day off.
Watching this made me miss finland. And I live here. I suppose I need to go camping to fix this 😁 Very well done video with a wholesome feel to it. Thank you.
Thanks so much for the film! I'm about to head over to Finland on exchange and it's really great to see its nature captured so well. Gotten me even more excited for the trip!
This video was one of the most beautiful videos I have seen of my home country and Norway, this made me realize a bit more how beautiful my home country Finland actually is, because sometimes I don’t understand it, this made me feel lucky to live here, thank you so much for making this!🇫🇮❤️ I also love how you included Norway here too, even tho it’s my neighbour country I have never visited there, one of my dreams is to visit there one day, I have adored Norway so long, so beautiful country and so much amazing music, like in Finland too, I don’t know if this is weird, but I think that Norway and Finland are like sisters/best friends, there is like a bit the same crazyness in both countries, which I love, if you understand, what I mean, haha.🇳🇴❤️🇫🇮
Norwegians love the Finns. Did you know that here we call the balaclava "finlandshette"? As in Finlandshood. That stems back to the Winter War when Norwegians not only volunteered to fight but women knitted those balaclavas in their thousands and shipped them over so your forefathers had something to keep them warm in the harsh winter. I always wanted to visit Finland. 🇫🇮❤️🇳🇴
This is so great video. Good editing and the music is just perfect. You describe Finland so perfectly in one sentence: "This place is rough and comfortable at the same time"
Its interesting when you cross the border from Finland into Norway, the landscape changes almost instantly. Very harsh contrast. Norway feels very different, even when it is so close. People are still quite similar, maybe Norwegians are a bit more talkative and positive than Finns.
Beautiful scenery and even if I live up here in the north of sweden I can never get enough of our beautiful nature up here. Very beautiful video and very relaxing too watch, Well done! Thank you for sharing!
That’s funny because I’m only an hour away from Luleå right now. Yea, I’m traveling again and I also make videos about it, part 1 of the series is already uploaded to my channel :)
Didn't expect to see my home place (20:33) in a random youtube video, but it's good to see someone appreciating more than just the usual tourist sites. I like the calming vibe of the video, great work!
Wow. your channel is incredibly underrated! the storytelling, breathtaking photography skills, the calming atmosphere and narration, everything about it, simply beautiful. This made me happy to know I live in Finland. I have always loved Norway also, and I would like to live there someday. To me Norway is Finland, with a more spectacular landscape. I am glad you enjoyed your trip, and I am happy to see from your pinned comment you came back. Will definitely be on the lookout for more videos from you, all the best.
Mesmerising video, and an immediate sub. Once my two boys are old enough, we're heading northwards. These are the kind of experiences I want them to have. (And if I also get to indulge my love of Finnish metal then that's a bonus ;))
I have never seen such description of Finland.. this was very different, unique and i loved it! Im a Finn ..and i appreciate our nature so so much... i cant even put it into words. Here are still places where to find purity and peace. P.s. lentils ARE the best camping food👌😍 Thank you for these beautiful videos created from the Heart.
A very atmospheric video of some very special places. I also appreciate your sentiments which you express very eloquently. Well done Merlin, i wish you many more enlightening travel experiences. Bonvoyage! Rob, Australia
It is said that before entering the sea a river trembles with fear. She looks back at the path she has traveled, from the peaks of the mountains, the long winding road crossing forests and villages. And in front of her, she sees an ocean so vast, that to enter there seems nothing more than to disappear forever. But there is no other way. The river can not go back. Nobody can go back. To go back is impossible in existence. The river needs to take the risk of entering the ocean because only then will fear disappear, because that’s where the river will know it’s not about disappearing into the ocean, but of becoming the ocean. ~ Khalil Gibran
Next time when you wash dishes, please take a water from lake or river and walk at least few meters away. Used water should be thrown away to the bushes. That is how we keep our lakes clean to the future.
