Oliver Russell and his girlfriend, Helena Tomaszewska, plan to build a summer cottage and sauna on the island he bought three hours outside Helsinki.
Courtesy of Oliver Russell
Oliver Russell, a 24-year-old college student in Finland, bought a private island in March.
Russell, who is half-American and half-Finnish, plans to build a cottage and a sauna on the land.
He paid for the island using money from tech investments and real-estate sales.
When Oliver Russell saw the island for the first time, it was coated in powdery white snow.
Bundled in thick layers, he and his girlfriend trudged 150 feet across a frozen lake to reach the uninhabited outcrop of land — one of over 178,00 islandsin Finland.
Russell, a 24-year-old college student who is half-American and half-Finnish, knew they'd made it to solid ground when the snow felt noticeably firmer.
He and his girlfriend — Helena Tomaszewska, 20 — found a relatively flat spot nestled among the 2.5 acres of hills and trees. The couple lit a small campfire and cooked some sausages they'd brought with them on the three-hour drive from Helsinki.
Except for the crackling of the fire, the crunch of snow beneath their boots, and the chirps of a few birds darting between spindly trees, they were undisturbed.
"Peace and quiet," Russell told Business Insider.
The island — listed for 33,000 euros, or around $36,000 — was an opportunity for Russell to fulfill his childhood dream of having a summer vacation spot in Finland. (The island has a name, but he declined to share it for privacy reasons.)
The sellers' real-estate agent told him no one had stepped foot on the island in a decade, Russell said.
In March, Russell's offer of 28,000 euros, or around $30,500, was accepted.
Here, the Gen Zer explains why he believed buying the island was a "risk" worth taking and what he plans to build on it.
Most of Russell's friends and family thought his idea to build a cabin on the island was "crazy."
Russell and Tomaszewska first visited the island in February.
Courtesy of Oliver Russell
Russell bought the island with the intention of building a cabin and a sauna with Tomaszewska.
They typically look like wood-lined huts heated by wood or electricity to temperatures as high as 212 degrees Fahrenheit.
It's an ambitious project, given the couple — who met because they are both students at a university in Helsinki — have no construction experience.
"Ikea furniture is about the most I've done," Russell joked.
After watching YouTube videos on off-grid living and cabin-building, Russell and Tomaszewska said they feel pretty confident that they can take on a similar project.
But not everyone was as enthusiastic as they are.
"Most people were like, 'What are you doing? Why are you doing this? This seems kind of crazy,'" Russell said. "But I feel like I am lucky. I'm in a very good position for my age, and I wanted to try to do something risky."
Buying the private island wasn't something that Russell did "out of the blue."
Russell, pictured kayaking as a kid, grew to love Finland's summer cabin culture.
Courtesy of Oliver Russell
Although he was mostly raised in Laguna Beach, California, Russell spent most of his summers in Finland, hanging out with relatives on his mother's side.
Growing up, he saw that most Finns either own or know someone who owns a vacation spot by a lake, where it's common to spend weeks at a time fishing, kayaking, and swimming during the warmer months.
As someone who's admittedly "quieter," Russell said he "enjoyed being out where there's not a lot of people, or it's the people that you come together with."
After graduating from high school in 2018, Russell and a group of his friends from California traveled to Finland, where they spent roughly 700 euros, or around $760, to book a cabin for a week.
On top of how "budget-friendly" it was, Russell said it was a "fun experience." They had the place to themselves — and they were in a country where the legal drinking age was 18.
"We were all like goody-two-shoes kids," he recalled. "It was most of our first time drinking out there."
Russell wanted to recreate his childhood summers in Finland — but with a tad more privacy.
The 2.5-acre island, covered in trees, is a three-hour drive from Helsinki.
Courtesy of Oliver Russell
The only downside to his summers in Finland was when he'd visit a cabin with a sauna that had neighbors close by.
Finnish saunas are seen as sacred spaces, and traditionally, people venture into the swelteringly hot rooms naked.
Perhaps influenced by his upbringing in the US, Russell is less comfortable seeing nude strangers. His desire for privacy made the island even more appealing.
"To me, an island was the summer cottage experience where it was truly your own place," he said.
Russell also knew from experience that islands in Finland are less in demand than properties on the mainland because they are harder to access.
Russell was able to buy an island at such a young age due to a lucky mix of financial circumstances.
Tomaszewska and Russell, who got a settlement after he was hit by a truck on his motorcycle, have been together for nearly two years.
Courtesy of Oliver Russell
After high school, Russell moved to San Luis Obispo County, just north of Santa Barbara, to attend community college and work at an ice hockey warehouse.
It was around that time, when he was 19, that he got hit by a truck while driving a motorcycle. Russell said injuries included a broken leg that left him unable to work at his warehouse job.
As traumatic as it sounds, he said he got a settlement check after the crash from the truck driver's insurance company that jump-started his decision to leave California.
Russell used the money to buy a condo in Fort Collins, Colorado, in 2020, where he enrolled in a new community college and landed a sales job.
