What it was like to spend a week alone on a Swedish island

Although she is passionate about her job, Enroth said her demanding nature meant the prospect of spending time alone by the ocean – without a cell phone and with only endless seas, limitless skies and an abundance of films for the company – had an obvious allure. .

“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Enroth told CNN on Jan. 27, just after discovering that she had been chosen from some 12,000 applicants to spend a week on the Swedish island of Hamneskär.

Hamneskär is located off Marstrand in western Sweden, where there is an imposing cast iron lighthouse called Pater Noster, which means “Our Father” in Latin – a reference to the “Lord’s Prayer” often spoken by sailors sailing on rough island seas.

Although Enoth knew Pater Noster, having spent a year studying in the nearby town of Gothenberg, she had never been there before and was both nervous and excited about the experience.

First impressions

On January 30, Enroth boarded a small boat with a single helmsman to begin his journey to the island.

Her heart was racing.

The drive to the island, she said, was beautiful – the sea, the sky and the snow stretched out before her.

And his first sight of Pater Noster’s lighthouse, cut out in the distance, was unforgettable.

“The first impression of the island? Beautiful, small, just quiet.”

Left alone, Enroth closed the door to her lighthouse cabin and sat down on the couch.

At first she heard the sound of the boat leaving, the engine roaring. Then nothing.

“It was so quiet. It was like someone had cut the sound off.”

Listening louder, she slowly picked up the whistle of the wind, the birds diving above the lighthouse and the waves crashing into the rocks.

Enroth donned his warmest clothes and decided to watch his surroundings, walking around the perimeter of the island and climbing the 130 steps to the top of Pater Noster.

She took deep breaths and prepared to enjoy the week ahead.

Living in isolation

Enroth normally lives on her own, but her frontline work in healthcare means she spends a lot of time interacting with people on a daily basis.

“I couldn’t wait to try to think things over and take a break for a bit,” she says.

Gothenburg Film Festival artistic director Jonas Holmberg told CNN Travel that for safety reasons there is one other person on the island, but they should keep their distance.

The lighthouse cabin that became enroth’s home for the week was recently renovated by design agency Stylt, so it was not only stylish, but well-equipped.

Holmberg said a soft bed and good food is part of the deal. “It’s not about surviving,” he added.

As a movie fan, Enroth had seen every movie about headlights that quickly fell into horror, and it was playing in his mind. Mainly because she’s afraid of the dark.

That first night, after sunset illuminating the clouds in a copper haze, the island was soon shrouded in darkness.

Enroth tried to sleep, but struggled, his ears tuning in to all the unusual sound in the cottage.

But waking up to sunrise quickly took the night’s sleep into the background, and she decided to make sunrise with the sun part of her island routine.

Every morning she watched the sun rise, then ate breakfast in her kitchen.

“The sunlight is amazing,” says Enroth.

There was a gym on-site, which Enroth used every day – though nothing better than walking up and down the lighthouse several times a day to get his heart racing.

“After I got up the first time, I came back down, and I must have been there for a while because my head was just spinning,” she laughs.

Back in the field, Enroth had a second breakfast and prepared to enjoy the day, immersing himself in the Gothenburg Film Festival schedule, but painting, walking and creating a video diary.

Enroth had left his cell phone and laptop on dry land, as directed. Being without them was a liberating experience, “a relief,” she says.

“It was great not being strapped to your phone and just watching a movie without being distracted.”

Unable to google anything, she realized how accustomed we are to having all the answers at our fingertips. In her Day 5 video diary, Enroth spoke about some of the questions that had crossed her mind that she had just had to leave (“Where do lobsters sleep? How do they sleep?”)

Unable to check out the news or read updates from loved ones, the film-fueled Enroth’s imagination began to run wild. She feared the coronavirus had worsened further in her absence.

“I was thinking of the apocalypse,” she says. “Your mind starts to make things up, ‘What if it happened? And this and that could have happened …”

Producing the video diary was also a new experience for her – Enroth has a Facebook account, but says she is not a heavy user of social media and has little experience filming herself talking to the camera.

“I don’t think I’ve ever gotten used to it,” she said.

Still, Enroth liked to have an outlet for his thoughts. One of the strangest things, she says, was watching movies and not being able to discuss it with anyone afterwards, whether in person or online.

“I had to try to process [the movies] by myself, and that means they stayed with me for a long time. And I never dreamed of such strange things. “

Highlights of Enroth’s film program included “A Song Called Hate,” a documentary about the Eurovision Song Contest and the Taiwanese drama “Days”.

Enroth loved being able to fully immerse himself in his movie watching. She realized that when she watched movies at home, even those she really enjoyed, it was easy to reach for her phone or get distracted by something in the house. This is not the case on the island.

In total, she estimates that she has watched about thirty feature films, as well as a handful of short films.

The lessons of isolation

Being alone on the island was fine with Enroth, but she points out that it was nice because it was her prerogative.

“I think of all the people who don’t choose to be alone and are forced to be – and it’s so much harder than what I did. What I did was just nice, ”she says.

Enroth returned home on February 7 and returned to work, on the night shift, the next day.

She says returning to the hospital will be a fundamental experience and that she is aware that island life will quickly recede into the distance.

“But I also think the island taught me not to rush too much,” Enroth said.

“Of course at work there will be stress and stuff like that. But in my free time I think I would feel better if I just took a little time. Relax just a moment.”