As a person who been living in Finland now for a year, I do agree with you because I felt and still feel amazed by the beauty of this country. Summer was a bit hard for me as I was eaten alive by those blood suckers😂 but It didn't stop me from fishing some 55cm+ size Trouts and pikes and some Nordic breeds of fish. This country just feels like paradise on earth ❤
Hi Merlin. Thank you very much for your nice words about Finland and the nordic areas overall. Nice too see and hear you and your friends enjoyed being here. Really nice and well done video. It was pleasure to watch. 👍Just one small request for the future trips. Maybe this has been already mentioned in some other comment, but please take the water you need for dishwashing from the lake and then kindly do the washing further in the land. It would be much appreciated by me, possibly next visitor by the shore and the lake itself (that´s also part of hiking etiquette at least here in Finland). 😉
@@MerlinFlexer Thank you, I appreciate! 🙂👍 BTW, great job of putting out the smouldering fire in the latest video ("..bear country")! Good that you were there. Looks like some 💩-head were there before you, starting a forest fire and trashing the place. 🤦♂
Год назад
Thank you for this video! Via this video I had a new, different fire towards my own country Finland. The filmotography was exceptionally beautiful and the storytelling was magical. I have only been yet again amazed and thankful for the essentials what is it to be here near nature and enjoy the gifts that the scenery and something magical gives us, loved it. Vielen danke.
Amazing video! Loved every second. And I love that you've found one of the best bands in Finland: Ruumisto! Their music really fit into videos like these. Cheers from Finland.
I've had a RUclips account for around 16 years and I could probably count the amount of comments I've posted during that time period on my fingers. But now I am saying thank You for this video. I really liked how it was all put together, the music, your presentation and ofcourse the nature itself. Really nicely done, makes me want to pick up my things and just move north.
Wonderful atmospheric cut of the trip I've already seen on your German channel with a different cut. You become more and more advanced, it's so nice to follow. :)
I live in the South East region of the US. You've inspired me to take my car, do my own road trips and just explore- not for RUclips. I hope to have equally profound and precious experiences as yours in the Nordic/Scandinavian lands. I'm now a subscriber 👍.
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Thanks for so many new subscribers and all your nice comments. Right now I’m back in Finland again. I’m traveling around the Nordics this summer and I’m also making videos about it. The first part is already uploaded to my channel and more will follow soon. The journey began in Sweden and later I drove to Norway and Finland. You can watch Part 1 here: ruclips.net/video/OrJrmop11AA/видео.html
i can understand your feeling about place in nature where you can return in your memory, when i was teen i visited some amazing place in Finnish forest/lake and still after 40 years i can return to that place in my mind.
Are you interested in making a video later about how you planned the whole trip with the expenses? I know Finland is no way cheap for eastern European standards but sharing your experience might benefit and encourage others, myself included
You should visit Finnish Lapland during mid-winter months as well to experience a whole different, if not even MORE magical landscape. Welcome!
Creatures NO
As a finnish person. Thank you for capturing the beauty of my homeland. And how you described Finland was just beautiful. Sometimes I become "home-blind" to what beauty I have so close by, it's nice to get a reminder from someone who doesn't live here once in a while, to remember not to take all this for granted.
Tää on niin totta. Sitä lähtee ulkomaille hakemaan elämystä, kun unohtaa, että meillä on kotimaassakin erittäin paljon nähtävyyksiä.
Yea sure, what you see daily becomes normal.
Please do enjoy it would be a dream to visit my great grandparents villages im going some day 3:27 3:27 3:27
I've only started to understand the beauty of Finland. There's no comparison between the nature of Norway and Finland as they're so different. I've lived in Norway and felt envious of the spectacularity and how breathtaking the landscapes are. In the end it is not that what defines nature to me anymore. Instead of how things look I've learned to see how they feel. Right now while writing this message I'm cocooned by a bedrock surrounded lake, listening the silence of the forest and I'm left feeling grateful that I can bike to such a place from helsinki and feel safe and part of the soft and forgiving side of nature which nurtures everything. This leaves me with a different feeling that is, to me, as spectacular and breathtaking.
"I've learned to see how they feel" this speaks volumes
That is a great point. Mountains look beautiful, but they are not particularly inviting for longer stays. Anyhow, both Norway and Finland are amazing countries.
Norway is hilly tundra and Finland is taiga with lots of spruce trees.
As a Norwegian, I can relate to what you write. I come from Finnmark (the northernmost county of Norway) which is not as spectacular as other parts of the country. Now I live in the south, and our cottage is in an area with low hills, marshes and forest. It is not the view that makes you bond with the place. It's the silence, the sounds and the atmosphere. I love Finnmark, with its high sky, rounded mountains and wide view, and I love the place where I now live in south. It is beautiful without the spectacular nature that characterizes large parts of Norway.
