Almost six months after their Fully Hosted Stay, we asked our guests what they remembered most.
When planning a trip to Lapland, it's easy to focus on everything you want to see and do.
The northern lights. Reindeer. Snow-covered forests. Traditional Finnish sauna. All those experiences you may have been dreaming about for years.
But we've often wondered something else.
When the journey is over and everyday life begins again, what actually stays with you?
Is it the activities you booked? The photographs you took? The places you visited?
Or is it something you couldn't have planned in advance?
Last March, we welcomed Gabi and Fede for a week-long Fully Hosted Stay at Polar Tranquil.
It was an important experience for us, too. We were still developing our concept and learning how to bring together our years of guiding experience, our family home and our vision for a more personal way to experience Lapland.
Almost six months later, we asked them a simple question:
When you think back to your week with us, what do you remember the most?
Their answers reminded us why we wanted to create Polar Tranquil in the first place.
"I still think a lot about the whole trip."
When we asked Gabi what she remembered most, her first answer made us smile.
"I couldn't really choose just one thing. I still think a lot about the whole trip."
She remembered the food, our guest relationship manager Elvis (our cat), the snowshoe hikes and all the different experiences they had enjoyed during their week.
But what we found especially meaningful was how she described the experience as a whole.
We often plan holidays around individual highlights. We choose the activities we want to do, the places we want to visit and the things we hope to see.
Yet when we look back on our travels, those individual moments often become part of something bigger.
The conversations between activities. The meals shared together. The unexpected moments. The feeling of being somewhere completely different from everyday life.
Perhaps a memorable journey isn't always about finding that one extraordinary moment.
Perhaps it's about how all the little moments come together.
Experiencing Lapland through local eyes
One part of Gabi's feedback was particularly meaningful to us.
She wrote:
"I really loved being able to experience Lapland in a more local way."
She went on to describe how she could feel the difference compared to mass tourism and how much she appreciated the respect shown towards the local community when planning their experiences.
Reading this meant a lot to us.
When we started Polar Tranquil, one of our biggest motivations was to show that there is another way to visit Lapland.
Not necessarily by avoiding the activities that have become popular here, but by looking a little closer at what is behind them.
Who are the people organizing and guiding the experiences? How are they connected to the place? And what can we learn about the local culture, history and way of life through the things we choose to do?
For us, responsible tourism is not only about protecting nature or reducing our environmental impact. It is also about respecting the people and communities who call this place home.
And we believe that responsibility can actually make the experience more meaningful for travellers too.
Gabi described how every activity felt purposeful and helped them understand more about the local culture, lifestyle and beliefs.
That is something we hope to carry into every Fully Hosted Stay we create.
We don't want our guests to simply leave Lapland having completed a list of activities.
We hope they leave understanding a little more about the place they have visited - and the people who live here.
The moments in between
When we asked Fede the same question, his answer reminded us of something we've experienced many times during our years working as guides.
He remembered the snowshoe hikes, the feeling of forgetting about everything else and simply enjoying Finnish food by the fire or somewhere in the snowy landscape while having a good conversation.
Nothing particularly complicated.
Just being outdoors, sharing food and spending time together.
And perhaps that is exactly what made those moments so memorable.
During our years guiding in Svalbard and Antarctica, we've often noticed that some of the moments guests remember most are not necessarily the most spectacular ones.
Sometimes, after seeing incredible landscapes or wildlife, people tell us that their favourite moment was when we simply stopped.
When nobody needed to talk, take photographs or think about what was coming next.
Just a few minutes of being completely present in the surroundings.
These experiences have shaped how we think about guiding and hosting.
We don't believe that a good experience needs to be filled with constant activities, information or entertainment.
Sometimes, knowing when to slow down is just as important as knowing where to go.
And it's something we hope our guests will experience here too.
Because sometimes the moments in between are the ones that stay with us the longest.
And then there was Grandpa's cooking
There was one more thing Fede wanted to mention.
The food.
Or more specifically, the meals prepared by Noora's grandfather.
After sharing his memories, Fede sent another message to make sure we wouldn't forget to mention Grandpa's cooking.
He even told us that the food they had enjoyed during their stay ranked among his five favourite food experiences in Europe.
We had to smile at that.
Because for us, dinner at Grandpa's house has always been part of normal family life. At the same time it is something that when we were working months away from home and someone asked us: what food do you miss the most from Finland? The answer would always be: Grandpa’s food.
The familiar kitchen, home-cooked meals and conversations around the table.
Our grandfather built the two cabins in the 1991, and he still lives here on the same family land where Noora grew up.
