How did I end up holding a bow and arrow in downtown Stockholm in the middle of the night?

In the latest of his reflections on ideas of place and pathway, Will Gore recalls a surprising Scandinavian adventure

Will found one must always be ready for the challenge – no matter how bizarre (Getty/iStock)

“Are you ready for the challenge?” asked the man I had just met.

In all honesty, I wasn’t sure I was – not least because I had no idea what he was talking about. I laughed and nodded, assuming it was some sort of joke that had been lost in translation.

We had met his girlfriend the day before; Freya, a Stockholm local, had helped to organise the conference we were attending in the city. I and another delegate from the UK had got chatting with her, the three of us noting that we were about the only people there under the age of 30.