Turn up, tune in, chill out in Sweden

Modern life wearing you out? MILO BOYD has the perfect solution with our laid-back Nordic friends

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Most countries choose excitement, beaches and action when selling themselves. "It's More Fun in the Philippines". "Epic Estonia". "I wish I was in Finland". All classics, all straight to the point.

However, one country has gone for a slightly different tactic. "Welcome to Sweden, when the time is right" goes its official slogan, sort-of-but-not-really urging visitors to come. Now, the Nordic country is leaning even further into the idea that thrills aren't everything.

"In Sweden, boredom isn't a problem - it's the point. Introducing a travel concept that embraces an idea increasingly gaining ground: that boredom is good for you," the Visit Sweden tourist board announced recently. According to the tourist board, boredom is essential. Some scientists have found that humans are increasingly struggling to process the amount and complexity of data that today's world holds.

Boredom, research shows, helps the brain rest and recover, and enables deeper thinking and self-reflection. "You need to be bored," said Harvard professor Arthur C. Brooks in an interview last year.

The idea of slowing down once in a while is one that Astrid Lindgren, the beloved Swedish author of Pippi Longstocking, was writing about way back in 1964. "And then you also need some time to just sit and gaze," she said.