Not for a while.

We’re basically homeless. For the first time in my life, I don’t have an address.

This story actually begins early 2024 when and I decided to move in together. The interest rates were insane, and the cost of owning two different apartments that we spent 50% of our time in became a more and more unsustainable idea.

I know it doesn’t really sound like the most romantic thing to move in together because of cost. And that was of course not the only factor, just sort of the thing that pushed us to make the decision.

So we sold our homes and rented a new place together.

And stayed there for two years. But this spring our landlady let us know that she has sold the apartment. It didn’t really come as a surprise since we helped style the place for the pictures and opened up for the showings.

Our last day was July 31th.

And that’s the date we became homeless. But I like the word homefree more. There’s really no panic.

We have a new place to move in to, but there’s a gap for 16 days that we have to fill.

Which is kind of nice. In theory.

I kind of looked forward to this moment. A romanticized version of vagabondism and full freedom.

And I still like that part. But the truth is that it’s kind of taxing too.

At least if you’re trying to get some work done.

I decided to take a break from posting on social media after I released the documentary from Brazil. And that automatically got extended throughout this period too.

We’ve been doing a lot of things.

This last week of homefreeness was spent in Skåne visiting friends and family, attending a wedding and other things.

Right now we’re back in Stockholm and trying to get the working brain slowly booted up. Staying in an apartment with an amazing view right next to the one we moved out of (Thank you Niklas).

Full circle moment looking down on our old balcony haha.

I just needed to start writing something. If this blabbering is not interesting to you, that’s ok.

This fall is full of interesting things. But no new major documentary projects is in the pipeline at the moment. During this time off I have come to the conclusion that to be able to keep doing them, I need to work out a structure that makes it less time consuming, or at least less painful.

I want more conversations, around the world, with interesting people doing amazing things. But I don’t want the 6 months of post production each time I have that kind of conversation.

There are some ideas on the drawing board. And what they look like is probably the next post.

I hope you stick around for it.

Now I’m off to enjoy this last week of homefreeness before we drive to Skåne again for another wedding, and then move in to our new place when we come back.

Have you ever been homefree, how did you feel about it?

The basic idea behind it is that we are right now growing coffee in a completely unsustainable way.

In 2024 Brazil was hit by a huge blow from a big drought and fires taking out 23% of the total coffee harvest. And since Brazil is the biggest producing country of coffee globally, this made the price go up 90%.

What happened then is that this price signal was seen as an opportunity. And heavy investing into growing more coffee began.

Pumping up ground water that is in limited supply. Adding pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and tons of fertilizer. Forcing growth.

And this works. Production is bigger than ever.

But how long can it keep going?

And what happens to the actual coffee?

I can tell you first hand from experiencing the difference in taste that freshly harvested, properly grown coffee from a healthy soil has, compared to what I normally buy in the supermarket in Sweden.

It’s completely different products.

So what do we do? We add milk. We add sugar. We add flavored syrups. We add caramel sauce.

All to disguise the flavor. And this is just gonna increase.

But… There is a win win win situation we could have instead. The only ones that would suffer from in this version of the world, are the fertilizer companies, but I think that’s an ok level of collateral damage.

Also, this is bigger than coffee. This applies to all food that we grow. Growing it properly makes it healthier, tastier and better.

So what do we need to do? It’s answered in the film :)

And, if you want to get a look behind the scenes into the experience me and Isak had in Brazil - you can check that out here.

See you in the next one!

/Robin

All of that is true. But the more I’ve said it, the more I’ve felt that it’s not really enough. It’s describing what I do, but not why I keep doing it.

“100 documentaries about people doing good things” is a bit like describing all the ingredients on a pizza. It’s telling you what’s there, but it doesn’t stick.

So right now I’m rebuilding many of things surrounding the project. Not the films, but how I talk about them. How people get invited into them. How someone who just discovered this is going to understand what it is, why it exists and why it’s so important to me.

And doing this work, it became obvious I need a better name for this project.

So I’ve been looking deeply, trying to understand what it really is that makes me say “yes, this film is for me to make” when I’m considering an idea, usually one I’ve brought to myself.

And I noticed that the common denominator for the people I have made films about is not that they walk around just being very inspirational by nature.

