A few weeks ago I got one of the most memorable mails ever: I got accepted to Hyper Island. I couldn’t be happier, but what I didn’t knew, was that one of the hardest months ever was awaiting me. I started searching for a room or apartment in Stockholm. But believe me, that is one of the hardest things ever. Let me just give you some of the problems you’ll face when you start searching for a room:

• There is much more demand than there are rooms
• Sweden is a rich country, you’ll pay a lot more for what you’re used to
• Probably, you’re foreign, which makes it even harder
• You’ll find a lot of rooms inside an apartment, where you’ll have to live with somebody you don’t know. It’s not like your own place, nor is it like staying at a guest family. Not really what you’re looking for right?
• A lot of people hire a room or apartment they hire themselves. This is illegal! If you don’t watch out, they’ll kick you out within a few hours, and you’re back on the streets.

So finding an apartment is a bit like going to war. You have to be extremely fast, make sure you go to Sweden at least a week before your activities start, and act as quick as you can. But most of all, you need luck. If you’re lucky, you can find an apartment the first day you arrive here. But if you’re not, it can take days, weeks, perhaps even months.

I started searching in July from Belgium. Which is really hard because you can’t view the apartment, you have to rely on pictures. You can’t sign a contract because you’re not there. So for me, it was kind of a fail. So I booked my flight 8 days before I would start. I arrived and stayed for a few days at a friend’s place. He was on vacation than, so I had a peaceful place for searching an apartment. But you have to learn the rules, and become a soldier in the house hunting war. And that took me longer than I could stay at that friend’s place. So I moved to a youth hostel. And this is basically what you do the whole day: you check several renting websites all the time, send loads of e-mails, call as many people as possible, and never let go when somebody reacts unless you’re not satisfied. And in the mean time, you search for a temporary place to stay for if you don’t find something soon.

My lucky call happened when I left the youth hostel for a hotel. A girl had a room for rent with everything included: own kitchen, own bathroom, electricity, water en internet included in the rent. And still a fair price. I was online when it came up, and mailed immediately. She mailed me and proposed to come and take a look the next day, but I called her back and asked her to see it the same day. She arranged it, and later that day I went to take look, saw that it was good, and took it. That’s how fast it goes =) Never hesitate, push to see it as fast as possible. Today is better than tomorrow. And most of all, don’t be to picky. Search for something your satisfied with, but don’t have many requirements. My apartment is far from my school, but close to the subway, so that’s enough for me. The apartment is quite small, but I don’t need anything more. So don’t be too picky, be happy with what you get.

Here underneath you can see a map of where I stayed, where my apartment is, and where my school is, just to give you an idea.

But now I’m extremely happy. I’ve got my apartment, I can move in on Friday, so I’ve got a whole weekend where I can move and buy all the things I need. School starts tomorrow, and I can’t wait to start the first project!