We are going to Sweden.  Not just Sweden: above-the-arctic-circle northern Sweden.  In the middle of winter.

This February, Amanda celebrates a big birthday.  (We’re not going to say which one, but it rhymes with Spathirty).  And to celebrate, we decided to take a trip.  We searched long and hard for a tropical escape, but realized budget and time were not on our side.  So we decided to embrace winter rather than fight it.

And what screams “winter” more than Sweden in February.  Does this sound like a bad idea to you?  Keep reading.

I have learned that much of travel is the search for the unique and the quintessential.  You want to experience new things (seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time), but you also want the “iconic experience” (Muay Thais on a beach in Hawaii).  But the moments when the unique and quintessential overlap, are those moments when you truly hit travel gold.

Consider this for unique: In Jukkasjarvi, Sweden, the  ice hotel is crafted by hand every winter.  And every spring, it melts to back to nothing.  Artists are commissioned to forge individual rooms, so suites are part living space, part museum.  Guests sleep on reindeer hides atop ice beds (at more than $400 night!), drink in the ice bar, or can get married in the ice chapel.

Consider this for quintessential: Even in the USA much of our Christmas imagery originates from Scandinavia.  Icons – from Reindeer pulling sleighs to evergreen Christmas trees -are a part of winter lore thanks to little ice-bound towns in northern Sweden.  Think: quaint red villages covered with blankets of snow under a sky full of northern lights.

Plus, it’s easy to get to Sweden in February using your frequent flyer miles.  Because it sounds like a bad idea, right?  Right?

Follow MarriedToAdventure.com this winter to find out!