We moved to Sweden on the 18th of September 2022. Our journey began in Saint-Petersburg on the 16th, from where we traveled to Helsinki by bus. On the 17th, we boarded a ferry to Stockholm.
While this summary captures the essence of our move in two sentences, thereās so much more to the story. If youāre interested in the details, continue reading this post.
Prepare for boarding!
Our journey began well before the 16th of September. It truly started when my wife, Tanya, received her offer from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm in July 2022. We spent two months preparing for our move, and there was much to be done.
Useful resources
As Russian citizens, there are several things we need to address both before and after our departure. While some of these tasks arenāt legally required, they are highly recommended.
I recommend reading through these pages, especially the first one, and applying the knowledge to your situation.
The best guide, in my opinion: Where and how to leave Russia
This guide is still up-to-date as of September 2023.
The majority of these guides are not up-to-date, but they may still contain useful information:
- How to live abroad: Guide for IT guys (but not only) 2022
- How and where to go
- Companies with relocation options
- Refugee status for Ukrainians, Belarusians, and Russians (last update 20 March 2022)
Chats:
The following appears to be the most comprehensive list of chats: equanity.notion.site/50ac9ed8bec04c948ec1798ee38658ca
Additionally, there are channels that share personal experiences about interactions with the Russian border and military:
- ŠŠ¾Š³ŃŠ°Š½ŠøŃŠ½ŃŠ¹ ŠŗŠ¾Š½ŃŃŠ¾Š»Ń (Border control)
- How Russians interact with Russian authorities
- Interactions with Russian military
Buying tickets and accommodation
As of 2023, due to sanctions, Russian cards donāt work outside of Russia. This poses significant challenges, especially for those looking to book in advance or move to Sweden.
For our journey to Stockholm, we needed:
- Tickets from Saint-Petersburg to Helsinki
- A one-night stay in Helsinki (just in case there were problems at the border)
- Tickets from Helsinki to Stockholm
- Accommodation in Stockholm
We had to take such a long route because there are no direct flights or ferries from Saint Petersburg or Moscow to Stockholm. The only alternative was flying via certain southern countries that still maintain flight connections with Russia.
However, flying imposed stricter luggage restrictions. We had numerous items to bring, and we wanted to avoid overthinking our luggage.
Below is a table comparing the costs for two people, round trip. Airplane prices range from the cheapest to the most convenient options.
| Airplane | Bus-Hotel-Ferry |
|---|---|
| ā¬1294-ā¬4449 | 232ā¬ + 164ā¬ + 252ā¬ = 648ā¬ |
Clearly, the bus-hotel-ferry combination was the most cost-effective and convenient way to reach Stockholm.
So what we did
To get to Helsinki, we bought tickets from Ecolines. Fortunately, it was possible to make the purchase with a Russian debit card. We also managed to book a hotel via booking.com because the card linked to my profile was still accepted. However, Iām uncertain if this would work for a newly registered account.
I believe we could do that only because we had a card linked to my booking account. If not, we might have had to resort to platforms like ozon travel or aviasales.
What we were able to do only because we had friends and family abroad
We aimed to take a Silja ferry to Stockholm since it didnāt impose weight or baggage quantity restrictions. However, as you might have already guessed, Silja ferries did not accept Russian debit cards. So, we asked my friend in Armenia to pay on our behalf, and we reimbursed him in rubles via his Russian bank account. For accommodation, my wifeās uncle in Canada agreed to cover two months of our stay, and my wifeās father reimbursed him via a SWIFT transfer.
Itās worth noting that without my Armenian friend, David, and our international connections, we couldnāt have managed certain payments, like the Swedish council fee. Reflecting on this, I often thought about individuals without any friends or relatives abroad. We truly are fortunate in this aspect.
Packing up
I made a concerted effort to prepare us optimally for this trip. In this section, Iāll describe what worked well, what didnāt, and provide some updates based on future experiences.
Conserving home
At that time, we genuinely believed we would return to Russia for the New Year (Ha-ha, Mobilization). Given the extended absence, I decided to store as many items as possible in vacuum bags.
