About Kelly

Hej! 🙂 I’m Kelly, a Danish-based, American blogger writing about life in Denmark!

Meeting my Danish husband in 2007, we married and started a family in our home in northern Illinois (USA). Together with our 2 boys, we moved to Denmark in the spring of 2016 to start a new life with new experiences. (Read more about My Story below.)

I am a veteran teacher of 16 years, who decided to take a break from the classroom as a teacher to go back to school as a student. While working on a degree in International Marketing Management in Denmark, I also focused on collecting all my knowledge of Denmark and Danish attractions and put them in a blog to share with others who want to have unique experiences in less-trodden places of Europe. My New Danish Life was born, and through this platform, I have worked with a number of companies in Denmark, Germany and the USA to promote ways of living one’s best life with suggestions for great travel and lifestyle choices. (See my Work with Me page to learn more!

My Story

In the fall of 2015 when my husband came up for the idea of applying to jobs in his home country of Denmark, I thought he was crazy. We had great careers, our oldest had just started school and loved it, and we had bought a camper caravan 6 months earlier to have make lots of memories exploring the USA as a family. The timing was a bit off, but he seemed so excited about it, that I started to get excited about it.

One big issue with moving to Denmark was that I had never lived in a foreign country before. I had always dreamed of studying abroad during my college years, but it never happened. I took countless trips in my 20s to experience different parts of the world, but I had never thought of moving one day with a husband and two kids.

This was going to be interesting.

Long story short, Denmark shocked me at first. I didn’t know what I was doing in this new country where I couldn’t understand the language and didn’t know a soul. It was all very confusing for quite a long a time until one day, I decided to write about it. 

I thought that if I got it all down on paper, I could make sense of things, and if I started a blog, I could help others like me know that they aren’t alone in this crazy new life abroad.

Fast forward a few years, and I started to really love life in Denmark. We have taken every advantage we could to explore this great country from the big cities to the quaint fishing villages to the beautiful beaches to the magical forests. There is so much to love about Denmark, and I would LOVE to share it with you!

Not only have we seen so many great places as a family, but there are so many great customs and traditions that have helped us transform our lives, so I have taken all of what I have learned about how to love Denmark and rolled it into this one blog!

I hope you enjoy! God fornøjelse! 🙂

Danish Travel and More

Because of all the wonderful places to see in Denmark, I have a very extensive section that highlights many great places in each of the different sections of Denmark (See the map on my Home Page). You can easily plan your trip to Denmark with the easy-to-use tabs that separate each area. Find all you need to make the most memorable trips in the cities, small towns and natural areas around Denmark.

You can also learn about all the great places to camp as a family both in and out of Denmark in my “Camping in Europe” section of the blog!

Want to know some of the best places to visit OUTSIDE of Denmark? I have added some additional places that aren’t too far from Denmark for those wanting to take family camping trips or excursions away during long holiday weekends or summer vacation breaks in my “European Travel” section.

There is even a section on some of the off-the-beaten-path places if you are planning a trip to the USA. Check out my “USA Travel” section. These trips and attractions are so unique and filled with recommendations that make it easy for you to plan a trip out of Denmark to explore the true “America”!

More than Just Seeing the Sites

Though My New Danish Life offers you some of the best places to visit in Denmark, it also gives you an insight into life in Denmark as a foreigner. In my “Living Abroad” section, I share stories of what life in Denmark was like for me as an American during the first few years. My embarrassing moments, episodes of culture shock and lessons learned help other expats understand more about the Danish culture, while it is pretty entertaining to the Danes to read about!

There are also posts about “Danish Holidays“, and what expats can expect during these different times of year.

“An Expat’s Guide to Living in Denmark” section has all you need to understanding different aspects of life in Denmark that are new to foreigners so that foreigners can have an easier transition to Danish ways of doing things.

Because I am a mom to two boys it is no surprise that I have two sections that focus on my life in that important role. First, you can read about some of my funny and heartfelt stories about being a mom on my “Mom Life” section. I also have written a few how-to posts that show you how I have created memorable birthday parties for my boys throughout the years in the “Birthday Party Themes” section. Do you like to be creative? In my “Sewing Tutorial” section, you can learn how to make many fun things for your baby or children that will add a little something special to their childhood memories and make your life a bit easier!

Birthday Party Themes

The Mission of My New Danish Life

“Helping expats, Danes and travelers experience the very best that Denmark has to offer in places, experiences, products and customs.”

The Vision of My New Danish Life

It is my vision that all those who live or visit Denmark will find all they need on my blog to encourage them to experience all the best places in Denmark that are in both cities and nature. I hope to connect families with places that will allow for a fun day for all ages as well as to teach people about Danish traditions, foods, holidays, and customs that can be incorporated into anyone’s life for them to live life a bit more like the traditional Danes! I also want this blog to be a place for both Danes and foreigners to come together to bridge gaps between the different cultures in order to foster more understanding and acceptance of our differences. 

Thanks for coming along on My New Danish Life to explore the real treasures of what Danish life can offer! 🙂

New Subscribers Welcome! Sign up here!