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! 🙂
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9 Comments
Ray
Hej Kelly!
Jeg hedder Ray. Jeg bor i New Mexico med min danske koner Vibeke. Jeg elsker dine You Tube videoer!
OK, enough Dennis. I’m tired of fighting my phone to agree that while I said is reasonable and anyway, you probably understand that. I think you have a great video series. I’ve only started watching it tonight. I thought the 13 or 14 traditional danish dishes was awesome. I am so familiar with almost all of those. And best wishes to you in Denmark, With any luck we will be moving there soon.
Vores børnebørn bor i Hørsholm, nær København. Please keep producing these videos, I love them.
Kelly
Great to have you along, Ray! 🙂
Matt
Hello from Madison, Wisconsin. I stumbled onto your content and I’m so impressed by your storytelling and the sincerity you show in your videos. You sound super and I am going to send you some good thoughts from the Midwest!
Kelly
Thanks for following along, Matt! I’ll send some good vibes back your way! I absolutely love Madison. Such a pretty city!
Lilly
Hi Kelly, ive read your blog about taking the Danish level 1 test and they are very helpful. Have you already taken the level 2 test. Can you share any pointers please. I believe you can skip level 1 and go straight to level 2 to save money for the test. Thanks in advance for the reply. Its nice reading your blogs.
Best,
Lilly
Kelly
Hi Lilly,
Level 2 is very similar to level 1. I have taken both of them. Yes, you can skip level 1 and just take level 2, but I took both. Since I had to pay a lot of money for the family reunification visa, I wanted to take both test, since passing each test would give me part of the that “collateral” back. 🙂
Glenda
Hi Kelly,
I started watching your vlog after planning a trip to Denmark. I thought it might give me some useful insight on the country and what to expect. I’ve really become an avid watcher and find that we have a lot in common. I have lived as an expat in two other countries and find that our outlook is very similar. I am still enamored with travel and learning about other countries, people and customs. My husband and I are hoping to travel to Greve next year. I’d love to visit your area as well. Feel free to e mail me privately. I have some questions about a possible move and employment opportunities.
Palle Pedersen
Saw the advert for Viborg, where I spent much of my childhood on holidays with grandparents. Do you live in Viborg, if you don’t mind me asking? How do you spend your time? At home or running a business from home?
Kelly
Most of my days are spent at school. I recently went back to school to learn something new. 🙂 My blog and Youtube are having to take a backseat because of it, but I am hoping that will change at some point! 🙂