Worklife in Tallinn, Estonia

Business trip to Tallinn

How many times I have flown between Stockholm and Tallinn the last couple of years I don´t know but it has been many. During Covid times you needed PCR test and forms from the government and signed from my company CEO in order to enter. Also I had to detour through Helsinki since the direct flights wasn´t there. Now it is back to normal again and in the best case you can get there in an hour with a direct flight. I did though had a trip here that reminded me about the Covid times when I flew here this time so it took me seven hours to travel here. Could have been in Dubai in that time. But hey, who don´t want to go to Tallinn in January? It was actually my first time being in Estonia during the winter. If it was enjoyable, well.

Workday

Working in Estonia within my field of business feels to me pretty much the same as in Scandinavia. Organizations look more or less the same. It is rather efficient (with room for improvement) and there is a high focus on keeping the projected time frame. Negotiations are straight forward with the aim to find a solution where the parties compromise. I would say that for a Scandinavian to come here to do business it is more or less the same. When working with aircraft maintenance as I do it is the same regulations to follow wherever you are so the fundamentals is kind of straight forward. English is not a problem but in aviation everything is in English no matter where you work in the world but of course there is a variation. The layover projects which I work with can be everything from a walk in the park to bringing you the worst nightmares. It all depends on what is wrong with the aircraft undergoing maintenance and of course which project team you are assigned to and cultural differences.

Normally having one aircraft is stressful and during my time in Tallinn I have had two so you can probably understand how my life has been. Especially since I have had close contact with suppliers located in a range from Singapore to the US so it is not a 8-5 job I could tell. Constant pling-plong at my phone from emails and calls. And of course weekends are not off. So when I can I always try to stay off the radar because that could change the next minute and then you need to work for 10 minutes or hours. You never know. Its like a Kinder egg.

Free time

I have not worked around the clock during the days I been here. I have been running a lot. Was hoping for skiing to practice to Vasaloppet but the snow left when I came. I managed to fit in one half marathon during the weekend running along the coast and also to a beach I only been to once before. Not my favorite weather conditions since it was +4 and rainy but it was fine. Fresh air and outdoors. Then I have been running 8-10K every morning before work except one. Weather has ranged from icy streets, snow storm, rain, spring like to melting snow so got the whole spectra.

One evening I killed myself running intervals on the treadmill. 10 minutes warmup and 1-2-3-4-5-4-3-2-1 minute intervals at 13,5km/h pace. It always feels so good when it is done and I know it is great training so I try to stick to do it once a week.

I also managed to read one book, go for some walks, visit the gym for strength training, met up with a friend I got to know living here and join a Bodycombat class. And went to the hotel SPA a few times. Not that different compared to what I would do at home but it is honest a big relief when you need to be available for work all the time to not be at home bothering about cleaning, laundry, cooking and the usual stuff. Could be that I am also too lazy to go out and have dinner while being here so most of the times I grab a salad, visit my friends at Mc Donald´s or have yoghurt and muesli at the hotel. Going out eating every day feels to me just like a waste of time which I rather use for activities. We went out twice for dinner and drinks on the day I came here we visited a Geogian restaurant which is one of my favorites in Tallinn and the second last day a place called Argentiina which is very hyped but it wasn´t that great. Overpriced and service was super slow.