Home is where the heart is!

I’ve been traveling quite a bit, and my parents moved around a lot when I was a kid, so I don’t really have one particular house that I think of as my childhood home. I have my hometown that I’m very fond of, and I always enjoy coming back to it, but there are other places that feel more like home to me. The weird thing is that the places where I’ve traveled to that feel the most like home are not places that I have any relation to. It’s more of a feeling that just comes over me whenever I’ve visited the first time, and that feeling persists for every visit.

London has always been like that for me. Every time I arrive in London city, I get this feeling of utter bliss. It’s heartwarming in a way I find hard to explain.

Copenhagen is the same.

I remember having that very same feeling when I used to travel to Amsterdam with my dad as a kid, and the very same feeling came over me when I arrived here yesterday. I’ve now been here for almost two days, and it feels like being in love. I small all the time, my heart beats a little bit faster, and it feels like I don’t have a worry in this world.

So maybe the saying is completely right, but for me, I travel with my heart on my sleeve and sometimes the destination is a perfect match. Maybe I have a stronger connection to some places more than others because it was somehow meant to be. I’m a strong believer in everything happening for a reason, and I think that some cities and I were meant for each other.

So here I find myself in Amsterdam, totally, utterly, unbelievably in love with a city. A place I hope to someday in the future be able to call my home for a while.

For now, it is home though, for a few more days at least❤️

The Year of Adventures

I thought that 2017 was my year of traveling, but it seems like 2018 might be the year instead!

My traveling itch is growing and growing, and now I’ve already booked myself two trips within the next two months! And now that I know that there’s only three weeks left before I’m on a plane again, I get even more impatient! My passport is ready, my backpack is ready to be packed and now I just have to wait…

First trip goes to Amsterdam in March. I’m going to VidCon Europe and I’m also going to spend some quality time in the city I so frequently visited as a kid, but haven’t set foot in for about 17 years.

After that I’m headed to Bucharest! It’s always exciting to go to a place I’ve never been before. I’ve traveled to Romania before, but never Bucharest, so I’m excited to see what it has to offer.

I will be taking my camera along with me, as well as my mac, so there will be daily blogs while I’m traveling!

I’ve been doing daily posts since the beginning of January now, and I really like the flow of it. I hope you guys have enjoyed it so far as well! Let me know if there’s anything you’d like me to explore while on these two holidays, or if there are any subjects you’d like to see me write about in general.

If things go the way I hope, then there will be even more traveling throughout the year of 2018, and I can’t wait to share the journey here with you all 💛

 

 

 

He cried and I was so proud!

About a week ago, I was working on editing a video for YouTube while my nine year old son was watching videos on his laptop. After a little while I noticed that he was watching something that apparently had his undivided attention, and I got curious. I asked him what he was watching. He told me he was watching a documentary on NRK Super (a web/tv channel for kids) about a boy that was bullied.

Some minutes passed and I could hear the story that this boy told in the background while I was working. It was heartbreaking to hear the cruelty that was done to him by his classmates. They had locked him inside of a classroom, and they’d beaten him up pretty bad. He was talking about how it all happened, how it felt afterwards, and how they eventually had to move and start a new life somewhere else because the bullying wouldn’t stop.

Being a victim of bullying as a teenager myself, I always find it hard to listen to stories like this. The cruelty of kids that don’t think their actions through makes my heart ache. I turned to Leander and saw that he was crying, and it warmed my aching heart.

How lucky am I to have a child that feels such empathy. To be able to watch someone else bare their struggles and pain, and through what he saw, he could feel it all. He could feel it so much that he couldn’t hold it in. It was beautiful to see an emotion so pure, brought forth by information that he himself had gone searching for.

It’s easy as a parent to focus on all of the things that we feel like we have done wrong, or could have done differently. But watching him have this kind of reaction, and talking about bullying with him afterwards, hearing his thoughts, that was a moment where I truly felt that I had done something right. Somewhere along the road, growing up to be the little man that he is, he’s learned to care for others. To love them for who they are and the life they choose live, even though he might not agree with all of it. He’s learned to respect others and to try not to judge them.

I will not take complete credit for this, but the amount of time we’ve used to talk about life, people and choices, I know that’s played an important part in this.

I’m so grateful that my son already is a seeker of knowledge, and I’ll keep on encouraging him. To try to give him as many tools as possible for him to be able to make the choices that will be right for him.

And maybe most importantly, it’s important for me that he knows that crying is not a sign of weakness. To be comfortable enough to show your emotions is a strength that should not be taken for granted. It’s a superpower!

 

2017 Vlog 5 – Vacation Time

2017 Vlog 3 – Went to Texas and got stranded in London

Let’s make new memories!

I’m currently at Oslo Airport Gardermoen, having breakfast and doing a bit of writing while I’m waiting for boarding to open. Last time I wrote a post from the same place as now, I was headed to London. This plane is bringing me to London too, but this time around I have a transfer flight for a much longer trip. This time I’m headed to somewhere I haven’t been before to see someone I haven’t seen in a long time!

I’m headed to Austin, Texas!