But it didn't take long for Russell to look into moving to Finland.
Not only would it provide a change of scenery, but as a Finnish citizen, he could attend university for free. The culture was familiar, he spoke the language fluently, and he had a fair number of family and friends in the country.
"My mom really wanted me to come to school in Finland out of high school, but I felt like I wasn't ready," Russell said.
But by 22, he was.
Russell made $80,000 selling his condo in Colorado, which he put toward the island purchase.
A small boat, which Russell takes to his island during the summer, sits on the shore.
Courtesy of Oliver Russell
In 2022, Russell made about $80,000 from the sale of his "relatively cheap" condo in Fort Collins, where real-estate prices hit then-record highs thanks to low mortgage interest rates and fervent homebuyer demand fueled by the pandemic.
He said he also got "lucky" with stocks he "randomly" bought in tech companies, including Nvidia and Tesla, in March 2019. Russell said he sold his Tesla shares in 2020, when their value was up about 300%, then sold most of his Nvidia shares in March before buying the island.
By the time he moved to Helsinki and began perusing local real estate, Russell said he was in pretty decent financial shape for his age.
For two years, he just scanned listings "for fun" until he saw the island pop up for sale.
"For land, especially coming from California, you cannot buy anything for that price," Russell said. "It's less than the price of a new car."
While it was a relative bargain, $30,000 was still "a lot of money" for Russell, he said. To justify the expense, he made a business plan, incorporating his and Tomaszewska's idea to make a side hustle out of documenting the experience on Instagram and TikTok.
So far, the couple has set up a tent on the island, but they have big plans for the future.
The young couple has set up a tent on the island but plans to build a sauna there next summer.
Courtesy of Oliver Russell
As of July, Russell and Tomaszewska have put up a large bell-shaped tent, furnished with a bed, a table, and chairs. It has enough space for their clothes, food, and other belongings.
They bring supplies over to the island using a small boat.
Next on their agenda is building a floating dock, which will allow them to stay for longer periods of time and transport larger equipment.
This winter, they plan to fell trees so that the following summer, they can use their wood to start building the sauna. It will be just over 100 square feet in size and close to the shoreline, making it easier to take a cold plunge after basking in the heat.
As luck would have it, Russell said Finland is changing its laws around planning permissions that'll streamline their process.
"If the building is under 30 meters squared, as long as you follow all the rules and regulations when it comes to shoreline and building code, you don't need to get a permit," he said.
Once the sauna is done, they'll start construction on a rustic cabin with modern amenities.
Russell is getting more confident they'll be able to fulfill his childhood dream of building a cabin on an island.
Courtesy of Oliver Russell
Russell said the sauna project will be a trial run to see if they have the chops to build a cabin, which, depending on its size, may require a building permit.
"Ideally, we go bigger, and I'll have learned how to do some more stuff by then," he said. If they do need to get a permit, Russell said they may hire some construction professionals.
While it's a long way off, and they're looking to build as cheaply as possible, he envisions a rustic-looking traditional log cabin with two bedrooms, an open-plan living room, a kitchen, and a loft.
Russell said he plans to add modern amenities, like indoor plumbing and a solar-powered electrical system.
Russell is fairly confident they'll be able to carry out their ambitious plan.
Russell says people are giving them building advice online.
Courtesy of Oliver Russell
Since starting their Off Grid Island TikTok and Instagram accounts, which have 127,300 and 184,000 followers, respectively, Russell said the couple has received positive feedback.
Strangers have even offered advice, and at least one outhouse company has reached out to collaborate.
"I can actually see us doing this more full-time," he said.
It helps that Russell, who admits he's "never been the best at school," is incorporating the project into his international business studies, using it as the work placement required by his university program and as the basis of his thesis.
"There's a reason that I'm still going to school and I don't have my bachelor's yet, and I'm 24," he said. "I get way more invested in something when it has something to do with me."
If they realize their vision for the sauna and cabin, it'll be "amazing," Russell added. And if doesn't work out, he hopes he can resell the land for a similar price.
"If not, I have an island in Finland," he said. "That's pretty cool."
Russell's dreams of having his own cabin in Finland have never been closer to reality.
The young couple met as friends at a university in Helsinki.
Courtesy of Oliver Russell
Part of the reason Russell didn't use his savings toward buying a primary home is that he simply doesn't know what the future after graduation holds.
"I don't know what country I want to be in, let alone what city I want to be in," he said.
"The one thing that I do know I've always wanted in my life is a summer cottage in Finland," Russell added.
Now that the island is bought and Tomaszewska is committed to helping, the dream is within his grasp.
With time, sweat equity, and social-media support, the couple is hopeful they can make the island a space they can visit for longer periods of time — perhaps even in the winter, when there's a chance they'd be able to see the northern lights.
But for Russell, the island project is about recreating some of his favorite childhood memories.
"On summer nights here, especially if it's a calm one, the lake just becomes like glass," he said. "You don't hear anything but maybe a few birds, or something like fish jumping in the water. It's really peaceful."
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