A man swapped life in the US to live on a $31k island in Finland - for "less than a house deposit".
Oliver Russell, 24, who is half American and half Finnish would spend every summer in Finland visiting his friends and family.
After growing up in Laguna Beach, California, US, and moving to Fort Collins, Colorado in 2020 he struggled to get inter-state tuition - which is more affordable - so he looked elsewhere.
He thought about moving to Helsinki, Finland, to study and made his dream a reality in August 2022.
After moving to Finland, Oliver met his girlfriend, Helena Tomaszewska, 20, and the pair bought the island - which they saw advertised on a property website - in March 2024 for just $31,000 (€28,000).
Oliver Russell, 24, who is half American and half Finnish would spend every summer in Finland visiting his friends and family.
After growing up in Laguna Beach, California, US, and moving to Fort Collins, Colorado in 2020 he struggled to get inter-state tuition - which is more affordable - so he looked elsewhere.
He thought about moving to Helsinki, Finland, to study and made his dream a reality in August 2022.
After moving to Finland, Oliver met his girlfriend, Helena Tomaszewska, 20, and the pair bought the island - which they saw advertised on a property website - in March 2024 for just $31,000 (€28,000).
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FunTranscript
00:00Recently, we bought an island in Finland. Two months ago, the island was just a bunch
00:04of trees, moss, and rocks. And it still kind of is. But now, we have a deck for our glamping
00:09tent and a bathroom set up. We started the process not knowing anything, and still have
00:14a lot to learn. The deck is made out of trees felled on the island that I had to debark,
00:18notch, and assemble, without any prior experience as it was my first time cutting down a tree
00:23as well as building anything. But I'm happy with the outcome. Now that we have a place
00:27to sleep, the next thing we needed was a bathroom. Transporting the outhouse to the
00:31island was a bit difficult as we only have a rowboat, but in the end, we got it done.
00:35And it's the first structure we have on the island. As summer is coming to an end, we
00:39still have a few things we want at our base camp, like running water, a shower, and a
00:43floating dock. But it's just the beginning. With fall and winter coming, we wanted to
00:48start the process of felling trees for our log sauna cabin, which we hope to start building
00:52next summer. We are documenting every single step of the process, so follow along as we
00:57try and figure out how to transform our off-grid island into the island of our dreams.
01:01Recently, we bought an island in Finland. It's almost a three-hour drive from Helsinki,
01:06and currently the island has nothing on it. It's just trees, moss, and grass. Our plan
01:13is to build a log cabin completely by ourselves, with no prior experience, and transform it
01:19into a fully functioning summer cottage. So far, we have made a few trips there, and it
01:23has not been easy. But we have been able to accomplish the goals we set for ourselves.
01:28Follow along to keep up with all the progress, and hopefully, soon, see us build a log cabin.