I attempted to wrap the furniture as well, but couldnāt complete it, so I essentially abandoned the idea.
Update from August 2023:
It seems to work quite well. My parents tell me that our apartment in Saint-Petersburg neither smells
stale nor like old clothes. The items themselves donāt accumulate much dust. Upon returning from Moscow,
Tanya mentioned that our apartment wasnāt very dusty. Still, I believe it was a good decision.
Taking stuff with us
This is where our plan shone. The majority of our choices proved to be good. However, I wish I had known about this website before packing: packhacker.com.
-
Packing cubes: I opted for pretty basic ones, but they served as effective organizers. Specifically, cubes for cables, clothes, underwear (these are not ideal for men), and toiletries.
- Vacuum bags: These are excellent for winter clothes. We could pack much more with them
- Nintendo Switch! Man, if you need to travel a lot, thatās a great entertaining companion
- Bag for Nintendo Switch
Update from August 2023:
But again, I highly recommend checking out the packing lists on packhacker.com.
While I relied on common sense and didnāt consult any guides, their packing lists are much more
comprehensive.
Scooters š“
When we were getting ready and evaluating our potential living areas, I explored our surroundings on Google Street View. The abundance of bike lanes in Stockholm looked promising. Additionally, videos from Varlamov encouraged us to try scooters. So we did. It was an immediate oversight, not catastrophic, but regrettable.
The issue was that we brought many items with us, and the scooters felt like the straw that might break the camelās back. Fortunately, it didnāt come to that, but it was a close call. In Stockholm, it turned out that scooters without engine werenāt particularly useful. The buses are efficient, and the pavements arenāt scooter-friendly.
Update from August 2023:
We really didnāt need the scooters. They turned out to be inconvenient in Stockholm. The
pavement is rough, there are many hills, and itās often wet. A bike or electric scooter would definitely be a
better choice here.
From Saint Petersburg to Helsinki
Five days before the announcement of the Draft (Mobilization), we knew it was going to happen because all the news was about it. Government officials denied it as usual. All analysts were discussing why it would happen, despite its unpopularity. Every day from the 12th to the 16th, we checked the news about it. But everything was alright when we left.
The bus was scheduled to leave at 14:00 MSK. The day before, Irina (Tanyaās Mother) arrived in Saint-Petersburg. We rented an apartment for her nearby, so she just came to our place, and we took a taxi to the bus station. For some reason, there were significant traffic jams in the city, and I was concerned we might be late. However, we arrived 20 minutes before departure. My parents arrived at the place 5 minutes before the bus left. We were in the queue for the bus when Mom called me, crying. They were by the stationās fence, just 10 meters away. I told her to come inside so we could say our goodbyes properly. She didnāt hear me; she was sobbing. I asked Tanya to watch our belongings and ran into the station. We hugged one last time, and I rushed back. They were at the fence again. I called them, and we agreed to stay in touch. As the bus pulled away, I also began to cry.
After calming down, I experienced a sense of joy and excitement for the upcoming trip. I remembered how Tanya and I went to Helsinki for the first time as friends and returned as a couple in 2019. And now we were going there as a family after 3 years. From my perspective, the trip to the border was swift. Three years ago, it felt like an eternity to get there, but now it seemed like weād just boarded the bus and suddenly needed to disembark.
At the border, I began to worry that we might need travel insurances, even though my prior research found no such requirement. It turned out we werenāt required to have these insurances. That was a relief eventually, but in the moment, I felt apprehensive. Maybe that was a general symptom of the excitement and worry about the border.
It also felt more and more daunting as we approached, especially since the cell network stopped functioning. At the actual border, there was a cafe with a torn billboard. The sight was disheartening.