What’s inspiring is that they choose to do something.

And choosing something usually means giving something else up.

They could easily have chosen not to. It would probably be much more comfortable. And that’s what we humans usually do. We wait for someone else to fix things. Someone with more money, power, time, knowledge or energy.

But these people didn’t wait. They are doing. It’s not always pretty, perfect and only sunshine. And that’s what I’m drawn to. The doing despite it being hard.

That’s a lot of text to explain that this is also where I realized my own story aligns with the stories I tell through the films. This project is not separate from my life, even if I’ve sometimes talked about it like that.

It’s not just a YouTube series, or a creative passion project. It’s my way of figuring out how I want to live my life, what I want to use my time on this spinning space ball for, and ultimately - what kind of human I want to be.

That sounds big and pretentious, but the day-to-day of this is not a very romantic look. 90% of the time I’m sitting in front of my computer editing, and sometimes spending way too much time obsessing over how a story is going to come together, doubting myself half way.

So the name I landed on is:

WHAT IF YOU DIDN’T

And just like everything else around this, it’s not a simple, perfect name. I know this.

It doesn’t explain everything in half a second. But I’m not a marketer, so I can get away with it being complex.

And the most important for a storyteller: It has tension in it. And curiosity. I think it’s the right question, because it’s there in all my films, and also very very present in my life.

What happens to me if I don’t follow the thing that keeps pulling at me?
What happens if I don’t help, don’t build the thing, don’t tell the story, don’t change direction?

Not in a judgy way. More like a curious inquiry.

I think it’s hard coded into most humans to only see the risk: What if it goes wrong?

But like Sophie said in the sailing film I did a couple of years back “What happens if I succeed?” That question stayed with me because it flipped the usual fear upside down.

So that’s where the project is now, 3,5 years in. 11 documentaries and countless other YouTube videos later. It now has a name.

And the first place this new name shows up properly is in the next film.

Brazil film release June 16th

Soooo. I was in Brazil back in October, filming with Lykke Coffee farms. And the documentary from this trip is going to be released on June 16th. On YouTube.

And this is the first film that officially has the new “What If You Didn’t?” packaging. It doesn’t have its own philosophical title in the same way the previous films did.

Rather it simply asks the question “What if you didn’t accept that this is the only way?” (referring to the way we produce coffee, which is clear from the context after watching the intro of film).

Anyway.

It’s a deep dive into how we are beating the planet into submission in our attempts to fill an ever increasing demand for coffee. All while the planet is saying NO MORE.

The way this is done now will, from what many studies suggest, lead to coffee being luxury product for rich people in 2050, because it’s going to be too warm to grow it the way we do now.

It’s not all pitch black though. Because my story of course highlights the people doing it the other way. The way that works with nature instead of against it.

If you’re in Stockholm, feel free to join the release party at Underverket coworking, just sign up here so that I know you’re coming.

I hope you’ll watch it, enjoy it, and spread it. Here’s a trailer.

Thank you for being here

This newsletter is now the place where I’ll try to share openly the process, my constant messy middle of navigating this uncharted territory, my fears, my doubts and progress.

The fact that you are here, reading this right now means the world and more to me.

I honestly think making and watching these films is a way to educate ourselves and by doing that, we can change the current narrative of the world being in this very sad state.

If you have any questions, or anything you’d like me to cover, just leave a comment or hit reply. I’m here!

Have a nice day!

/Robin

They are completely free for anyone to watch.

Why?

Because I believe these stories need to be available to everyone. To inspire change. To create momentum. To help make this planet a more habitable place for humans, animals and plants.

But they also cost a lot of money to make.

And time.

And effort.

And energy.

So I’m opening up a way to support the films here on Substack.

Not because I want to put the best parts behind a paywall.

I don’t. That would go against the whole purpose of this work. I want these stories to reach more people, not fewer.

So here’s the pitch: There won’t be special perks, gated content, or members-only access. But if you become a paid subscriber, you have my deepest gratitude.

And honestly, creating a whole separate layer of exclusive content would also take focus away from what matters most.

Making the films.

So if you want to follow along, become a free subscriber here.

And if you want to help make the next film possible, become a paid subscriber.

Your support helps financially, of course. It helps cover the real cost of doing this work.

