The people of Barriere may be surprised to learn that the Sovereign of a small Swedish island is living quietly amongst them.
Well, that’s a bit of an overstatement.
Bronwen Bird of Barriere is not actually the queen of the island called Storberget in the Baltic Sea off the east coast of Sweden, but she is, in fact, its custodian for the next year. That’s thanks to a program from Visit Sweden, a tourism company owned by the Swedish government.
“The title of Island Custodian has been bestowed upon me,” Bird, who’s been living in Barriere since 2024, said.
It all began with a long-held desire to go on a proper holiday. Bird said she and her husband hadn’t left Canada since before COVID.
The Barriere local said that, while Sweden might seem to some like an odd destination to really want to visit, she’s always desired to travel to the Scandinavian country. She couldn’t pinpoint why. Maybe it was because she grew up close to Ikea in Coquitlam, and used to go there for lunch while in university, she said.
“I don’t know what it was, but I’ve always been attracted to Sweden.”
So, when searching for the perfect holiday destination, Bird considered the idea of Sweden and began researching the possibility. The first website she found was Visit Sweden, and when she clicked it, she found the words “Your Swedish Island” at the top of the screen.
“I was like, okay, whatever. Like I really didn’t think anything of it,” she recalled.
But after visiting the website several more times, she finally decided to click the island link, and her curiosity was piqued.
What she found was a contest where five islands were available to be “won” by participating internationals. Applicants were asked to prepare creative submissions explaining why they deserved to be an island custodian. According to Visit Sweden’s Instagram post about the competition, there were 2,242 applicants from 100 countries.
Bird submitted a one-minute video where she comically simulated an interview between herself and a representative of the Swedish government, who was asking her why she deserved to be an island custodian. The winning video can be found in Visit Sweden’s Instagram post.
That’s how a Barriere woman won a year-long custodianship of a small, rugged island called Storberget, which ironically means “the big mountain.” Bird’s island is one of more than 260,000 in the country, according to Visit Sweden. She won alongside four other individuals from the U.S., Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland.
Bird said the island initiative is meant to promote Sweden’s beautiful nature and outdoor lifestyle.
“They love going outdoors in Sweden. Like they get outside every single day,” she said.
She said it’s also about something called “The Right of Public Access,” or Allemansrätten, which gives all people in Sweden the right to roam freely in nature as long as it’s done with respect.
“You could sail to any of the little islands around Sweden, and you can set up camp for a couple of days, go swimming, do whatever you want. You can literally camp in somebody’s field for a night if you need to. But of course, as long as you aren’t destroying or disturbing, being respectful, then it’s fine,” Bird explained.
She noted that, though she’s been granted permission to visit the island and do what she wants within reason, it’s also open to anyone else to visit. So, she has invited the world to visit Storberget and to tag her in a video or picture. Anyone who does that, Bird said, will get a personalized letter and a small token of appreciation.
“Something that says like, I went to this Swedish island and all I got was this stupid pin.”
Winning the Visit Sweden contest also came with two free tickets to the country. Her custodianship began on June 1, and she plans to take a trip with her husband to the country next April or May. They plan to take a motorboat from the town of Nynäshamn and hug the coastline the whole way down until they get to Storberget. She said she’d learn to drive a boat first, so she’s confident traversing the coast of the Baltic Sea.
“If all goes according to plan, we’ll pick a day where the water is not choppy, pick a good weather day, and we’ll travel there.”
Bird also plans to do something special for the trip. She intends to knit a Nordic-style sweater made of both Canadian and Swedish yarn. Bird wants the sweater to have the ocean, the red houses of Sweden, the mountains of Kamloops and Barriere, and, of course, trees.
“The vision is me driving the boat, wearing my sweater, getting on the island somehow, and taking a picture, ideally holding a Canadian flag in the sweater,” Bird said.
“That’s kind of the dream, to represent Canada.”