At the Russian border checkpoint, we were asked to take all our belongings outside and walk through with them. Given the amount of luggage we had, we were not pleased with this requirement, but of course, we didnāt argue. Essentially, with our baggage, our mobility was severely limited, so every minor obstacle felt like a major challenge. For instance, Tanya couldnāt lift the luggage on her own, so I had to drop everything and assist. But slowly, like a turtle, we made our way inside the building. There, we were greeted by an already-formed queue. The bus driver asked all passengers with foreign or dual citizenship to come forward first. A few, maybe five or ten, had such status. From what we gathered, most of them faced no issues, but one passenger had to stay at the border. He was a Ukrainian citizen. That was unfortunate, and we felt really sorry for him. At the Border control, weād read stories about such incidents, so while it wasnāt shocking, our hearts went out to every individual who couldnāt make it across.
Slowly, the queue got to us. During that time, we both felt suffocating as if there wasnāt enough air in the building. Tanya had to walk around to avoid fainting, and I was getting sleepy. Eventually, we reached the checkpoint. There, we had to quickly place our bags on the x-ray lane and answer questions about our belongings simultaneously. We were prepared for this, thanks to ŠŠ¾Š³ŃŠ°Š½ŠøŃŠ½ŃŠ¹ ŠŗŠ¾Š½ŃŃŠ¾Š»Ń (Border control). They asked us how much money we had and why we were going abroad. Interestingly, they inquired about our medicine. We only had some ibuprofen and allergy tablets.
Then there was another queue for document checking. In short, we passed it and were eager to leave.
The difference between Russian borderland and Finlandās is stark. Russian buildings appear cheap and dirty. On the other hand, Finlandās border seemed to have even fresher air. Perhaps we were just relieved to leave, but it felt great to move away from the chaos. At the Finnish border, they didnāt question us; we simply presented our documents, received no queries, and departed. Many people called their relatives as we crossed the border, expressing joy. We felt the same, at least until we disconnected from the Russian cellular network.
As we continued our journey, darkness quickly set in. During our ride to Helsinki, we saw many familiar shops that also exist in Saint Petersburg: KRuoka, KRauta, Prisma, some gas stations we recognized, and offices of major companies like Samsung. It was comforting to be back after so long. I had missed the thrill of encountering something foreign.
At the Helsinki
There were two stops for our bus in Helsinki. One at the Airport and the other at the bus station (Kamppi). We were headed to the second stop. But almost the entire bus was headed to the Airport. When we left the Airport, only six people remained on the bus, including us and the two bus drivers.
We quickly reached the bus station, got off, and started moving at a turtleās pace towards the Hotel. The hotel wasnāt that far from the bus station according to the map, but with the number of bags we had, it was a challenge.
The moment we picked our things up, I started to doubt that it was a good idea to take scooters with us. The fact that we had to carry backpacks, scooters, and two suitcases per personā¦ I really did not imagine how hard it would be to carry. But there was nothing left to do. We had to get to the hotel. Right now, I canāt believe it was just one kilometer because it felt like five kilometers, and it took us not 12 minutes but 30 or 40. During that time, I thought about the challenges faced by those with limited mobility. Like how hard it must be for an elderly person to navigate. And how challenging it is to navigate Russian cities with their uneven surfaces and non-functional elevators.
First, when we got off the bus and gathered our belongings, we had to exit the Kamppi station. Fortunately, there was an elevator that took us to the street. At that time, we were directly confronting our limited mobility and didnāt take the time to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings. We consulted the map and followed its directions. Unfortunately, we didnāt have internet access, but I had downloaded maps of Stockholm and Helsinki. Thus, we had to navigate to our destination in an almost old-fashioned way. As I understand now, we took a much longer route compared to the one suggested by Google Maps. Perhaps thatās why our journey felt so lengthy.
From Helsinki to Stockholm
I still remember the breakfast at the hotel. The salted fish was exceptional.
When we were done with the breakfast, we packed and left our luggage at the hotel. We took some time to walk around the city. We went to the railway station and took some pictures. We also went to the shopping mall and bought some food for the road.
Our luggage problems arose again. We had to get to the ferry terminal with it. Fortunately, we were able to get a taxi from the hotel.
When we got to the terminal, it was still some time until the boarding. So I decided to grab some salted fish sandwiches from the Helsinki market.
First impressions
Up until that point we had little to no problems with not having a working bank card. Sure, it was a bit inconvenient, but euro cash in Finland was fine.
