Denmark has a thriving second-hand economy, in part because people generally don't look down on second-hand goods here.

The Danes are practical people – why should something be thrown out when it can be used again? And their passion for sustainability means it's cool to reuse something that already exists instead of manufacturing something new.

There is a network of "genbrug" (recycling) stations all over all over the country, where people can leave stuff they don't want and other people can take it for free.

And there's a thriving market for second-hand furniture in the classic Danish design style.

Getting to Sweden from Copenhagen is easy: you take a quick trip across the Øresund Bridge in your car or on the train. Getting to Norway from Copenhagen isn't too hard: there's a ferry that runs every day from Nordhavn.

Getting to Germany from Copenhagen, on the other hand, is a headache. But in 2029, a new direct tunnel will open between Denmark and Germany. The Danes are building it with very little help from the Germans, who originally weren't too interested in a tunnel that went through an obscure and neglected part of their country.

Thousands of construction workers will be required to build this tunnel to Germany, and many of them will be internationals. But what will this influx and money and people mean to the southern Danish island of Lolland, which is currently one of the poorest parts of Denmark?

One of Denmark's cheapest and most colorful vacations is a few hours riding back and forth on Copenhagen's big yellow Harbor Bus, or "Havnebussen", a commuter ferry designed to transport ordinary citizens between downtown and the urban islands of Christianshavn and Amager.

For visitors to Copenhagen - or residents who need an inexpensive adventure - the harbor bus can take you from tourist trap to high culture to party culture, from shabby little wood shacks to neighborhoods of chic glass apartment houses with their own private beach.

All for as little as 14 kroner, 2 dollars, or 2 euro.

Enjoy this audio tour of 7 of the "Harbor Bus" stops - if you like, you can take it along and listen as you ride the waves.

When I mentioned going to Esbjerg for a few days off this spring, many of my friends in Copenhagen said - why? Esbjerg doesn't have a reputation as a vacation spot, even though its fifth-largest city in Denmark and the youngest big city.

For Copenhagen snobs, Esbjerg is a fishing town, which it was 50 years ago but isn't really anymore. It's an oil and wind energy town, industrial but very modern.

I like Esbjerg, perhaps because it is a very masculine town. If you're a woman who likes men, if you're a guy who likes men, really rough and ready type men, Esbjerg is your town, because it is the home base for the oil workers and windmill mechanics who work on the North Sea coast of Denmark.

In addition, all that oil makes for great museums, and Esbjerg is also a great base for visiting the Viking town of Ribe and Fanø, a picturesque fishing island turned tourist attraction.

No matter what the tourist brochures suggest, you probably won't go *everywhere* on a bike in Denmark.

And along with food and housing, getting around is a big part of the cost of living in Denmark.

Here are a few tips to save money on trains, buses, cars, and even bike maintenance.

Anyone who has spent time living in Denmark knows that it's one of the most expensive countries around. That's true when it comes to food shopping, too.

One Dane who had lived in the US explained it this way: "In Denmark, every supermarket is priced like Whole Foods."

For those of you who haven't visited the States, Whole Foods is a high-end grocery chain nicknamed "Whole Wallet" or "Whole Paycheck."

But there are a few creative ways to save money on food in Denmark.

Danes hate food waste, so the prices of some food in grocery stores actually drops near the end of the day or right before the item's expiration date.

You can visit farmer's markets, or if you live near the border, go shopping in Sweden or Germany to save cash.

I love old books. I love the kind of old books you get at antique bookstores or on the Internet Archive. And I have a good collection of old books about Denmark.

I like old travel guides, most of which are still pretty useful because Denmark doesn't tear a lot of things down the way they do, in say, Los Angeles or Hong Kong. In Denmark you'll pretty much fine most castles and monuments right where somebody left them hundreds of years ago.

If you want to see a famous church or square or the Jelling Stone, your Baedecker guidebook from 1895 will work just fine for you in most cases.

But I can also recommend two great old books on Denmark, which you can probably find at your local antique book shop, or on DBA, the Danish auction site owned by eBay.

While I'm not an authority on the Danish visa or immigration systems, I'm often asked for practical tips about moving to Denmark. So here are a few things to think about when you're packing your suitcases or, if you're doing a corporate move, packing your shipping container.

Number one, make sure you bring money. Denmark is an expensive place to live where you will own less stuff, but better stuff.

That said, there's no need to bring much furniture, even mores if your furniture is nothing special.

You can often buy Danish design furniture cheap at local second-hand stores and flea markets, and for everything else, there's always IKEA - in Denmark, or across the water in IKEA's homeland of Sweden.

Denmark has had two female prime ministers and about forty percent of the people elected to the Folketing, the Danish Parliament, are women.

But when it comes to private industry, Danish women have one of the lowest participation rates in management in Europe. According to the OECD, only 26.5% of managers in Denmark are female, compared to 39.8% in the US.

It's not unusual to see a senior management team made up entirely of Danish males, with perhaps a Swedish or German male thrown in for diversity.

That said, the majority of adult Danish women hold paying jobs. The Danish tax system makes it very difficult for a couple to survive on one income, even a hefty one.

It might seem like a counterintuitive time to talk about beaches, in the middle of a long, very cold winter.

But in these times of COVID, beaches are one of the few places in Denmark you are currently allowed to meet up with family and friends.

Beaches, parks, frozen-over lakes: these are the big social meeting points at time when cafés, restaurants, bars, shops, gyms, schools, theaters, museums, places of worship, and hairdressers, barbers, and nail salons are all closed.

But getting a small group together outdoors is still allowed, and the beach can still be a nice place to be – even if you have to put up with sand's that frozen solid, slippery rocks, and bitter, bitter wind off the icy cold water.