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

Although she is passionate about her work, Enroth said that her demanding nature meant that the prospect of spending time alone by the ocean – without a cell phone and just the endless sea, the sky without limits and an abundance of films for company – he had an obvious fascination.

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

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

Although Enroth knew Pater Noster, having spent a year studying at neighboring Gothenberg, she had never been there before and was 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 pounding.

The trip to the island, she says, was impressive – sea, sky and snow stretching in front of her.

And his first view of the Pater Noster lighthouse, cropped in the distance, was unforgettable.

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

Left alone, Enroth closed his cabin door on the lighthouse and sat on the sofa.

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

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

Listening more closely, she slowly caught the whistle of the wind, the birds flying over the lighthouse and the waves crashing on the rocks.

Enroth put on his warmest clothes and decided to examine the surroundings, going around the perimeter of the island and going up the 130 steps to the top of Pater Noster.

She took a deep breath and prepared to enjoy the week ahead.

Living in isolation

Enroth usually lives alone, but her first-rate health work means that she spends a lot of time interacting with people on a daily basis.

“I was really looking forward to just trying to reflect and take a break,” she says.

Gothenburg Film Festival Artistic Director Jonas Holmberg told CNN Travel that, for security reasons, there was someone else on the island, but they should keep their distance.

The lighthouse hut that became Enroth’s home during the week was recently renovated by the design agency Stylt, so it was not only elegant, but well equipped.

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

As a movie fan, Enroth had seen all the films set in a lighthouse that quickly turned into terror, and it crossed his mind. Mainly because she is afraid of the dark.

That first night, after the sun went down to light the clouds in a copper mist, the island was soon shrouded in darkness.

Enroth tried to sleep, but struggled to hear any unusual sounds at the cottage.

But waking up to sunrise made the night’s sleep quickly disappear in the background and she decided to make sunrise part of her island routine.

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

“The sunlight is unbelievable,” says Enroth.

There was a gym on site, which Enroth used every day – although nothing better than running up and down the lighthouse a few times a day to make your heart beat faster.

“After I went up the first time, I went down again and I had to stay there for a while because my head was spinning,” she laughs.

Back on the ground, Enroth had a second breakfast and prepared to enjoy the day, immersing himself in the Göteborg film festival program, but also painting, walking and creating a video diary.

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

“It was great not to be stuck on the phone and just watch a movie without distraction.”

Unable to research anything on Google, she realized how we got used to having all the answers at our fingertips. In her video diary for the 5th, Enroth talked about some of the questions that popped into her mind that she had to put aside (“Where do lobsters sleep? How do they sleep?”)

Unable to check the news or read updates from loved ones, Enroth’s film-driven imagination began to run wild. She feared that the coronavirus might have gotten worse in her absence.

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

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

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

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 them with anyone afterwards, either in person or online.

“I had to try to sue [the movies] alone, and that means they stayed with me for a long time. And I never dreamed so many strange things. “

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

Enroth liked being able to fully immerse himself in his film by watching. She realized that when she watched movies at home, even the ones she liked a lot, it was easy to pick up the phone or get distracted by something at home. It is not like that on the island.

In all, she estimates that she has watched about 30 feature films, along with a handful of shorts.

Isolation lessons

Being alone on the island suited Enroth, but she points out that it was pleasant because it was her prerogative.

“I’m thinking of all the people who don’t choose to be alone and are forced to be alone – and this is much more difficult than what I did. What I did was just fun, ”she says.

Enroth returned home on February 7 and would go back to work on the night shift the next day.

She says that being back at the hospital will be a grounding experience, and she is aware that life on the island will quickly disappear.

“But I also think the island taught me not to be in such a hurry,” says Enroth.

“Of course, at work there will be stress and things like that. But in my spare time, I think I would feel better if I went a little bit slower. Just relax a little.”