STF has launched the campaign to search for a fortunate soul to travel the length and breadth of Sweden during the summer months and “experience the best, eat the best and try the best” that the Scandinavian country has to offer.

The competition is inspired by an Australian game show to find suitable applicants to fill the post of the so-called “best job in the world”. The Local reported in March that a young Swede had applied for the post that had captured the imagination of people across the globe.

The shoe is now firmly on the other foot as one of the people that have submitted an application for the STF position is a middle-aged Englishman with a limited command of Swedish but a keen desire to experience more of what Sweden has to offer.

Nixon said he had learned a lot about Sweden and seen much of the country by travelling around with his Swedish wife, to whom he has been married for 25 years.

“I have seen a lot but know that I have much more to see. Sweden has a lot to offer the tourist,” Gothenburg resident John Nixon told The Local on Tuesday afternoon.

Having recently turned fifty John Nixon told The Local that he probably does not fit the profile that STF are looking for but he applied nevertheless and is not particularly impressed by the competition.

“Maybe I am trying to overcome the creeping feeling of having one foot in the grave. I don’t think I’ll get it but I think they will like my pitch and perhaps consider me for something else.”

Nixon said that the last time he had checked only 12 people had forwarded their names, and submitted a video, to apply for the job.

“I thought that there would be hundreds applying. It would nice if STF got a lot more applications to give them something to choose from,” he told The Local.

“There are only a couple I would go for apart from me,” he joked.

The closing date for applications is May 27th and the job is scheduled to begin on June 6th. The winning applicant will then be sent off on a two month odyssey around Sweden.

The winning candidate will be accompanied by ‘a sidekkick called Filip’ who will “document the trip, help you to keep your spirits up and eat ice cream with you”. Accommodation is free but transport arrangements are left to the applicant’s imagination.

John Nixon’s application