What a Swedish hut taught me about how others travel

One person's dream holiday can be another's hardship tour.

- Lim Ai Leen

The world is divided into two types of travelers. Those who think a rustic cabin in the forest is charming, and those who take one look at it and run for the hills, where a posh hotel awaits.

This is what I told myself during my visit to Grinda, one of the over 24,000 islands in the Stockholm archipelago. It was late May and I was midway through my solo jaunt to the Swedish capital to see some friends, eat some open-faced sandwiches and hike some trails.

What sparked this revelation was a WhatsApp chat group with two friends in Singapore, during which I updated them on highlights of my trip while they kept me apprised of happenings at home.

For me, island-hopping by ferry for woodland walks in cool weather was a fairytale holiday, made even more enchanting by wild deer outside my window and blueberry bushes sprouting by the paths. For them, however, the lack of city life amenities was troubling.

Take, for example, this exchange on my arrival at Svartsö, resident population 65, after a three-hour ferry ride from Stockholm. I'd been informed on check-in that while the motel had no food service save for breakfast, I was free to use the well-equipped common kitchen and get groceries from the store in Alsvik, which closed at 5pm.

"What? You have to walk 4km to buy food? You mean there's no transport?" said one friend on the chat.

"Why don't you rent a Volvo," suggested the other.

It could well be they were picturing in their heads built-up islands like Penang or Phuket. Whereas I was trudging past lakes and meadows, pausing occasionally to nod at ducks and sheep.

Nevertheless, their queries got me mildly irritated and a tad defensive. I reminded them that the whole point of heading to the sticks was to get away from traffic, shopping malls and food courts. I was there for nature, fresh air and a back-to-basics lifestyle. So what if there was no Uber and the only cafe for miles had yet to open for the summer season?