But it also helps emotionally.

Because every project has moments where I doubt myself. Where I wonder if I’m crazy for doing this. Where the story feels too big, too expensive, too complicated, or too impossible to finish.

Knowing that people are standing behind the work makes a real difference in those moments.

So thank you for being here.

It means a lot <3

/Robin

And if I forget to breathe, I don’t suffocate and die. It just happens anyway.

I also know that being in control of my hand- and finger movements is healthy.
But they are just as automated as the breathing, to provide me with doom scrolling.

It annoys me so much.

That hand. It picks up the phone, swipes to unlock, swipe down for suggested apps and open Instagram without ANY queue from my consciousness. Suddenly it’s just there again, feeding my brain dopamine.

And every time, I lose focus or get stuck for a few (ok, more than a few) minutes for something that provides zero value to me.

So I decided to try something different. A pattern interrupt.

Why now?

I’ve been super busy lately with customer work, having production days and tight deadlines while also working hard to finish the documentary about coffee from my Brazil trip last October.

It has the potential to become a really interesting and beautiful film about how we can save coffee from going extinct in 25 years. And it feels both urgent and important to me to make the best out of it.

However.

Editing a documentary requires large chunks of time, where my distraction levels are as low as possible. And for me it feels like EVERYTHING is trying to pull my focus away.

And this uncontrolled behavior from my hand that’s kidnapping my brain is not exactly helping.

So what did I do?

I’ve been aware of this problem for years. I’ve tried a number of apps that puts a time gap between the click and the result, interrupting the instant dopamine hit.

But it didn’t really work… sure, it cut the usage time down, but it was just annoying in a different way. Like it kept reminding me that I’m doing something wrong… And shame never really helped anyone.

So what I realized a month ago after landing back in Stockholm after my trip to India and Bali, where I had some time to process life, is that for me the answer is found exactly where the problem shows up: in the iPhone Suggested Apps.

It knows EXACTLY what you crave. It’s too easy to just swipe down and open that thing.

But when I did a simple press and hold on the Instagram icon on that Suggested Apps screen, I get the option ”Do not suggest this”.

Boom. So I did that for all apps that I want to avoid using (combined with hiding the apps in some obscure place on page 7).

The post stress trauma

To help this experiment, I also decided to take a break from posting anything anywhere. No Linkedin, no Instagram, no Substack. Just to clear my mind.

And that turned out it’s a whole other challenge.

The famous “I’m trying to build my audience, so I need to stay consistent and post everything everywhere”-stress.

Sure, it’s a good thing if you are able to do it. But at what cost?

Instead of doing the thing I want work on (the documentary), I do the small tasks I subconsciously believe I need to do for the big thing to be successful.

But if it never gets finished it doesn’t matter, does it?

This decision has been so liberating. Instead of feeling the NEED to do this, I’m now starting to wrap my head on HOW I can do it in a sustainable way.

And the result of all this?

I still use Instagram occasionally, if I feel like it. But it’s not automated. I actually have to decide to find it.

• My phone screen time is waaay down. I now spend around 1 hour per week on Instagram, down from maybe 1 hour per day.

• I have made huge progress on the documentary without it feeling painful.

• I have shipped client work more efficiently than ever.

• My brain feels free. I can form thoughts and ideas with more clarity.

And this is all because of one little behavior tweak. Making it totally without shame. (again, shame can be an efficient motivating force, but if you can, stay away from it.)

Now I can finish the film, think strategically about how to build momentum for it, create and post that content with intention and make it actually work.

Which is so much better than an easy dopamine escape that is being used as an excuse for doing the real work.

Do you also struggle with the same sort of thing? Is suggested apps where your hand automation go too?

Let’s talk more about this.

Oh and here’s a trailer for the documentary. And if you haven’t already… check out my Youtube for previous films in the series.

MUCH LOVE <3

/Robin

Early in the morning, just as the honking symphony out on the street had launched into the second chorus, we repacked into smaller bags and drove south toward Coorg. As we left the city, the landscape slowly changed. Buildings turned into towns, towns into farmland.

Somewhere along the road we stopped for a picnic that turned out to be in the middle of a graveyard. Which, considering the reason for this trip, felt strangely appropriate.