But the moment we stepped on the shore of Stockholm, we realized that we had to get to the hotel. And while figuring out what to do, we realized that all taxis were gone, there were no people at the terminal, and we didnāt really know where to go from there. Thinking about it now, we should have asked for help from friends who were in Stockholm or either of our employers. But we had to do something at that moment.
So we spent some time configuring terminal wifi, setting up Revolut, and trying to register in taxi apps using it. It didnāt work.
While doing this, terminal personnel started to arrive. I asked them what we should do in our situation. They told us that we should go to T-Centralen (Stockholm Central Station), change euro/dollars to Swedish crowns, and then buy an SL card there. That sounded like a plan.
The only thing left was a taxi. Fortunately, there were some lonely taxis coming to the terminal. I caught one and asked if they accept euros. And they did! So we got to the T-Centralen with a load of our luggage.
When we got there we started actively using our advantage of being together. One of us was watching the luggage, while the other was going around doing something. That way we exchanged money, bought SL cards, and figured out what to do next. But here started our āwe donāt have a cardā problem. We thought it would be easy to buy some sandwiches, considering everything went smoothly with the previous tasks. But at T-Centralen, we had our first encounter with not being able to pay with cash at cafes and restaurants.
We asked for some sandwiches and realized that our Swedish courses bore fruit as we understood what āskinkaā and āostā meant. But it didnāt really help with buying stuff as our cash was not accepted. But the guy at the counter was really kind and paid for us with his card and we paid him back in cash. That was really nice of him. But that solution was not scalable. We had to figure out something else. Spoiler: use cash exchange services to send money via SWIFT to your Revolut account.
So we got our sandwiches and went to the hotel. We were somewhat tired, but it was fine. In Stockholm, youāve got to really appreciate the amount of elevators and tools that help people with low mobility. They are everywhere. And they are working. With our luggage, we were able to get to the hotel using the local tram system without anyoneās help.
After Helsinkiās night walk on a brick pavement, I was really appreciating Stockholmās accessibility. I am confident that if something would have happened to us, we would be able to do things on our own.
Where we lived ā Magnolia house
Magnolia house is located in the northwest of Stockholm. You have to take a so-called PendeltĆ„g (commuter train) to get there. Itās a really nice place. Itās close to the water, there are a lot of trees, and itās really quiet. It took us some time to get to the place, as we had to carry our stuff for 1.5 kilometers. But then we got thereā¦
Now, another little adventure. As we had no internet, we had to figure out how to get inside the house. And I couldnāt just open the Airbnb app and check the instructions. Luckily, I had the email already downloaded. But to open it, I had to turn off mobile data and turn on wifi. And then I was able to open the email and get the instructions.
And now, it was time to relax, buy some groceries (with cash, yes), and go to sleep.
On the next day, Tanya had her first day at work, and mine was a week after.
During that week, I explored the area and walked around Stockholm a bit. I also wanted us to start working on documents as soon as possible.
But our short journey was over. Now we were to settle in the new place.
Cute ducks eating apples
Calm water
Final word on 19.09.2023
It was a year since Tanya started working at KTH and since we moved to Sweden. So many things happened during that time. A lot of them are good, like we made some great friends here and traveled a lot. And some of it is not so good (Bureaucracy could be better sometimes). Sometimes we spend time being nostalgic about Russia. And all that is good. Really good. Iām just glad that we are together.
Itās a shame that such a great transition is happening due to such a terrible event.
I think Tanya and I got more relaxed here. And we were stressed not only because of the war, but I think generally life in a way was more stressful. Though we had a pretty good and exciting life with a lot of travel between Saint-Petersburg and Moscow, we stayed in the house a lot. I think the sleep deprivation and our work being too intertwined with our personal life affected us.
Despite the work not being as phenomenal as it was at SberDevices, it still seems really meaningful. And I think that my colleagues are really nice and responsible people. And in the end, Iām really happy to work with them. I want to learn Swedish, I want to hang out with them during retreats and be able to have fun.
I do believe that this is just the beginning of our journey.