Lena Akinmade island-hopping in Sweden

My city is an overtly sensory one. It can be defined in the steady drones of ferries cutting the dark waters of the Baltic Sea, and the plinking of bicycle bells warning it’s time to step aside. In summer there’s swimming in skin-tinglingly cool lakes and bays (bathing suit optional), and tearing off sourdough and dipping it into saffron-fragrant seafood stews, slurping juices from blush-pink langoustines and singing folk songs off-key at backyard kräftskivor parties, crayfish on the barbecue.

When I first started living here 15 years ago, I caught the old 1930s SS Stockholm out of Ladugårdslands Bay and over to Vaxholm, where a 16th-century fortress stands. Seagulls cawed overhead, and the mechanical zip and shrieks from the Gröna Lund amusement park floated across the water. We sailed past skerries, islets and islands sprinkled with colourful cabins like cupcakes. I breathed in wafts of sea salt and pickled herring from the smörgåsbord onboard, and first heard “bara vara”, a refrain often uttered around Stockholm and its islands when winter releases its grip: “just be”.

Stockholm’s Old TownJenny Zarins

Stockholm life is island life. The city spans 14 main ones, and several island districts, each with its own character. Östermalm is Prada and Gucci, sweaters tied around necks, Pomeranian pups carried like expensive purses and old-school restaurants where diners might bump into HRH Prince Carl Philip, as I have done twice. A stroll from Gamla Stan, or the Old Town, leads to eclectic Södermalm, “Söder” to locals, for vintage shopping, hole-in-the-wall joints, vegan cafés and quirky nightlife. Kungsholmen and Norrmalm are peppered with places feeding those building the next unicorn in nearby coworking spaces. Since becoming a naturalised Swede, I’ve witnessed Stockholm’s fierce egalitarianism make space for global competition. Beneath its swan-like elegance is an innovative start-up and sustainability impact scene paddling like crazy to power the next phase of its evolution. Over the past decade this innovative spirit has seeped into Stockholm’s veins, establishing a creative hub fuelled by salmon poke bowls, food truck tacos and gym memberships. As for Sweden’s famed latte pappas – the dads sitting in cafés with baby buggies – they’re also vest-wearing tech bros enjoying the work-life balance that makes Stockholm’s ecosystem particularly attractive. Once summer rolls around they swap start-ups for sailboats and head into the archipelago for weeks. For the yachtless, regular ferries connect us several times a day to dozens of islands.

Grinda HarbourJenny Zarins

Verbena flowersJenny Zarins

In Stockholm it’s all about finding your own secret “ö”. For my friend Erika it’s Dalarö, more than an hour south by train, with its shallow, sandy Schweizerbadet beach. For me it’s my home island of Lidingö, 20 minutes from downtown. Driving past Elfviks Gård, a working farm where horses and sheep roam, I arrive at cabanas reminiscent of Ibiza’s party scene at a ’70s-inspired spa hotel. At Ellery Beach House, Stockholm’s first urban beach club, I sip a tangy-sweet piña colada – “I don’t know about you, but f*ck it, I’m day drinking” is etched on the menu – hearing girlfriends cackle and mill about in matching buttercream-coloured bathrobes, others bobbing on white-and-yellow rubber floats in chest-deep pools that are heated year-round. I step down onto a pier and gingerly climb a ladder into the cool waters of the Baltic.

I almost miss my ride. Standing at Gåshaga pier on Lidingö’s eastern tip, face pitched toward the sun, I’d forgotten to raise the semaphore pole – an ancient signal that indicates the need to hitch a lift. The droning of the boat’s engine reaches me across lapping waters. I catch myself and point the pole up. Destination: Grinda.