An hour later we stopped to visit Somnathpura temple that I imagined would be an overgrown ruin in the jungle (based on a book at Cookies). Instead it had been fully renovated and transformed into a fully blown and well paved tourist attraction. Cookie argued loudly with the guards about cameras, shoes and rules. Afterwards she calmly explained that she enjoys shouting. Love that!

We spent the night in Mysore at a hotel that looked much nicer in the photos than in reality. India has been a lot like that so far. Some things rougher than expected. Other things way more beautiful.

The next morning we stopped at an elephant camp. Watching them getting bathed was incredible, though there’s always a sadness when animals that powerful aren’t free.

Then we continued into Coorg. And suddenly the landscape changed again. Rainforest, misty hills, coffee plantations everywhere. Somewhere in those forests there are wild elephants and tigers which in of itself makes it very exciting.

We stopped at the research field station for NCBS that studies the ecosystems here. The scientist there explained the work they’re doing and how important long-term access to untouched forest is for their research.

Then we went to see the family land.

It really is exactly what it sounds like: pristine forest that has never been used by humans. Standing there you understand why the researchers are so grateful that the family has rented it out to them for the next 99 years.

In a way, the family didn’t inherit the land.
They inherited the responsibility not to ruin it.

And this seems like a beautiful solution.

But the main reason we came here wasn’t the forest.

The next day we drove through coffee plantations and rough roads to a river where Mira and Max spread the ashes of their parents.

I filmed it from a distance for relatives who couldn’t come, but mostly I just stood there. Some moments don’t really belong to a camera.

Afterwards we sat in the garden of relatives who live nearby. People in their eighties and nineties telling stories from lives that stretch across continents and decades.

That’s something I’ve noticed everywhere here.

Stories. Food. More stories.
Endless hospitality.

At some point during these days something interesting started happening to me.

Travel like this strips things down.

Too little sleep. Many hours in cars.
So many impressions.

Eventually my brain stops trying to understand everything.

I just drink the tea, listen to the stories, walk into the forest. Go with the flow and trust it will all make sense in the end.

And that’s when travel actually starts working. Not when you understand everything, but when you stop trying.

I’m writing this now from Goa, sitting by the ocean after the intensity of the last week.

My middle school teacher might have been right:

India doesn’t really ask for your opinion.
It just runs you over with life.
But coming here and experiencing it in this way makes me proud, happy and grateful at the same time as totally overwhelmed.

It doesn’t matter which stone you turn here, new stories pops up everywhere.

And since I’m usually never really traveling without a camera… There might be a film metabolizing in this experience too. We’ll know soon.

More to come soon. Make sure you subscribe to miss-proof it :)

It’s kind of a long story. And you might not want to read it all, but if you do - here you go.

As I’m writing this I’m sitting in a sofa, completely mentally socially worn out (hey fellow introverts, I see you) after three days of socializing. Yet, this is just the beginning.

But let me take you back to the start.

I’m traveling here with my girlfriend Mira who I have had the opportunity to enjoy living and being with for the last almost 6 years (and her brother Max and his partner Marion).

Just months before we met, in 2020, her dad passed away. He was from India and one of his wishes was to have his ashes spread in India.

Right there and then covid was burning hot and there wasn’t really any opportunity to go and do it, and since then it has always lingered in the back of our minds that this trip is coming up. And last summer we finally committed and bought the tickets for it.

Since then a lot of things happened. And their mother, who had been ill for a long time also passed away a couple of days before Christmas.

So on Wednesday this week Mira and I traveled here. Bizarrely, with her parents ashes in two boxes in the carry-on. It was a bit strange, but at every security check encounter we were met with a lot of sympathy.

We’ve now spent three days in Bangalore with their aunt Cookie, who would win the olympic gold medal for hospitality if there was one. We’ve been exploring Bangalore a bit by foot, we’ve been to a puppet show, a Charlie Chaplin movie at the “club” followed by today, where we experienced a theatre show called Amadeus.

So, now I’m exhausted.

The big question right now is, will there be a film from this trip? The answer is not black and white.

While I have been doing some filming, but I’m not sure yet. That is not the main purpose of the trip.

