Most people in cold climates with long, hard winters spend their days dreaming of palm trees and golden sands. Then there is Dee Forker. She traded the warm, scented nights of Queensland, Australia for the bone-chilling cold of Stockholm, Sweden.
In our new article, “Adventure to Södermalm, Sweden,” we follow the 32-year-old Aussie’s trail from Australia to Canada, Scotland, South America, the U.K. and finally to a trendy suburb just south of Stockholm’s city center.
Born and raised in Rockhampton, Australia, about an eight-hour drive north of Brisbane in Queensland, Dee graduated from the University of Queensland with a bachelor’s degree in physiotherapy in 2004.
She worked off and on in Queensland hospitals and private practices, but like many Australians, she wanted to explore the world beyond the borders of her country. She met her Swedish girlfriend, Erika, on her sojourn to South America.
By 2013, Erika had returned to university in Sweden and Dee moved to England to work in physiotherapy. “It was just a stepping stone because I could not work as a physiotherapist in Sweden.” Certification requires fluency in the Swedish language.
She lived in several places in England, working on short-contract assignments and studying for her certification in acupuncture before making her move to join Erika in the trendy south Stockholm suburb of Södermalm in 2013.
Soon after arriving, like many millennials living abroad, she decided to start a business. “I opened Conscious Health Studio in nearby Kungsholmen last year to offer sports and rehabilitation therapy. I’m doing work with cheerleaders and a rugby team. I also started Pilates classes and do Western medical acupuncture with a little bit of Chinese acupuncture.”
Her new business is doing well, particularly with the large local Australian expat community.
Dee and Erika live in hip Södermalm, about 20-minutes from central Stockholm. The area is pricey, but is known for its great cafes, bars, restaurants and shopping.
Her ultimate goal is to become a registered physiotherapist in Sweden, which requires fluency in Swedish. She goes to language school every day. “Sweden has a program called Swedish for Immigrants (SFI) and it’s free. I do that every morning for three hours and it’s going well.”