Just out of curiosity where are you when you wrote this message. Im finnish and lived my whole life (26 years) in Helsinki. Are you in Sipoo or in Nuuksio or where excatly? :)
What you said about the spirit of nations and of Finland really resonates with me. I'm a half-Finn but grew up living far from Finland, on the other side of the world, in a large international city. I travelled the world a lot too. We used to visit the Finnish lakeside with my parents in the summer and winter seasons times, and compared to elsewhere, there was this feeling you describe here quite well. It's a kind of pure stillness, a calmness, like there was no place to rush anymore, no place else to be, you were existing in the moment, a place that felt close to a spiritual mediation. I understand where the Pagans got their inspiration, because when you're in the stillness of nature, just floating in a cool lake, a campfire burning in the distance, staring at the bright sky in the middle of the night, and you hear the loon's calls echoing across the lake, it feels like you're with the Gods, they're not somewhere high above you, but all around you, in everything.
Thanks for sharing your perspective.
Extremely well put. This is also eerily similar to a lot of concepts in finnish folk lore. Tbh its very common in animism from places all around the earth but we have this concept of väki, translating directly to folk, but it actually means a certain spirit or power in things like the forest or water. Everything is interconnected and alive. You and the creator of this video mentioning this meditative state is also very interesting to me. Ive always taken it for granted, but i really started thinking about it when a while back my ex (who lived in london) came to finland and said the place made her disassociate a lot, and not in a bad way. There really is something about the nature and even the cities that make it feel sort of like a limbo and i love it
The way you discribed Finlands spirit made me almost cry. I feel the same way about our nordic nature. There is this feeling. Almost like a presence that can be felt. Like all my ancestors see me when I walk in the woods and time stops.
The aboriginal finns must've felt the same, we used to have a pagan religion of peoples' spirits going into trees when they died. We still sometimes dedicate trees to people when they're born, I believe the Saami people have the most remenants of the religion though... But at large that whole thing has been wiped out.
@@Gnomereginam Aborginal Finns would be modern day Finns, no significant genetic difference there. So i would call them our ancestors, not just Aborginal Finns.
@@molotovribbentrop2839 But... We were ran over and slaughtered by both swedes and slavs, they 100% mixed up our genetic pool
@@Gnomereginam Then you have no idea of Finnish genetic history. Finns are one of two European genetic isolates, and Finns are distant from every neighboring European population. Hell, there is even quite distance from Western to Eastern Finns.
There is zero Slavic genetic ancestry in Finns, and even Swedish ancestry is hard to find if we don't count Fennoswedes.
Your idea of Finnish history isn't really based on reality, for example: Swedes gained Finland by being allied to Western Finnish tribes, and they conquered together Karelians who were allied to Novgorod. There weren't any "run over" or "mixing genetic pool", otherwise Finland, specifically Eastern Finland wouldn't be a genetic isolate.
Finnic paternal haplogroup, N1c, is found in 80% frequency in some parts of eastern Finland. So if there was any mixing happening, it only happened between eastern Finnish men and Russian/Swedish women. Otherwise you would find Swedish or Russian paternal haplogroups. Doesn't sound really realistic to me.
Western parts of Finland have more I1 haplogroup, which is also found in Swedes. But as far as i remember, those lines have older markings from the time "Swedes" nor "Finns" didn't exist yet. I1 is originally from Scandinavian hunter-gatherers, who are ancestors of both Finns and Scandinavians.
So, middle age Finns are the same as modern day Finns.
@@molotovribbentrop2839 I do admit I've not read up on the subject much but that sounds physically impossible.
"In addition, the Finns were relatively isolated, making the country’s population of 5.5 million today relatively homogeneous genetically. These features make the Finns well suited to gene mapping studies. In such a population, a genetic mutation in one of the population’s “founders” - that is, the small group of ancestors who survived the bottlenecks - can be more easily tracked."
From Pfizer.
Norway has the mountains and fjords that strike awe and signs of infinite potential and adventure. Most people would say the scenery wins Finland in every regard.