But my eyes are, by default, always on the lookout, connecting story points and narratives into what could turn into something. And there are stories here. So many.

The next big thing coming up is the immersion ceremony for Zal and Britt-Inger. It will be done in Coorg, which is south west from Bangalore, in a few days time.

The family has some land there. And this is where my first story point presents itself.

This land has been inherited down for many many generations, and now Mira and Max now owns parts of it. This land is raw, untouched pristine forest that hasn’t been used by humans, ever. Sometimes tigers casually pass through it.

And this type of forest is super rare.

Cookie, who owns I don’t know exactly how much of it, has been a hero in this and found this research organisation (NCBS) who does all types of work on ecology, ecosystems, biodiversity and things like that. And since a few years they’ve rented the land to this organisation for 99 years, almost for free.

This ensures the land will remain untouched, and put to good use for science.

That is the second story point.

Today we had the opportunity to meet some of the people who run this rather large organisation, and it was incredible to see how grateful they are. This is now one out of 5 main plots of land where they’re able to collect data for research over a very long period of time.

I think there is a reason for me joining in on this trip. And I think there is a story that will reveal itself here. I will film as much as I can. And then we’ll see.

That’s the beauty of this work sometimes. To just challenge myself to keep an open mind and let whatever happens happen.

And still, without going into this all-in-filmmaker-mode where I don’t experience anything because I only stare at the camera. This has happened before. And it’s hard to keep the balance… Because once I start filming, it’s hard to view the world through any other lens than the camera’s.

But for this trip, it’s important to actually experience the thing. To feel it. To be present.

What will come out in the end?

I don’t know.

But as my middle school teacher said: “You either love it or hate it, but it won’t leave you untouched. You will come back changed.”

And already after three days, I believe that 100%

To be continued.

//Robin

Today, the film goes live on YouTube.

It’s called THAW, and it’s the hardest film I’ve produced so far. Not because of the edit, or the story structure, or the pressure of releasing something publicly. But because of what it demanded from me while making it.

I started this project thinking I was documenting a strange climate experiment. Covering part of a glacier with a wool blanket to slow the melt. It sounded simple. Almost naive.

What I didn’t understand was how physical it would be. How exposed I would feel. How small I would feel next to people who move through mountains like it’s their natural habitat.

There were days where my body just shut down. Days where filming felt impossible. Days where I questioned why I had put myself there at all. And yet, the people I was filming just kept going. Calm. Focused. Methodical.

That contrast became the heart of the film.

Somewhere along the way, this stopped being a story about glaciers. It became a story about effort. About caring enough to try, even when you’re not sure it will matter. Even when the outcome is uncertain.

I’ve released a lot of films over the years. This one stayed with me longer than most.

If you’re curious, the full film is now live on YouTube. I’d love for you to watch it when you have the time and space for it. Not as background noise, but as something to sit with.

You can watch it here:

👉

No pressure. Just an invitation.

Thank you for being here, for reading this, and for following my work — whether that’s been for years or just recently.

More soon.

Robin

P.S. If you watch the film and one moment sticks with you, I’d love to know which one. Just reply here.

Some of you are new. Some of you have been following my work for a long time, through earlier newsletters and films. I’ve moved this writing here because it feels like the right place for slower thoughts. Fewer updates. More honesty.

I want to tell you about a film I just finished.

It’s called THAW.

I started this project in April, before it was clear how hard it would be, and before I understood how much of myself it would take. I went north to follow a project on Sweden’s highest mountain. The idea sounded strange at first. Covering part of a glacier with a wool blanket to slow the melt.

What I didn’t expect was how much the process would strip things down. Long days. Physical exhaustion. Doubt. Moments where I questioned why I had put myself there at all. Not just as a filmmaker, but as a person.

Somewhere along the way, the film stopped being about ice. It became about effort. About caring enough to try, even when you’re not sure it will matter.

Every film I make changes me in some way. This one maybe more than most.

If you feel curious, I’m hosting a physical premiere on the 27th. Watching this film together, in the same room, feels important to me. You can read more about it here:

robindanehav.com/event

No pressure at all. I just wanted to let you know.

Thank you for being here, and for following my work, whether it’s been for years or just recently. This space will be for thoughts that don’t fit anywhere else.

More soon.

Robin