It feels like forever since the last time I was onboard a plane, even though it’s only been a little over three months. That urge to travel is just growing and growing, and I’m very excited to finally be back at an airport, knowing that I’m about to head somewhere new. There’s something so utterly special about the airport atmosphere. It’s like you can feel the excitement in the air, radiating from all the other travellers. And that very feeling feeds me with energy and creativity. I write a lot when I’m at home, but the urge to put words onto paper/screen grows so much stronger the minute I’m on the go and surrounded by other adventurers who are headed to all kinds of places!

Traveling with British Airways will be a new experience for me as well (I don’t think I’ve ever traveled with them) and one thing I’m really curious about, is the food they’ll serve. I’ve requested vegan/vegetarian on my flights and from what I’ve heard it’s usually either a hit or miss. Crossing my fingers for a hit!

My camera is along for the ride, and there will be a Texas video up on my YouTube channel when I get home.

Wish you all a wonderful Thursday and hope you get to go on your own adventure, even if it’s just a minor one! Go out there and make some new memories to treasure!

Bon Voyage!

 

London – Short and Sweet

Let me tell you about my short and wonderful trip to London last week! It all started after a night of no sleep (because going to bed at 1-2 is useless when you have to get up at 3.30) and the regular wonderful travel nerves. Left my apartment at 4.15 am with my backpack on and headed for the bus to the airport.

Everything ran as smoothly as it possibly could, and at 7.38 am my Ryanair flight to Stansted was ready for takeoff. Sleep took a hold of me for most of the flight, and even though I love Ryanair for always being on time and having very affordable tickets, I certainly wish that they were easier to sleep on. Who sits with such a straight posture for an entire flight? Luxury problem, I know. I managed to fall in and out of sleep anyways.

A couple of hours later I was on British ground and headed for yet another bus. On previous trips to London I’ve taken the Stansted Express into town, but as I found that the bus was much cheaper, I decided to give that a go instead. The bus was comfortable, had free wifi and was a lot easier to sleep on. So I sneaked in another hour or so of sleep there as well and finally felt rested and ready for a busy day.

It was a rainy and grey London that met me when I got off the bus, but that wasn’t going to wear me down. The reunion was still filled with love and joy. I spent a few hours just walking around the city, soaking in that feeling of being home. The city, the people and the creative vibe of the place makes me walk around smiling like a crazy person.

After a few hours of walking around and getting lost on purpose, I found a sweet little café where I had some coffee and did some much needed writing. Typing came much easier than it had for quite some time, and I wasn’t at all surprised. Traveling really makes my creativity thrive and I wish I had the time and the money to do much more of it.

A few hours of writing passed by and I really got some good work done on my novel, and then I found my way to St. Christopher’s at the Village, the hostel where I had booked a bed. It was close to London Bridge, so extremely easy to get to and the staff was absolutely wonderful! I got the top bunk in a 33 bed dorm. Connected to the hostel was Belushi’s Bar, a very nice bar with a good atmosphere and cheap drinks for everyone sleeping at the hostel. I ended up sitting there to write for a while before I put my Surface away and ended up having a few beers with an Australian who was also traveling by himself.

I really enjoyed my stay at St. Christopher’s Inn and I will definitely stay there on my next visit as well!

The next morning I had to check out by 10 am. and the fact that I had forgotten to drink water before I got to bed hit me quite hard. Got a good walk in, some food and a coke, and I finally beat the hangover. After that I found my way to Victoria Station, sat there and did some more writing while enjoying a snack, and then it was already time to head back to the airport for my flight home unfortunately.

It was a very short, but much needed trip. I enjoyed every minute of it (well maybe not the short period of time where I felt horribly hungover), and hopefully I will be able to sneak in another one of these writing trips again soon! It does wonders for my creativity and for my happiness! The only downside is that now I just want to travel even more. Bitten by the bug, yet again! But I’m not going to complain about that. The traveling will happen in time, and I feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to experience such a short and sweet experience in a city that I love and have missed.

London baby, I’ll be back soon!

 

I think we need a break!

It’s not that I don’t love you, I just that I feel like I need to get away for a little while. 

Oslo, we need to see other people! 

At the very moment that I’m writing this, I’m waiting for my plane to start boarding. I’ve been talking about that familiar tug of a traveler who hasn’t traveled in a while (way to long in my opinion) and about working on my novel. It was about time to have some change of scenery combined with focused writing and meeting new lovely people. So I booked myself a trip to London! London is one of my absolute favorite cities. I can’t really explain what it is, other than every time I go back it feels like coming home. I was get a lot of new creative input from the place and the people! 

My backpack is beside me with all of my writing gear, my camera is with me and I’m just enjoying the feel of being on a new adventure! I love every part of it, even getting to the airport extra early to wait. It’s all part of the journey! 

How long am I staying you ask?? Oh I’m staying in London for a whole 36 hours.. Yes, it is a short trip, but 36 hours are way better than no hours. And I’m going to enjoy myself every single minute of it. 

London baby, I’m coming home! Can’t wait to see you again! 

If you’d like to come along for the ride then you can add me on Snapchat: featherpen87 🙂