Finland may lack the verticality and scope, it doesn't strike your adventurous spirit... But it wins in the vibes. The melancholy it fills you with is so incredibly difficult to achieve somewhere else, perhaps impossible. I like your description of it: "Like stepping in an afterlife where you can just exist"
Yea, the Finland vibe is like nothing else.
I live in far north Sweden and the vibe feel just the same on both sides of torne river.
Finnish Lapland will forever have a very special place in my heart. My parents took us there every year since I was 3 years old. In my early teens I was bitter because all my friends were going to places like Turkey, Greece or Spain and we went to Lapland😂 Since then in my later teens and early adulthood I’ve traveled around more and seen the world but still one place calls me over any other and thats the finnish Lapland. The last frontier of Europe and the last true wilderness. I’m REALLY not a superstitious person but there is something almost spiritual about the north. A hike through the Kaldoaivi Wilderness is on my bucketlist.
Love the way you describe countries having different spirits which add to the ambience of the places. Finland for sure looks unique and mystical - hopefully heading there later in the year. Greetings from Scotland!
Having visited Scotland and walked the high fells of the Cairngorms, I can safely say that Scotland and Finland shares much of the same spirit. Hope you get the opportunity to experience that as well. Greetings from Finland :)
That's lovely to know before I go, glad you enjoyed the fells.
As the national animal of Scotland is the Unicorn, I'm thinking we share some offbeat eccentricities too ha
Thanks! Good luck with your plans to go to Finland.
Excellent photography and storytelling. Being born in Finland this is what I can agree with "A feeling of having completed all worldly tasks and having arrived in a neutral afterworld where my only duty is to exist" you can imagine even here people have their complaints in their daily lives if they yet haven't gotten it :D but it really is THAT place.
And then you wake up and realize that a finns only right and duty is to pay tax so the socialist government can give the money to other competing countries...
the only thing Finns are doing is constantly complaining and moaning. taxes, loans, interest rates, neighbours cars etc.
@@lappi_wojak well duh, probably because we have the steepest tax progression in the world and cars are taxed to death by purchase tax which can be up to 100-200 thousand euros per car and then you have to pay annual tax to sweeten the deal up.
Thanks! Yea sure, the perfect place doesn't exist.
You're always welcomed to Finland.
Thanks a lot! Actually I’m in Finland right now.
@@MerlinFlexer excellent, and im Finland too, cos i live here :D
I really hope you enjoy your time in here.
Save voyage.
There's a spirituality, regardless of belief or what you put into the word, indeed.
In Norway we have an unspoken rule; "Do not think you're something". We perform amazing feats and the point is not to not be able to celebrate, but it is to not be arrogant, and:
When you live under massive landscapes, fjords, "trolsk"/foggy features, massive forests, grand views... you become so very small. In the best way possible.
We are shaped by our history, but I believe our history is also shaped by our land. Mentalities, events, decisions.
Edit: Also the harsh and varied weather makes a strong mind and adventurous spirit. I have family in Finland too and it does indeed have its own "spirit", and while I can never live in a flat landscape I love her (Finland) to bits and will die for her if needed.
Just a reminder. Although you can walk and temporarily stay overnight almost everywhere (for example in forest and lakesides) in Finland making a fire is a different thing. If you want to make a fire you basically need property owners permission to do that. And to find out who owns this land is quite tricky so... It's better to use official fire making places. And of course if there is a hazard / warning for forest fires making a fire is course prohibited also in these places.
Using a Trangia or a gas burner is also a good option as it does not count as an open fire. You should of course still be careful especially if there is a fire hazard in the area.
Nothing tell who is land owner. Owners lives in cities and many not know where exactly their land property locate.
In Lapland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu and North Karelia, outside the nature conservation areas, based on the decision made by Metsähallitus, making fire is allowed using dry branches, twigs and roots on the ground. But even there you should use a maintained fire place, if one is available less than half a kilometer away.
@@kke But I guess that applies only on the forests that are owned by government. Not in forest owned by private individuals, cities / towns or churches?
@@ollisalomaenpaa583 I believe so
As half a finn, half a german person I can definitely relate to your love to this beautiful country. I'm looking forward to visiting it again some time in the future. Enjoyed your videos on your trip back then. Great work!
