I’d like to introduce myself since this is my first blog post and the first time we meet (most likely).

Midwinter in Northern Sweden, Image Taken Noon time

I grew up just 1.5 hours drive from the arctic circle in northern Sweden with long cold winters and short but extremely beautiful and intense summers. I’ve seen the aurora (arctic light) so many times it needs to be really spectacular before i pay any attention to it. During the summers i could read a book at midnight without artificial light from a lamp. The downside of this place is that the winters and long and dark, dark, dark…

I was born the same year as the Rolling Stones played “I Can’t Get no Satisfaction” and Bob Dylan played “Like a Rolling Stone”. They were both on on the top 100 list that year. I have no brothers or sisters so i grew up as the only child in a small village of just a few hundred people. I lived at this place until i was 19 years old and had to move when i spent one year at the Swedish army. After my military service i moved on further south to take my university degree.

After university i worked for a few small and mid size companies for a few years and i did basically everything you can poke a stick at (supervision, quality audits, hardware design, software design, testing, procurement and sales).

After a few years at smaller companies i started working for a world leading telecommunication company and that was a lucky move from my side. I came there at the right time when cellphones just started to become popular. The growth and opportunities has just been staggering since than. Because it is a global company with presence in about 170 counties i gave me the opportunity to work in many countries all over the world.

The last 9 years i mostly spent working as a freelancer in Asia and I’m lucky because Asia is a fantastic place. The food is delicious, the weather is great and the people are friendly. At the time of writing this post I’ve worked for longer assignments in Japan (Tokyo), China (Guangzhou & Hong Kong), Cambodia (Phnom Penh) and Vietnam (Hanoi).

I’m happily married with an incredible woman I met in Sweden for the first time 15 years ago. She was born in Vietnam but moved to Sweden more than 20 years ago. Besides Vietnamese she is also fluent in Swedish and English.

Me and My Wife Relaxing At Kirirom National Park, Cambodia

My biggest interest is photography and all my traveling has given me great opportunities for photography. I have nearly all Canon lenses under the sun but i still use my old trusty Canon EOS 5D i bought in Hong Kong in December 2005. Occasionally I also bring out my 4×6″ Ebony large format camera which is just amazing but it’s unfortunately difficult to find the special sheet film it requires in most countries.

Photography is not just a hobby for me because i also sell my images through stock agencies. It’s a great extra source of income for me and pretty much as close to passive income as you can get. All i have to do is to take photos (my hobby), upload the photos to the stock agencies and passively collect my commission when my photos are sold. The stock agencies takes care of marketing, invoicing and everything else (i love it).

I love to play the guitar whenever i can because it’s like meditation for me. It makes me relax after a busy day or in the morning to prepare for a busy day. The two favorite guitars I own is a Gibson SG and a Fender Stratocaster. They are unfortunately both in Sweden so I have to “survive” without them.

Other interests I have are playing golf and ice hockey.

That’s pretty much it!

Please leave a comment below if you have any questions.

Me and My Blog is a post from: Peter Bergdahl's Personal Blog