When our Fully Hosted guests join us for dinner, they are not visiting a restaurant designed to recreate traditional Lapland.
They are being welcomed into his home.
The meals are usually simple, home-cooked dishes, often prepared with ingredients familiar to our region.
There is no elaborate performance or carefully scripted cultural experience.
Just food made with care and shared around the same table where our family has gathered for years.
And perhaps that is exactly what makes it special.
When we travel, we often search for extraordinary experiences.
But sometimes, what feels extraordinary to a visitor is something completely ordinary to the people who live there.
A family dinner.
A conversation.
A recipe passed down through generations.
For us, these moments are just as much a part of experiencing Lapland as being outside in the snowy landscape.
And hearing how much they meant to our guests was something we will remember.
Of course, there were northern lights too
Their week wasn't only about quiet moments and shared meals.
They also experienced many of the things people dream about when travelling to Lapland.
Reindeer, snowshoe hikes, Finnish sauna, cold-water experiences and snowy winter landscapes.
And yes, we were fortunate enough to see the northern lights.
Gabi mentioned these experiences in her reflections, but she also pointed out something important about the auroras.
They are entirely beyond anyone's control.
Living here, we know how much the conditions can change.
You can choose a good location, follow the weather and keep an eye on the sky, but you can never guarantee that the northern lights will appear.
Our cabins are located away from the brightest lights of Levi, with opportunities to watch the sky directly from the property when conditions are right.
But we don't believe an entire holiday should depend on seeing the auroras.
There is so much more to Lapland than one natural phenomenon.
We want our guests to experience the landscapes, people, food, traditions and quieter moments that make this place special, regardless of what happens in the sky.
And when the northern lights do appear?
They become one more beautiful part of the experience.
Note: All the pictures you see about our place are real - no AI has been used.
A review that meant a lot to us
After their stay, they also left us a lovely five-star Google review. Our very first review on Google and our aim is to only receive five-star reviews when people visit us!
He wrote about the overall experience, the activities we had organized, the food and the opportunities to see the northern lights from our location.
He described the stay as a rewarding experience that left them feeling energised.
Receiving that review was particularly encouraging because we were still at the beginning of developing Polar Tranquil.
There were things we were trying for the first time, details we wanted to improve and ideas we were still learning how to bring together.
Having guests trust us with an entire week of their holiday was already something special.
Hearing that the experience had meant so much to them gave us confidence to keep developing what we had started.
But asking them months later what they still remembered gave us another perspective.
It allowed us to see which parts of the journey had remained meaningful long after they returned home.
What does a Fully Hosted Stay really mean?
In our previous blog post, we explained the difference between our Cabin Stay and Fully Hosted Stay.
Our Cabin Stay offers a more independent way to experience Lapland. Guests have their own private cabin, sauna, outdoor hot tub and the freedom to explore the region at their own pace.
A Fully Hosted Stay is different.
We take care of much of the planning, organize meals and carefully chosen experiences and share more of our time and local knowledge with our guests.
But reading Gabi and Fede's reflections reminded us that the real difference isn't simply about how many things are included.
It is about the relationships and connections that develop along the way.
The conversations.
The places we explore together.
The people our guests meet.
The shared meals and unexpected moments.
And the opportunity to experience a place through the people who call it home.
These are things that cannot always be described in an itinerary.
They happen naturally when people spend time together.
And they are at the heart of what we hope to create through Polar Tranquil.
What we hope our guests take home
We are still at the beginning of building Polar Tranquil.
There is so much we want to learn, improve and develop in the years ahead.
But experiences like this remind us what we want to hold on to as we grow.
We want our guests to feel comfortable and welcome.
We want them to experience the beauty of Lapland and discover things that are meaningful to them.
We want to support local people, communities and businesses through the choices we make.
And we want to leave enough space in every journey for the moments that cannot be planned.
When we asked Gabi and Fede what they remembered most, we didn't know what they would say.
Perhaps the northern lights.
Perhaps the reindeer.
Perhaps one particular activity.
And although they remembered all those things, their reflections told a bigger story.
Of time spent together.
Of feeling connected to a place.
Of enjoying good food, conversations and quiet moments outdoors.
Of experiencing Lapland through the people who live here.
For us, that is one of the most meaningful things a journey can offer.
Not just memories of Lapland.
But memories of how it felt to be here.
Thank you, Gabi and Fede, for trusting us with your week in Lapland and for sharing such thoughtful reflections afterwards.
They mean more to us than you probably realize.
Noora & Sebastian
Polar Tranquil
There is another way to visit Lapland.