You have a very profound way of describing Finland, I agree about the spirits, it's something almost undescribable, but you can feel it almost instantly when you go into the forests
Banana campfire trick is to slice an opening in the peel along the length and stuff pieces of chocolate in. Then you put it on the fire so it melts. Good stuff.
I felt the same as you when I first came to Finland. So I returned an stayed and don't plan to ever leave again (ofc travelling and visiting my family in Germany excluded). The feeling of melancholy you describe has a beautiful word in Finnish - Kaiho. It's one of my favourite words because it's describes that feeling of melancholy and longing but being at peace at the same so well.
Amazing road trip and you captured it beautifully in your videos and words.
2:48 Dont clean the dishes in lake, take water from lake and clean and dispose dorty water on land. This is how the water will stay clean even if there are several people doing dishes. It is common to swim in lakes, so excess food leftovers are not nice in lake and pose a health risk. 11:41 *DING* and the axe is dull :D
Listen to the silence ❤. Lapland is my favorite place.
What an eye you have and a talent for sharing the feelings a place evokes! Tusen takk!
As usual, you captured the beauty of the tour perfectly. But what I really liked is the commentary and the personal insight, right down to what it was you were feeling. Excellent, Merlin.
Really appreciate the analysis on the spirit you felt about and in Finland. Despite the way it is described, as a Finnish person I get what you mean. It is indeed the combination of many things, language, culture, landscape, history, architecture, nature, probably the feeling of air and smells as well. Its just the feeling you get when occupying the area. Whenever I traveled as a child, I got this "feeling", different in every country, and I was similarly reminded of the "feeling" of Finland when I returned. Every place has a different feel to it, a unique combination of who you are and the new environment. Not everyone might find the same feeling you found, but glad you found it. A rare feeling.
Nice description
Incredibly beautiful video! Thank you from Finland! 💚
Thank you!
You saying that when you sat on the Finnish island by yourself and couldn't put it into words but somehow, you just knew you had "arrived". I can relate to that, as a Finnish person. I have felt the same at the bottom of Japanese mountains. Especially early in the morning, when the mist rises from the mountains and the autumn air is crisp and clean. I had "arrived", without knowing that I was that I had been "lost". I'm so happy you found your soul place from Finland! Perhaps, if reincarnation is true, you just returned to your own homeland from the old times :)
Thanks for sharing your view. Sounds nice what you experienced in the Japanese mountains. I do believe in reincarnation :)
You speak so wonderful things about finnish nature that it made me emotional to the point i almost cried lol, im grown up man and i love being in nature out of all peoples problems all by myself in the wilderness.
Great video! Love the music . I am an American who moved to Sweden and I absolutely love these Nordic lands. I got back from Norway 2 weeks ago visiting the fjords north of Bergen. Looking forward to watch your other content.😊
Come to Finland!
@@jerkkub 😎😃planning to visit next summer
❤ Tervetuloa! Willkommen! ❤ Loving that cultural sensitivity. Especially to the Gods of cooking - Italians. And my beloved nature of Finland. After living and working in over 20 countries, I couldn't be more more proud of the Finnih nature, returning to live and breathe here. And working as a nature and wilderness guide.
Thank you! That sounds like a great job.
Beware of Näkki on those full moon summer nights at the lake!
”Everything looked like its carefully desinged” ❤
Thank you, for a video.
Thanks for watching!
Those islands with blueberries brown bears like to swim now and then during mid summer
Wonderful video MERLIN. Greetings from OSLO Norway.
Thanks!
Really well made and good narrative my friend. Loved this. 👏🏻 Cheers from Norway 🇳🇴🎥
Thanks a lot, I’m glad you like it!
This is absolutely fantastic! Grew up in Ostrobothnia and been living in Åland for 20+ years, I'm used to these places but perhaps not appreciating them as much as I should. Also been several times to Norway. Thank you for this eyeopener!
This was so soothing and deep, feeling touched by your experience. And a 10/10 for production quality along with splendid narration and lovely sounds. Greetings from the land of a thousand lakes!
Thanks you, I'm currently back in Finnland!
Have a lovely time here!
You guys have something we call "asenne", attitude. It is neither good or bad, it depends on the situation and the person, its pretty close to "sisu" but not quite. In this case you have "oikea asenne", positive attitude. That reindeer WAS special, it was near white and had a really good rack (antlers), 12 points on my count on each, pretty good and rare for some.
