Personal story
2019 – 2020 was a really busy time. I was working for the City of Oulu and doing other freelancing jobs at the time being. My calendar was fully booked, and life was busy and all of a sudden in 2020the world came to a halt ….. And it was rather pleasant.
I had moved back to my family home in Seinäjoki to be closer to my parents, and I started spending time in the forest – every day. It was like a veil had been lifted. I came back to the memories of my childhood being in nature all the time, and a thought sprang into my mind. “Why should I not do this all the time? Because being in nature feels so good.” So here I am.
Family history
My great-grandmother came to Oulu from Kuhmo in eastern Finland. She married a man from the Oulujärvi region and began working as a laundress on the banks of the Oulujoki in Tuira. In time, my grandmother was born, and they started a family. Much later, without knowing it, I ended up moving to the exact same area of Oulu where my family had once lived.
In the 1930s, it was common to make long trips by local train to pick berries, often staying overnight and continuing by bicycle. I inherited my family’s foraging places and received the knowledge they had gathered over generations from the region.
About your guide
Veli Jussi M.A. is a passionate forager and mushroom connoisseur, as well as a licensed nature guide. He is also a musician and a local history enthusiast, and he is part of the official Oulu2026 European Capital of Culture program. He is a mindfulness instructor with a background in meditative practices, and he has a strong interest in the QGIS geospatial information system.
If you have any questions or just want to say hello, please don’t hesitate to contact.
OuluNature / Veli Vaismaa
info@oulunature.fi
+358 45 166 0514 (Whatsapp, SMS)
