CAMPER-PARADIES UND DORFGEMEINSCHAFTSPROJEKT IN RENSTAD IN SCHWEDEN

There are great solutions to be found all over the world.
 
After Tatjana and I were invited as workshop leaders at the Ecstatica Festival in Ängsbacka in the summer, Roberto and I set off in our camper van through beautiful Värmland in southern Sweden. Over 10,000 lakes invite you to admire them, swim, meditate or go boating.
We roam through beautiful forests and are constantly tempted by blueberries, lingonberries and raspberries to stop, be still and snack. We are impressed by the hospitality and mentality of the Swedes we meet.
We love being off the beaten track to enjoy nature as purely as possible.
Every day we are on the lookout for the most beautiful pitches in the area.
 
Here in the village of Renstad in Värmland, Sweden, north of Karlstad, we spot a site that attracts us from afar, even though it is surrounded by houses: a flat gravel parking lot on the shore of a beautiful lake whose beach is currently being visited by a flock of wild geese.
As we park, we discover a series of signs that immediately make my heart beat faster:
This site is run by residents of Renstad and invites campers to spend the night here for free and gladly for a donation and to use everything here:
A sauna, two canoes, a barbecue area with a covered terrace and seating area, the jetty, two outhouses, a bathing island and the lovingly tended beach.
 
Apart from us, there is only one tent here, which had been pitched a few hours earlier by Rick, a young policeman from Holland, who is riding his magnificent enduro on the TET, the Trans-European Trail, Europe's Dirt Road Motorcycle Adventure. You won't find this place on many of the Swedish camper apps. However, Rick found it on the TET website and was delighted with this lovingly designed overnight accommodation.
 
As we enter the little house in the evening, the sauna is still warm. We find some wood in a large box and Roberto heats up the sauna stove again until it is really hot. To cool off, we dive into the cool, dark lake and enjoy the reflections of the evening sun on the surface of the water, which splits into rings with a gurgle just from our movements.
Later that evening, Peter comes for a swim with his daughter. He grew up here and always likes to come back to this special place. Small groups of friends from the area continue to come late into the night and treat themselves to a sauna session and a dip in the nocturnal lake.

The next day in the morning, I meet Ewy and Lars, who are lovingly looking after the site this week. They tell me that the site is run jointly by the community of Renstad residents.

Once a year at the beginning of May, a big meeting is held to decide which family will look after what for the following year:
The hut needs to be maintained, the floors and sauna cleaned, the latrines emptied and toilet paper hung in the lovingly designed outhouses. Wood for the sauna has to be cut and replaced, the meadow needs mowing and much more.
7 years ago they built the hut in which the sauna is located. Every year, something is renovated or added from the donations that the campers like to leave here.
Last year, the terrace was extended and the swimming island was built. Last winter, holes were chopped into the ice from this island so that sauna visitors could refresh themselves in the icy water.
For many years now, the families have been meeting regularly on Saturdays to enjoy the sauna, exchange ideas, deepen their friendships and strengthen their social network.
I ask Lars how they deal with differences of opinion! Then they just vote, everyone here accepts that.

As there is no spring or tap water at the campsite, Lars invites us to fill our bottles and even our water tank with fresh drinking water at his house later. It's the white house there on the right bank. We will visit him in the afternoon.
But before that, we grab the canoe and set off on an exploratory tour of the lake. We land on one of the islands, from which we can walk over a large stone into the water without sinking into the mud. The fragrant forest floor invites me to do yoga here and sink into the view of the beautiful lake.

We then visit Lars, whose house is picturesquely situated on the shore above the lake. He tells us that his son Lukas emigrated to Taiwan a few years ago. After a travelogue video for his friends was viewed by many thousands of people, he eventually became a successful Youtuber-Influencer with hundreds of thousands of followers. Here you can watch a video of him portraying his Swedish home in Renstad.

Lars also explains the water conservation project that is being carried out here together. The "sea pot" (Nymphoides peltata), a neophyte, in this case a non-native aquatic floating plant, has spread and is endangering the large, beautiful lake. Once a week, local environmentalists meet here and place large tarpaulins on the lake to block the light and prevent the plants from spreading. Learn more about this here or here (Swedish pages).

A few days later, on our way back to Stockholm, we come to Renstad again.
We meet Linda, who has moved back here to the place of her childhood. While she barbecues lunch, her daughter laughs and plays in the lake with a friend from the village.
In the evening, I meet Claus and Andreas. They come here several times a week from their home 20 km away to take a sauna.
Claus is enthusiastic about this place, the opportunity to expand his circle of friends, help each other and get to know each other better. He wonders what the world would look like if every community had a place like this

This idea also inspires me.

Feel free to write in the comments if you have any other ideas or would even like to implement such a project.

Below you will find photos of the beautiful hiking trails around Renstad. On one of the small "mountains", the local community has also built a fireplace, an outhouse and a covered seating area. Here, too, people meet regularly to hike or celebrate together.

At another beautiful and highly recommended managed forest campsite I found the following tent construction, which is suitable for a fire pit where you can still sit when it starts to rain. The tent roof can bought by Tortuga.