I first noticed it on our way to Magstræde, one of the two oldest lanes of Copenhagen. A sliver of sunshine escaped through the high roofs of the historic houses lining the cobblestoned street. A cyclist passed through the strip of sunlight and a couple sat leisurely at a café on the pavement. The entire city seemed to be outdoors that sunny evening. I dismissed it as a natural response to the short summer days of Denmark. But something else caught my attention, an aura of contagious bonhomie that hung in the air. I didn’t know the warm feeling I felt then had a name but the scene made me feel strangely happy.

There’s no easy way to explain the untranslatable Danish word ‘hygge’ (pronounced ‘hoo-guh’). My Danish colleagues Ditte and Lise explained to me that, in a broad sense, it means cosiness and well-being. But its essence, as I gathered by the end of my stay, lies in creating a warm, friendly and comfortable environment. Leaving behind your worries and enjoying the good things of life with friends, family, pets, strangers or even alone, is what hygge is all about.

Doesn’t come as a big surprise then, that hygge is believed to be one of the secrets to Denmark being consistently rated as one of the happiest countries in the world!

The concept of hygge originated as a clever defence against the cold and dark winters Danes endure for a large part of the year. Apparently, candles and cosiness can beat the blues out of the harsh weather. The Danes didn’t confine the cosiness overdrive to winter months only, but ingrained this into their culture, 365 days of the year. From what I could comprehend, a cheerful dinner with friends and family, without the usual dose of drama that accompanies such gatherings, is the ultimate hygge . So is cosying up under a quilt with a loved one on a movie night or even some quiet time at the Laundromat café.

Apart from the broad overarching definition, no two Danes would have the same answer to hygge but the underlying sentiment remains the same — feeling cosy and free of stress, irrespective of where you are. It doesn’t mean one avoids dealing with uncomfortable situations and feelings. Hygge just encourages an ability to switch off the negative vibes ever so often and enjoy the present moment.

I wondered if incorporating a bit of hygge -inspired cosiness into my travels would be such a bad thing. Ticking things off the proverbial list was never my style but I am yet to plan a vacation where I’d slow down and amble around for a day or two in one place, without an agenda in sight. Vacations are supposed to be stress-busters but oftentimes, the headache that comes with hectic travel is hard to ignore. I remembered all the times I returned home from a vacation, only to need one more to rest my tired mind.

Fascinated by this esoteric phenomenon, I tried to find hygge in my own way since chances of scoring an invitation to the quintessential ‘cosy’ dinner during my short stay in Copenhagen were grim at best. So a bunch of us headed to the little coastal town of Hundestad one afternoon. I walked past brightly coloured houses with rose-filled gardens along the beach to get a scoop of homemade ice cream from Vaffelhjornet, voted Denmark’s best. Families, friends and young children queued up to get a cone of this delicious frozen fare. In their content smiles, I could sense the spirit of hygge .

Skipping a museum tour on another afternoon, I climbed to the top of the 90m-high helix spire of the baroque-style Church of Our Saviour. I could see the red roofs of the city stretch up to the edge of the sea and all the way beyond till Sweden. Taking in the stunning views of the city, watching tiny shadows of cyclists at the square and counting the number of kayaks in the canals felt incredibly calming. At the risk of making it sound like a First World problem, I badly needed that escape because the rigours of a frantic-paced holiday are not to be taken lightly.

The hyggelig vibes radiating from the muffled chatter of people celebrating summer along Nyhavn, the laughter of children playing in the shallow beach waters of Hundestad and the shared camaraderie of watching a volunteer-driven Viking play in Frederikssund were hard to escape. It’s not surprising then that my leisurely wanderings around Copenhagen, which gave me enough time to observe all this, became the most memorable moments from the trip.

Neelima Vallangiis a Bengaluru-based travel writer and photographer

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