Living on the West Coast

I occasionally hear myself state that, "I couldn't imagine living anywhere else."

But even though it sounds good and only confirms to me that Hvide Sande is a wonderful place to watch our girls grow up, the statement is far from true: I could easily imagine living somewhere else . . . . which is exactly why I stay where I am 📍

Do not expect that migrating to a small coastal city like Hvide Sande will be a quick fix that suddenly makes you happy in one fell swoop. However, if you are considering creating a slightly more grounded existence for yourself and your family, moving here (or up here) may turn out to be a good starting point for changing the priorities as such.

I could easily imagine living in a buzzing megacity with access to all kinds of cool shops, clubs, exhibitions, galleries and events, but I also know how I would feel utterly alone and abandoned after only a few days.

I could easily imagine living in the mountains, but I know how much I would feel the claustrophobia of the missing horizon and how desperately I would long for the sea after only a few weeks.

I could easily imagine living under warmer climes, but I know how much I would miss our cold coastal climate and the strong winds, not least in the winter.

I could easily imagine living under brighter skies. But when spring comes, I still know how insignificant that transformation would feel on top of a winter that hadn't at all been winter . . . .

Now during the autumn holidays, I had several visits to the workshop from people who had read the portrait of me in this year's White Sands magazine.

What the visitors had in common was a great curiosity about the choices I have made in recent years where I have worked towards establishing myself as a self-employed artist, and not least a pronounced desire to free up a little more time for the family and the creative pursuits themselves.

And it is true: my little family probably lives a slightly more low-key, laid-back life than many of my peers. We don't chase the wild material abundance, and don't necessarily try to live up to the countless success criteria that we, as modern people, otherwise always measure each other against.

On the contrary, I consistently try to propagate and repeat my own version of the good life.

When I talk to other people who express a desire to move to the West Coast, it is typically connected to the fact that they feel trapped in an everyday feeling of always being behind.

And although we who live on the Danish North Sea coast can also easily work ourselves half to death and be blinded by material goals, I can only state that it is easier to be grounded and live authentically when you are reminded every day of how small and insignificant you are on the grand scale; when you feel the wind in your face and sense the wild sea behind the dunes.

Don't get me wrong: Do not expect that migrating to a small coastal city like Hvide Sande will be a quick fix that suddenly makes you happy in one fell swoop. However, if you are considering creating a slightly more grounded existence for yourself and your family, moving here (or up here) may turn out to be a good starting point for changing the priorities as such.

If you and your family are thinking about taking the plunge and moving to the West Coast, I can only encourage you to actually do it.

Hvide Sande is a different town today than it was 20 and 30 years ago. I meet many young families who have moved here, driven by a desire for a more down-to-earth existence; resourceful people who also become active co-creators of the city and help create a dynamic momentum. And of course there is plenty of room for more.

We'd love to welcome you.