A 24-year-old man ditched his life in America to buy a Finnish island and live in peace. Oliver Russel, who has dual citizenship, snapped up the landmass for just $31,000, per SWNS. This was less than the median downpayment of $34,000 that Americans paid last year, as per Statista. Russell along with his girlfriend is now building a home on the island. He shared their journey on their YouTube channel Off Grid Island.
Living the dream
Russell, who is from Laguna Beach, California, has both American and Finnish roots. He used to spend his summers in Finland with his family while he lived in the US. However, when he moved to Colorado in 2020, he faced steep tuition fees, which forced him to look for alternative places to study. He then considered going to Helsinki for studies, and he made the move in August 2022.
The international business student told SWNS that he fell in love with the idea of going to Finland and thanks to his citizenship, he could get free education while living the local way.
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He then met his partner, Helena Tomaszewska, 20, and together they set out to look for their future home. While looking through a property website, they came across the 2.5-acre island. By March 2024, they invested about $31,000 (€28,000) into their own paradise.
They stepped foot on the island for the first time in June 2024, when the land was completely covered in trees, and moss and appeared mostly uninhabitable. The land was ripe for transformation and the pair promptly got to work. They first cut down trees to make a tent for shelter and cleared up space to install a wooden deck.
"I loved the summer cottage life and wanted one of my own. Every time we go to the island it doesn't feel real that it is ours - it is so nice to be out there," he told SWNS. He also shared that they immediately jumped on the property and their very first offer was accepted. However, on TikTok he explained that the island was classified as a holiday lot, so they won't be living there full time.
Putting in the work
He explained that building a home on the island has been labor intensive, and shipping stuff is tough too as they only have a row boat. According to their YouTube videos, the couple has so far built a place to sleep, a log wood deck, installed an outhouse bathroom, and built a shower.
He shared in his progress video that for the winters he plans to collect all the logs he can for heat, and have running water on the island. Russell has also shared that they further plan to build a wooden cabin next summer and build a floating deck to transport more stuff to the island. However, he also confessed that he has no prior experience of constructing anything.
"We want to build a sauna cabin - based on the rules, one-third of the plot has to be a sauna cabin," he shared with SWNS.
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While it has been challenging the duo said that they are fully committed to tackling the challenges hands-on. Russell said that their educational commitments were very big. However, the duo said they are having a bunch of fun doing things they never did before.
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