Thank you!
hello merlin, I really enjoyed the video. Really relaxing and yes Finland and Norway look really beautiful. I live in Ireland and do lots of hiking all over my favourite parts. It is also my dream to visit the Nordic countries. Great video
Thank you. I want to go to Ireland too one day.
As a guy who was born and lived my whole life in Helsinki, it still always baffles me how beautiful Finland is the more north you go. Thank you for the kind words. Northern Norway is something I personally want to visit soon enough.
@15:50 - 15:58
Very well explained. That feeling starts at the Arctic Circle and gets stronger the closer I get to the Barents Sea.
Watching this makes me appreciate my country a lot more (Norway.) I’m so used to nature like this that I forget how beautiful it is.
I bloom so much! This video perfectly explains why & HOW your love (and maybe of much other People) for the northern countries began. Thank you for this video. I hope that sometimes you can return to your favorite lake. 😊
your firestarting perfection is something else in the ocd scale 😅 i dont have nerves for so beautiful campfire. really nice story telling and good look of Finland and Norway
Tank you :) It was my friend who build these wooden towers.
Thank you so much for sharing! It's so to easy to forget how truly magical ones homeland is when you are always surrounded by it. It helps to see it again through the eyes of people from different countries. I am lucky to able to visit Lapland and Norway again in a few weeks. The Spirit of the North is truly still alive there! You gentlemen are always welcome back anytime.
Thanks a lot. Have a good time there. Currently I'm also back in the Nordics.
Filmisch unglaublich toll umgesetzt für einen alleine, congrats!
Danke Dir, ich wollte die alten Videos einfach nochmal aufpoliert zusammenfassen und das kam dabei heraus. Mit dieser Reise begann auch meine Liebe für die Länder da oben.
@@MerlinFlexer trotzdem gefühlt eine komplett neue Experience, richtig gut
Just stumbled across this. I really want to do something like this next summer. I went to Finland last summer, and was planning to go again, but this time see Lapland in Finland and Norway.
Nice, have fun :)
Die Aufnahmen, die Musik, die Kommentation.. es hat sich wie eine ganz neue Reise angefühlt, obwohl ich die ursprünglichen Videos kenne. Very nice done!
Erlier this summer I did a roadtrip in northern Sweden, Norway and Finland, with my motorhome. It is so beautiful up there, and I really wants to go there again! 🙂
Sounds like a great trip.
As beautiful as Finnish nature is, I absolutely adore the vericality of Norway. At one point you're mile underground in a tunnel, and next you're looking down into a foggy fjord with lush hillsides rising beyond your eyes. Norse mythology has the tree in the center of the universe, Yggdrasil, and travelling the countryside of Norway always feels like you're hopping from one branch of the tree to another. Always something above, and always something below.
Yea, I love Norway too.
You don´t really understand the beauty of Lapland until you experience it yourself! Thank you for the video ❤
Finland has a very special vibe.
The reindeer always remind me of this thought, that they appear so at home in the wild, while we people have to prepare and plan and agonize over everything to cling to the northern land. We really are just visitors here in the far north. The reindeer are who the land belongs to, day on day off.
Excellent filming, editing and narrative which was very soothing to my soul. 💯
Watching this made me miss finland. And I live here. I suppose I need to go camping to fix this 😁
Very well done video with a wholesome feel to it. Thank you.
Same here
@@justy303 Ditto! Such a lovely video capturing something about the essence here.
Thanks so much for the film! I'm about to head over to Finland on exchange and it's really great to see its nature captured so well. Gotten me even more excited for the trip!
Good luck!
This video was one of the most beautiful videos I have seen of my home country and Norway, this made me realize a bit more how beautiful my home country Finland actually is, because sometimes I don’t understand it, this made me feel lucky to live here, thank you so much for making this!🇫🇮❤️
I also love how you included Norway here too, even tho it’s my neighbour country I have never visited there, one of my dreams is to visit there one day, I have adored Norway so long, so beautiful country and so much amazing music, like in Finland too, I don’t know if this is weird, but I think that Norway and Finland are like sisters/best friends, there is like a bit the same crazyness in both countries, which I love, if you understand, what I mean, haha.🇳🇴❤️🇫🇮
Norwegians love the Finns. Did you know that here we call the balaclava "finlandshette"? As in Finlandshood. That stems back to the Winter War when Norwegians not only volunteered to fight but women knitted those balaclavas in their thousands and shipped them over so your forefathers had something to keep them warm in the harsh winter.
