About me

Unlike many stories you read on social media, mine does not start with quitting a job to travel the world. I have quit a job more than a couple of times, but my real story starts way before I even held a job.

I grew up with parents who has always loved the different way of life – especially when it comes to adventure, travelling & exploring. I haven’t watched a lot of TV or been an “inside” girl. I remember my childhood always being outside, exploring nature, animals & different areas around our house. Helping to make the garden, do projects, take care of the animals etc. When exploring, it was sometimes on horseback, sometimes bicycling, sometimes hiking – & sometimes just fooling around being a kid.

When growing up we occasionally went exploring Scandinavia & big parts of Europe. We went camping, driving, skiing, hiking, & sightseeing – eventually always ended up loving the parts that included nature the most.

Driving long distances, exploring & sightseeing in some of Europe’s biggest & most beautiful cities.

As you can imagine I was early on infected with the travel & adventure bug.

Ready to explore

My parents always loved doing the otherwise. From building their dream house out of nothing by themselves – living in rubble for a couple of years when we were only small kids, starting up a totally new business because of a simple idea, to eventually in 2003 deciding to “throw it all away”. Of course, it did not just happen overnight & yes it was something they had been dreaming of all their lives – but it felt crazy in the first couple of months.

Scary & yet exciting. The big, beautiful house they made from their own hands was finally finished & then they wanted to sell it all, to go travel the world the four of us for 1 year.

They literally sold everything. They only kept a few of their wedding gifts, pictures & of course some essential belongings to my brother & me. They paid of every mortgage & loan – sold all the materialistic things & put the rest of the money in the bank, ready for travelling the world as a family. The 4 of us got a big suitcase & a backpack. That was it. It was all our belongings, clothes, toiletries, shoes etc. for 1 year. Nothing else but us & a huge amount of wanderlust to go see our incredible world.

Ready to explore.

This trip turned out to be the experience of a lifetime – sculpting my whole life, foundation & beliefs, & marking the beginning of my love for photography & the creative world behind the camera.

In the years afterwards I finished primary school. I went to high school & graduated with high grades. I got my bachelor’s degree in law three years later & started out my master’s degree in law right away.

Growing up I wanted to be a veterinarian. Then a photographer, police officer, journalist – the list goes on. Point is, at no time do I remember wanting to be a lawyer, but somehow ended up applying to read law, because it seemed like “a good idea”. A law degree I thought would define my future. Instead, I felt nostalgic for a life I was not living & probably never would. & all those paths I did not take, they haunted me.

So, when fate handed me a get out of jail free card in the form of a job offer doing some social work combining my law degree-skills, I embraced the opportunity. Ending my studying on my master’s degree halfway through. Aware of preparing for the beginning of the end of my “old” me & my new life with other opportunities.

Sculpting something else – something that mattered.

I started focusing on the big stuff – doing stuff that made my soul happy. Taking chances, living life & embraced all new acquaintances – going with the flow.

I did not have it all figured out. But this time around I was determined to be the author of my own story. There is no blueprint for this life. No instruction manual. & I am still learning to be okay with that.

13 years ago, I met the love of my life – Michael – a hardcore road racer that lived his life on the road, always looking for another opportunity to go racing & find a new racetrack to explore. Quickly I became a big part of that world – combining my love of travel & adventure with spending time with my better half, while he was doing the thing, he loves the most in this world. Perfect combination.

Throughout the years, I have been slowly awakening his passion & love of travelling in different ways – cherishing nature, beautiful sightings & loving adventure on a whole different level.

Even though he doesn’t love long hiking-trips, sleeping in a tent nor enjoys nature as much as I do: he is never limiting my ideas, dreams or trips. I get to do me – & he him!

We have always found a way to travel & adventure combining both our hobbies, interests & dreams. & sometimes it’s together or solo – either way we are happy for each other when returning as an even better partner, because of it.

In 2019 our life was enriched by our beautiful daughter Camille. Now all our dreams & adventures include Camille & the 3 of us. Travelling as a family is a whole new dimension & Camille has given us a different way of enjoying all the small moments in between, we didn’t see before.

In our family we have always seen our whole little pack as one. That also means shaping our travels, holidays & everyday adventures around the fact that we have a dog. For many years we had our wonderful Shetland Sheepdog, Mojo, who quickly became a natural part of our journeys & little road trips. Later Kenzo came along – our energetic & loving Australian Shepherd.

He has become a huge part of our adventures & travels, & we truly love experiencing the world together as one family, with everyone’s needs in mind. When I head out on solo trips or long hikes, Kenzo is always by my side – a loyal companion & a beautiful extra dimension to being out exploring nature & the world.

