Social and environmental activist Karin Zirk, a Pacific Beach resident, recently returned from a year-long trip exploring her family’s roots in Estonia bordering Russia and found that to be an eye-opening experience.

Is she glad to be back? “I have mixed feelings about it,” replied Zirk, who is intricately involved with Friends of Rose Creek, a nonprofit promoting environmental conservation. “I missed a lot of the people here and not being hands-on with the creek. But Estonia is so nice and less stressful. I’m completely overwhelmed right now by all the traffic.”

Zirk pointed out that Estonia, which is smaller than New Hampshire and Vermont combined, is mostly rural with a total population of only 1.3 million. Having been a crossroads for conquest during its long history, Zirk said the nation is “super serious” about the Russian invasion of Ukraine and its consequences for Europe and the rest of the world.

“Estonia was a punching bag for Hitler and Stalin in WWII, with the Nazis and Soviets deporting and killing people,” said Zirk adding, “It’s been estimated that 15% of Estonians either fled the country, were murdered, or sent to Siberia where many of them starved.”

Zirk added the Russian invasion has unquestionably hamstrung Estonia’s tourist-oriented economy. “This invasion has been extremely hard on Estonia for a number of reasons,” she said. “One is that Russia was a very big economic trading partner and a huge source of tourism revenue. That has been cut off since the Russian invasion because Estonia is a NATO member. Their tourist industry has been hammered because Russians aren’t allowed to come there anymore. And a lot of other people are really afraid to go there because of the proximity of Russia.”

Going to Estonia made Zirk see America differently. “It was really nice to get out from under the United States,” she said. “We’re such a dominating country and so focused on moneymaking. In Estonia, the people are so proud of what they have, and what they’ve achieved since gaining their independence from Russia in 1991.”

Reflecting on the advantages of the quieter more rural lifestyle of Estonians, Zirk noted: “They have really amazing bike paths and sidewalks, better transit, and a more energy-efficient heating system. And all these things are for everybody, not just one group of people. In Estonia, there is more of a focus on what’s best for the community, not just what is best for the individual.”

And of course, said Zirk, it was a lot less expensive living in a developing Eastern European nation. “For a person with U.S. dollars, everything seemed super cheap to me,” she said. “I was living in a historic house downtown in the capital city in a three-bedroom flat and my rent was $300 U.S dollars a month. I was paying more for my storage locker here in San Diego, than the house I rented in Estonia.”

Zirk would have stayed longer in Estonia, only her visa ran out. Meanwhile, she’s readjusting to living in San Diego and resuming her role of helping guide Friends of Rose Creek.

REPUBLIC OF ESTONIA FACTS

• Capital: Tallinn
• Area: 45,339 sq km
• Population: 1.3 million
• Language: Estonian
• Life expectancy: 74 years (men) and 82 years (women)

Estonia is the most northerly of the three Baltic states and has linguistic ties with Finland. Since regaining its independence with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia has become one of the most economically successful of the EU’s eastern European members. Estonia joined both the EU and Nato in 2004. Ruled at various times during the Middle Ages by Denmark, the German knights of the Livonian Order, and Sweden, Estonia ended up part of the Russian Empire in the 18th century.