When Nerea Bartolomé, originally from Madrid, moved to a Lumo home in Tikkurila last autumn, it felt like an exciting opportunity to start a new life.

Nerea has lived in Finland since 2021, in Kemijärvi, Espoo, and Helsinki. Still, Tikkurila in Vantaa has proven to be the most homely of them all.

"In Helsinki, I felt a bit stuck. The idea of a fresh start closer to my friends felt exactly what I needed. I wanted to push the boundaries of my comfort zone," Nerea explains.

From the very first moment in Tikkurila, Nerea has felt refreshed. It was as if a new era had begun.

There are three particularly important places in Nerea's home. The first is a large window where she has a corner for her houseplants.

"From here, you can see beautiful sunsets, and during the day, light floods in. I have a slight obsession with plants," she says, laughing.

Plants bring colour to the home even on dark winter days. Nerea has a habit of buying a new plant whenever she starts a new phase in her life. Then the plant grows with her.

Nerea learned how to care for plants from her father, who is an avid gardener.

"My father's advice was to observe how the soil absorbs water when I water the plants. That's how I know when to stop. So far, this simple advice has worked."

At the kitchen island, Nerea films her social media videos, where she humorously shares her experiences with the Finnish language and settling in Finland. Before she started making humorous videos about a year ago, she hadn't done any social media at all. Her first video went viral within two hours of its release.

"When I moved to Finland, I was still very shy and not used to speaking to the camera, but these years have given me confidence and taught me to know myself better."

The island works well for filming videos because there is free space all around it. Here, Nerea can move freely with the camera and find different angles.

"When I was still living in Helsinki, I felt like I couldn't really connect with my creativity. Here in Tikkurila, I've had many ideas and haven't been afraid to express myself. Creativity flows easily here."

On weekends, Nerea has time for social media, so on Saturdays, she films the ideas that came to her during the week, and on Sundays, she plans the upcoming week. She sits on the sofa, turns on a small lamp to create an atmosphere, and starts writing.

"I write things down as they come to mind, but sitting here, I advance ideas and develop dialogues for the videos."

Nerea is from a small village in the mountains of Madrid, so being close to nature makes Tikkurila feel like home to her. The Keravanjoki riverbank is just a short walk from her home. She comes here for walks on weekend mornings and listens to music at the same time.

"Now I listen to Finnish music, so I can practice Finnish at the same time. I listen to a bit of everything from the top 50 Finnish music list, but I like Ellinoora, for example."

There is also a barbecue area by the river that is freely available for city residents to use, which Nerea has taken advantage of with her friends.

"Last time, we spent one of the warmest days of early autumn here."

Perhaps the most surprising of Nerea's favourite spots is Tikkurila's Prisma, where Nerea does her grocery shopping alone but often with friends. They enjoy spending time together exploring Finnish food products and other new items in the store.

"We do grocery shopping, but we also have a bit of fun," Nerea says.

For Nerea, getting to know grocery stores is also getting to know the local culture. She is amazed, for example, by how many different types of yoghurts and breads there are in Finland.

"At first, I had no idea what I was buying, but now I know the basics that I like to use. I love rye bread, for example."

When Nerea was looking for a new place to live before moving to Tikkurila, the proximity to the train station was one of Tikkurila's strengths. From here, she can conveniently take the train to work in Malmi.

"On the train ride to work or home, I immerse myself in my thoughts or listen to podcasts."

Nerea sees her future in Finland. She never really felt like she belonged in Spain.

"Here I have something that I build myself," she reflects.