Doing stuff together whether it’s a small adventure in the neighborhood or travelling & exploring the world, we always encourage each other to make time for solo-trips!

Family-trips & solo-trips are the core of the 3 of us thriving.

Combining both is our KEY to happiness.

On top of it all, I am also immensely grateful with the most incredible, caring family, – my constant support system, always cheering me on in my endless adventures & the challenges that come with them.

AND as if that wasn’t enough, I have the absolute gift of my best friend & her wonderful girls. Together, we spend countless hours exploring, travelling, & creating memories that feel like pure magic. Often it’s just the two of us wandering out into nature, side by side – & just as often, we bring along our 3 girls, letting them grow up with the same love for adventure, & the world around them. Truly, one of the greatest gifts in life is having a friendship where you can share your passion for nature, travel, & discovery – both as families & on those special solo adventures, just us.

As you can read...

I have been creating a traditional career path, family life & surroundings, but somehow always found myself wanting more & feeling my potential could be used in a more unique way.

Dreaming of finding my roots & wandering the world taking photos, making unforgettable memories, & sharing my love for photography, travel, adventure & exploring with others!

Sandraway is the foundation of my dream being able to do exactly that. This is my version of using my full potential & doing stuff with my soul & heart. Doing stuff, I genuinely believe in & feel the need to share with whoever desires. I want to inspire people around me to do more, do their best & live life to the fullest, for as long as we can.

If there is one thing, I have learned of the death of my beloved grandfather Robert – this is it: do it now – tomorrow it might be too late.

My grandfather had worked his whole life, saving up, preparing for his retirement with my grandma. Making plans & dreaming of driving around Europe with their caravan – living life & enjoying each other. Time for retirement got closer; 2 years before his retirement my grandfather got Parkinson’s disease & from that moment, he kept getting worse & worse.

He died the 8th of November 2018.

Never got to see his first great grandchild, never being able to go on that extraordinary trip with my grandma & been working & saving up for something that never happened, his whole life.

This is & always will be stuck deep in my heart & soul. The grief of losing the most loving grandfather anyone could ask for – but also the fact to cherish life now, as it happens – because you never know what tomorrow might bring.

Considering all the above, this created Sandraway a cold December night in 2019. Actually, this page was firsthand called Danish Adventure Junkie, but somehow along the way it felt wrong. So, I changed it.

We only live once – do it properly & with no regrets.

When I feel particularly lost, I try to remember who I was before the world told me who I should be. I can feel little pieces of that person returning when I am on top of a mountain, talking with a stranger or wandering down a dirt trail. For me, that is freedom. That is where all the world’s distractions & expectations quietly fade into the distant background & I can finally see the forest past the trees.

And it is where my story takes place.

My normal has changed.

I’ve jumped at every chance I’ve had to exercise my adventurous free spirit by seeing the world, all with my own resources.

My ultimate goals are to inspire you to travel, explore & go on adventures now, not later. To pursue your calling, listen to yourself, challenge yourself daily & be who you are meant to be, no matter what the person next to you thinks. It might be in your backyard or across borders. It might be on your daily hike in the forest or planning a luxury trip when you are travelling again.

There is no limit, no boundaries, no right & no wrong: only your dreams & your outline.

Life is too short to live in the shadows of our dreams. It is also too short to let anyone else dictate what you should do with your one wild walk on this beautiful planet.

Life truly is what you make it. So, make something beautiful, & do not wait.

I do think that most of us have room in our lives to make more time for the things we genuinely want. & while money will come & go, time only passes.

Pursuing happiness is difficult. It requires sacrifice, hard work, & risk. Under these circumstances, it is easy to fall into the trap of measuring ourselves against other people’s successes. But comparing we to others is a slippery slope that generally only goes one way – down to the rocks below.

I like to think that happiness, on the other hand, is found in understanding what you want, pursuing it with all you’ve got, & then taking it from the only person that can give it to you – YOU.

Life is too short

I am a normal Danish girl trying to achieve something else, something different. Nothing else. My writing in English is not perfect – you probably will find flaws, mistakes, & incorrect translations. But I am trying my best, I am getting better every day, every word – & yet, I am just me – I’m not perfect, & I am OK with that.

Sandraway is for everyone that loves hiking, photography, travelling, exploring & going on both big & small adventures. Normal life adventures that include both the whole family & solo-trips along the way. A place that shows in between & captures both spectacular mountain-landscapes, dreamy travel-content & at the same time captures beautiful peachy sunsets in the messy backyard of our house while prepping for dinner.

Who knows where it all leads?

My wish is to inspire you to go outside, do what makes you happy & be encouraged to try something new. To do your best & to unfold the beliefs that travelling & going on adventures must be awfully expensive & unachievable.