Working as a full time self employed artist, spending most of my time home alone, trying to take care of every aspect of the business all by myself can get really hard and often does. I still haven’t found a good way to deal with or prevent the cycles of burn out happening, but I’m working on it. At least I’ve become better at sensing that it’s coming.

In the past month or so, it’s been more and more clear that I was heading that way, but I still did nothing. It all finally came crashing down last week, so I decided to just leave work behind for a day and take myself on a trip I’ve been wanting to go on for a while.

I’m constantly looking to explore new nature around me, though I mostly keep it relatively close to home. The North coast of Sjælland has been on my radar for a while, but it always felt a bit too far from my comfort zone, too close for a several days trip, too far for a day trip. I wish I was more comfortable with camping, because that may be the perfect way to explore the area, but I’m just not there yet.

This time however I disregarded all nagging thoughts that the trip wasn’t worth it and I’m glad for it. Summer is at an end, days are noticeably shorter and there’s chill in the air again. I can feel that the time for outdoors activities is running out for me, so that helped with the final bits of motivation I needed.

The town

I chose the area of Tisvildeleje for my day trip. Tisvildeleje is a small beach side town on the North Sjælland coast. It’s surrounded by beautiful nature, both beach and forest and it’s only one and a half hour away from Copenhagen by public transport. So I packed some food, I packed some art supplies and I was on my way.

I arrived at the small station of Tisvildeleje around 2 in the afternoon. I didn’t visit the town, because I was eager to get into nature, but from my short walk from the station to the beach I could tell it’s a sleepy and cute little place that’s right up my alley and I absolutely must give it some attention next time I visit. As I was walking down the street I caught my first glimpse of the sea and there was something instantly exciting about that, it suddenly felt like “I’m now on vacation!” Even if only for a couple of hours!

I was most eager to explore the nearby forest, but I had to give the beach a visit too. It was a chilly day, only around 19 degrees, but there were still some beach goers around, mostly people walking their dogs.

During my sketching session at the beach I started to get hungry, so I headed to the nearby beach cafe for a snack time. I treated myself to a latte and had some homemade cheesy snacks and blackberry cake in the sun while pondering my next move.

The forest | Tisvilde Hegn

I was getting more and more impatient to see the forest, so that’s where I headed next. I was greeted by the hot pine aroma right as I walked into the shades and it always makes me feel so “at home”. For the first half an hour I kept getting glimpses of the sea through the trees and it filled me with “holiday vibes”. There’s something quite special about places where the forest comes all the way to the beach, it’s like bonus nature, 2 for the price of one.

The forest was still keeping some of the green freshness of summer, but at the same time the first signs of autumn were starting to show: yellow leaves raining from the treetops, small patches of heath and the subtle smell of mushrooms! It was quite and I barely met any other people, which gave me the perfect moments for quite observation. I even met some of the forest inhabitants: a frighten deer and a lazy chill slow worm (“stålorm”, a kind of a legless lizard).

Troldeskoven

I was also very lucky to “discover” an area of the forest I was very much hoping to see: “Troldeskoven”, or the troll forest. It is a part of the forest where the trees grow in strange twisted shapes and they look like you’ve walked into a fairy story. It is an old forest dating back to the later half of the 18th century and it is believed that the strange shape of the trees is a combination of the impact of the wind and an infestation of pine pests.

Walking around those trees was definitely a magical experience, but the sun had started to set and I didn’t want to be caught by darkness in the forest, so I started heading towards the beach again. I had walked parallel to it the entire time, so it was quite easy to navigate back. No time to sketch more unfortunately, but hey, there’s always a next time.

The beach

As the sun was starting to set I was back among the dunes, covered in wild rose bushes and tall grass. It was a beautiful golden moment! I walked back by the still pleasantly warm water, admiring the views. The colours of the sunset were perfect, the new moon was rising behind me and the sound of the waves was so relaxing.

It was dark when I made it back to town and just in time for the train. This trip was the perfect little get away and I absolutely need to come back and I can’t wait for the next time.