I always wanted to visit Finland. 🇫🇮❤️🇳🇴
@@Kraakesolv Finns also love Norwegians!❤️ And I didn't know that, that's cool!
Thanks for your nice comment. I love both countries and their unique atmosphere.
This is so great video. Good editing and the music is just perfect. You describe Finland so perfectly in one sentence: "This place is rough and comfortable at the same time"
Finland's music festivals and cultural events are always a blast.
Finland is an amazing beautiful country with amazing people,I love it so much I married a beautiful Finnish woman.....
Nice, lucky you :)
Thank you so much for sharing this beauty with us.
Its interesting when you cross the border from Finland into Norway, the landscape changes almost instantly. Very harsh contrast. Norway feels very different, even when it is so close. People are still quite similar, maybe Norwegians are a bit more talkative and positive than Finns.
As a finn i agree with you this one, i think norwegians are little bit more open and positive than us.
Wonderful combination of video, audio- commentary, and music. Your tone and voice add much to the entire whole. Welcome back to Finland again.
Beautiful scenery and even if I live up here in the north of sweden I can never get enough of our beautiful nature up here. Very beautiful video and very relaxing too watch, Well done! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks! Actually I’m currently in northern Sweden.
Wow what are the odds of that? Where in the north? I live in Luleå. On vacation?
That’s funny because I’m only an hour away from Luleå right now. Yea, I’m traveling again and I also make videos about it, part 1 of the series is already uploaded to my channel :)
Didn't expect to see my home place (20:33) in a random youtube video, but it's good to see someone appreciating more than just the usual tourist sites. I like the calming vibe of the video, great work!
A yes a fellow kvænangsværing
Very nice to see someone enjoy hiking and camping way i have done so much in finland.
Wow. your channel is incredibly underrated! the storytelling, breathtaking photography skills, the calming atmosphere and narration, everything about it, simply beautiful. This made me happy to know I live in Finland. I have always loved Norway also, and I would like to live there someday. To me Norway is Finland, with a more spectacular landscape. I am glad you enjoyed your trip, and I am happy to see from your pinned comment you came back. Will definitely be on the lookout for more videos from you, all the best.
Thank you, welcome to my channel.
Welcome to Finland again.
Mesmerising video, and an immediate sub. Once my two boys are old enough, we're heading northwards. These are the kind of experiences I want them to have. (And if I also get to indulge my love of Finnish metal then that's a bonus ;))
Thank you! That sounds like a great plan. Enjoy the time with your sons.
They say here that when you visit Lapland, you become Lapland crazy, which means you have to go there again.
I have never seen such description of Finland.. this was very different, unique and i loved it! Im a Finn ..and i appreciate our nature so so much... i cant even put it into words. Here are still places where to find purity and peace. P.s. lentils ARE the best camping food👌😍 Thank you for these beautiful videos created from the Heart.
Thanks, I’m glad you like it :)
A very atmospheric video of some very special places. I also appreciate your sentiments which you express very eloquently. Well done Merlin, i wish you many more enlightening travel experiences.
Bonvoyage!
Rob, Australia
Thanks Rob
Great video you have inspired me to go here thanks so much
Incredible narration, especially at 5:25. You summed it up beautifully, what many of us feel.. great choices of music and amazing editing. subbed.
Thanks, welcome to my channel.
Fantastic video!!!
It is incredibly atmospheric.
Greetings from Norway.
Thank you!
I can’t tell you how much I loved watching this. Inspiriertes Filmmaking. The lightening strike edit made me laugh with joy.
Thanks Lauren for this nice comment! I’m glad you like it.
@@MerlinFlexer we´ve been loving your videos, glad to have found you.
Video gave me chills, good music and cinema! The part you making the rakettispagetti, finnish traditional food. Greetings and Welcome from Finland!
Great video, Greetings from Finland ❤
Such a beautiful video. Your storytelling has wonderfully captured the spirit of nature. Greetings from Norway. 🌺
Fantastic movie and really nice filming! Thanks!
