A furnished apartment in Helsinki gave ballerina Alyssa Casey the peace of mind to focus on her dream

Alyssa’s journey to Helsinki began with an unexpected turn of events during an important competition. In 2024, she was competing at the prestigious Youth America Grand Prix in New York when she tore a ligament in her foot right in the middle of her final performance. Despite the injury, Alyssa pushed through and finished her variation.

The next day, before the full severity of the injury was even known, Alyssa was invited to a callback class. That is where she met Nicholas Ziegler, the artistic director of the Finnish National Ballet's youth group, who shared that he was interested in hiring her for the upcoming season.

“It was the hardest point of my life. If Nicholas hadn’t talked to me after my injury, I don’t know if I would have even continued pursuing dance,” Alyssa recalls.

Following her rehabilitation period, Alyssa was invited to audition in Helsinki in the spring of 2025. Soon after, she had her contract with the Finnish National Ballet.

Due to the distance and a tight schedule, preparing for a move from across the ocean required precise planning. Alyssa had only two months to graduate from ballet school, rehearse for her graduation performance, train for a month in New York, and pack her entire life into suitcases.

Since Alyssa was moving from the United States, a fully furnished apartment was the most practical choice. Bringing furniture with her wasn’t realistic, and she didn’t want to spend her first weeks in Helsinki managing her basic household essentials.

“Moving from so far away, I knew bringing furniture would be difficult. Having a furnished apartment gave me a sense of security because I didn’t have to worry about furnishing the apartment myself,” she explains.

Alyssa’s mother was a huge help, scanning options online to find the perfect spot. For Alyssa, it was important to find her own peaceful home close to the Opera House. In addition to the location, there was one absolute requirement: the building had to have an elevator.

Finding the right apartment was not straightforward. Alyssa initially considered another apartment in Kallio, but that option was quickly ruled out because the address couldn’t be used for official address registration. Without an official address, handling the practicalities of her residence permit would have been impossible.

With Comodo, however, all the pieces fell into place immediately. The apartment allowed for official registration, it was located in a beautiful area in Töölö right next to the Opera House, and it looked incredibly cozy from the photos on the website.

When Alyssa and her mother, who traveled with her to Finland, got the keys and stepped inside the Töölö apartment, their overwhelming feeling was relief. The apartment fully lived up to Alyssa's expectations and matched the website photos perfectly. Alyssa recalls that as the door opened, they both let out a huge sigh of relief. Alyssa felt at home right away.

The cozily furnished apartment spared Alyssa from the exact kind of stress she didn’t need at the start of this new chapter.

“It brought me so much peace of mind. I could settle into my life immediately and not have to stress about my living space,” Alyssa says.

The contrast with her dancer friends became apparent quickly. Three weeks in, one of Alyssa's friends was still waiting for a washing machine to arrive, while another was practically sleeping on a yoga mat waiting for a bed.

Alyssa, on the other hand, could focus entirely on why she came to Helsinki in the first place: to shine in her new job as a ballet dancer.

Alyssa’s daily routine at the Finnish National Ballet is intense. She heads to the Opera House in the mornings, where her days are filled with ballet classes and rehearsals. The furnished home is so close to the Opera House that Alyssa can easily walk to work. Though when the freezing winter cold hit, she laughs that the tram was just too tempting—even if it was only for a quick two stops.

In a routine like this, the importance of home truly stands out. It needs to be a place where the body can rest and the mind can unwind. Alyssa’s favorite spot in the apartment quickly became the cozy bed nook.

“My favorite spot is the little nook by the bed. I can just relax there and look out the window after a long day,” Alyssa says.

Alyssa keeps her Sundays dedicated to recovery. She sleeps in without an alarm, gets a massage when possible, and simply lets her body rest.

The closeness to nature was one of the things Alyssa was looking forward to even before moving to Finland. In Töölö, the parks, the sea nearby, and the peaceful environment offered a welcome balance to her work as a ballerina.

In her free time, Alyssa has found her own favorite spots in the area. She enjoys walking through Hesperia Park and by Hietaranta Beach, as well as journaling by Töölönlahti Bay. Local cafes like Relove and Levain, along with visits to Allas Sea Pool with her friends and mother quickly became some of her favorite places in Helsinki.

“I’m going to miss the pace of life in Helsinki. Moving here from a big city like Chicago helped me stop constantly rushing and find things that bring me peace,” Alyssa says.

Moving to a new country inevitably brings along small differences in everyday life. Alyssa remembers being a bit confused at first by the self-service checkouts and receipt scanning in Finnish grocery stores, as well as learning that you have to manually turn on the water valves for the washing machine and dishwasher before use.

However, there was one Finnish home invention that completely blew her mind:

“The dish draining closet is genius. Just wow,” Alyssa laughs.

Finland's focus on the environment also stood out to her. The well-marked recycling bins in both her building and the Opera House delighted Alyssa, and she thought it was wonderful how visible and integrated recycling is into daily life here.

According to Alyssa, working with the Comodo team was smooth and easy from start to finish—all the way from planning the move to picking up the keys.

Even when a minor everyday issue popped up, it was handled without delay. When the oven handle came loose one day, Comodo’s maintenance team fixed it right away. Plus, extending her contract by an extra month was just as easy, bringing valuable flexibility to her changing schedule.

Alyssa appreciated that the service was professionally efficient, but above all, caring and understanding. Questions were answered quickly, and every interaction felt personal. As an artist, she truly values these authentic, human-to-human connections.

Alyssa’s advice for anyone looking for a temporary home is simple: a furnished, move-in ready apartment saves an immense amount of time and effort, but the most important thing is finding a space where you can truly feel at home.

“I really only had two months to prepare, pack up my whole life, and move across the world. Because of that, I would recommend Comodo to anyone who doesn’t have much time to find a place or plan out a move to a new country. The team has been so efficient and just so personable throughout everything,” Alyssa says.

Comodo Apartments offers high-quality, fully furnished, and move-in ready homes for various life situations. Whether it’s an international work assignment, a temporary housing need during a home renovation, or a fresh start in a new city, we will help you find the home that is just right for you.

See our available apartments or contact our team today!