The Right To Roam
Sometimes you don’t appreciate what you have until you don’t have it anymore. One such thing is what we in Sweden call Allemansrätten, the law of public access, or as it is also called the right to roam. This was something I always took for granted until I moved to the US, and never even thought about it as something unique or special.
But moving here and looking back to how “spoiled” we are in Sweden when it comes to our liberties to enjoy nature in so many ways I realized what a privilege it is to have this right.
So what is the law of public access?
Allemansrätten is in short the right to access, walk, cycle, ride, ski, and camp on any land—with the exception of private gardens, the immediate vicinity of a dwelling house, and land under cultivation. It also gives the right to pick wildflowers, mushrooms, and berries (provided they are not legally protected), but not to hunt in any way.
This will be the topic for my next episode, where I will talk about the origin of the right to roam, and my own experiences. Of course, there are limitations and some restrictions, and I will go into that as well, but mostly I will focus on what I miss the most since moving here.
What’s next?
The last episode of January will be about home sweet home, where I will look at not only different habits when it comes to our homes but also our actual homes themselves. Did you know that we describe how we live in very different ways for example in Sweden you might say that you live in a 5 room home, while the same home here in the US would be described as a 2 bedroom home, and other differences like those?
When it comes to February I have still not decided on all episodes, so if you have any ideas of topics you would like to hear about feel free to contact me either using the form in the top menu or send me an email