It is said that before entering the sea
a river trembles with fear.
She looks back at the path she has traveled,
from the peaks of the mountains,
the long winding road crossing forests and villages.
And in front of her,
she sees an ocean so vast,
that to enter
there seems nothing more than to disappear forever.
But there is no other way.
The river can not go back.
Nobody can go back.
To go back is impossible in existence.
The river needs to take the risk
of entering the ocean
because only then will fear disappear,
because that’s where the river will know
it’s not about disappearing into the ocean,
but of becoming the ocean.
~ Khalil Gibran
Thanks for posting.
What a beautiful story you told and documented!
Next time when you wash dishes, please take a water from lake or river and walk at least few meters away. Used water should be thrown away to the bushes. That is how we keep our lakes clean to the future.
We enjoyed your film very much - congratulations for your excellent production
Thank you :)
Amazing content. Welcome back to Finland someday.
Thanks! I’m in Finland right now :)
As a person who been living in Finland now for a year, I do agree with you because I felt and still feel amazed by the beauty of this country. Summer was a bit hard for me as I was eaten alive by those blood suckers😂 but It didn't stop me from fishing some 55cm+ size Trouts and pikes and some Nordic breeds of fish. This country just feels like paradise on earth ❤
It’s really nice to fish your own food
Very nice. Love your videos and your camping/cooking style.
I agree with your fascination with waterways. Much love from Wisconsin, USA.
Thank you!
Just red about the "gangsta wars" in Sweden. And then watch this 😪
Soooo beautiful video. Awesome . Magical. 🇫🇮🇫🇮
Great video, a piece of art!
Thanks! I’m glad you like it.
Great storytelling, greetings from Finland!
Tank you!
Thank you for visiting.
Hi Merlin. Thank you very much for your nice words about Finland and the nordic areas overall. Nice too see and hear you and your friends enjoyed being here. Really nice and well done video. It was pleasure to watch. 👍Just one small request for the future trips. Maybe this has been already mentioned in some other comment, but please take the water you need for dishwashing from the lake and then kindly do the washing further in the land. It would be much appreciated by me, possibly next visitor by the shore and the lake itself (that´s also part of hiking etiquette at least here in Finland). 😉
Thanks, you’re right. I recorded a new Finland video where I talk about this and correct my mistake :)
@@MerlinFlexer Thank you, I appreciate! 🙂👍
BTW, great job of putting out the smouldering fire in the latest video ("..bear country")! Good that you were there.
Looks like some 💩-head were there before you, starting a forest fire and trashing the place. 🤦♂
Thank you for this video! Via this video I had a new, different fire towards my own country Finland. The filmotography was exceptionally beautiful and the storytelling was magical. I have only been yet again amazed and thankful for the essentials what is it to be here near nature and enjoy the gifts that the scenery and something magical gives us, loved it. Vielen danke.
Amazing video! Loved every second. And I love that you've found one of the best bands in Finland: Ruumisto! Their music really fit into videos like these. Cheers from Finland.
I've had a RUclips account for around 16 years and I could probably count the amount of comments I've posted during that time period on my fingers.
But now I am saying thank You for this video.
I really liked how it was all put together, the music, your presentation and ofcourse the nature itself.
Really nicely done, makes me want to pick up my things and just move north.
Thanks a lot!
As a Soutern Finn, one can't nothing else, that admire Your trip and the way, how You present the video. Thank You.
Thank you for this great video. Kind Regards Jens
oh my days the quality of the video is insane🤩
Thank you!
Wonderful atmospheric cut of the trip I've already seen on your German channel with a different cut. You become more and more advanced, it's so nice to follow. :)
I think you nailed the description of how it feels to be in lapland. All work is done, only thing left is to just exist :).
Magical! And I really really like your music choices!
Exquisitely beautiful video. Thank you for sharing this precious experience.
Thanks a lot
I live in the South East region of the US. You've inspired me to take my car, do my own road trips and just explore- not for RUclips. I hope to have equally profound and precious experiences as yours in the Nordic/Scandinavian lands. I'm now a subscriber 👍.
@@ingridthompson6512 That's great! I'm glad that people from the other side of the world are watching. Welcome to my channel.