Missing home

It is an odd thing, how busy people seem to be all of the sudden. At the moment the world is spinning fast whilst I am in slow motion. Focus is utterly gone and so are the colors. Now you might wonder what the heck I am on about if you do not know me so well.

Let me explain. You see, certain people have the ability to make you feel good about things, places, music and even the very food you put into your mouth. You might hear Tyler Swift once alone and think...wow what a bad song and then the next time you hear it you are with a funny energetic person in the right moment and the song becomes your fun memory together. The same goes for a place. It might seem fun and colorful and interesting  in the moment when you are with the right person because he or she makes you see the place in a light you did not see it before. Your eyes feel wider and all the colous and nuances are with you in that memory forever.

At this moment, I miss my family back home very much. Things are not going so well for me and I feel a bit ¨lost¨ in this world. On Friday I went to a party held by my employer. It was a huge thing and everyone were smiling and there was free alcohol, people were in a good mood, food and entrance at the venue which happened to be one of my favorite beach clubs 'Bloomingdale' in Bloemendaal aan Zee. It was supposed to be a happy evening, it was supposed to be filled with amazing colors. But my mind is grey, flat and boring without stimuli, without that one person. Are break-ups supposed to hurt this much?  I wonder if I will ever feel excited about traveling or seeing new places again or about life for that matter. Everything is just sad and grey and painful now.

People say it will pass, like it did with others that left, people say it was short but for me the time did not feel short but true and deep. If this is love, then I do not want to feel again because nothing has colors anymore, nothing excites me and it hurts so much I beg for the pain to end at night. I have lost people before, too many times just nothing compares though and it scares me I did not see this coming  I had no idea....

For now I will stop blogging and facebook for a while, not sure if I will start it up again.

x Viking

Norway 2015

Hi there,

As many of you figured I have been quite busy the last few weeks. With many things going on here and there it has been hard to sit down and tap down some words.

First it was our trip to Norway which I thought was utterly amazing. Norway never seemed more beautiful than this summer. First went to Odda by rental-car (challenge no.1 figure out the GPS!), in the end everything went well and after a while my eyes saw familiar apple farms and houses in the distance. The small place called Hovland along the fjord where I used to swim every summer with my brothers and sisters. Then further in the small town centre of Odda were a lot of things had changed since I was there last. It was like the city was renewed and it made it feel special. My dad and granddad greeted us as we arrived. Nothing feels better than grandad's hugs and seeing my dad was great. I had not seen them in 4 years so it was time. My family had planned a lot of things especially for our arrival, it was nice that we were all on holiday so we could do stuff together. My dad and my youngest brother and nephew took us for a walk along the touristy yet impressive Låtefoss along the narrow mountain road from Odda towards Røldal. My grandad also came along for this trip and the 6 of us had a nice time. One of the other days we went to Buer and hiked up the to the mountaintop above Buer Valley where folk tend to keep their livestock and mountain cottages. We had the breathtaking view to the Buer glacier and Folgefonna the 4 of us. It was really nice doing this hike and I was pleased to see my dad and youngest brother Espen hiking and climbing with us. All of us seemed to enjoy it. The air in the mountain is thin, sharp and cold and so so fresh compared to the city air in the Netherlands that my lungs certainly had to adjust. When in Odda we also met my nieces and nephew! My sister Rachel had the coffee ready as we came by see how they were doing and how much the little ones grew! I sat there for ages just hugging them and playing board games while hearing the latest news on their front. It was nice and I already miss them.

After meeting with my sister and her family we went to eat with my grandparents place. They made typical Norwegian food and later there were coffee of course. I would do almost anything right now to be with them. Somehow my grandparents have this gift of making me feel good when I am having a difficult time. More than once they helped me out of trouble, I would be clueless without them.

Anyhow, after about 6 days in Odda we went to Florø to see Ruby. Going by sea was a great idea as it gave time to see some of Bergen before heading off to our next destination. By sea you also see Norway from a different angle and best of all , there are no narrow roads or tunnels!  Florø is a small city but really more like a village kept alive by the oil industry and ship-repair factory over there and to some degree the fishing industry. This makes it a very calm and picturesque place to live. The best thing about it is that this is where my best friend lives really and it was really good to see her and her bf again. After a few days there it was time to travel to Bergen. My time there was just as amazing as I had pictured it to be and I will probably never have such a good time in that city again. First day was spent exploring the city centre and eating typical Norwegian food! Bryggen and Fløybanen were some of the highlights. I also really loved the hotel Scandic Ørnen, yet it would have all been boring without someone to share it with.

I also got to meet a friend from my time at Voss. It was 12 years since I last met Torill, probably just as long since I was in Bergen long enough to meet anyone. It was nice, we had some coffee  and a walk down memory lane. It is nice to see what people are doing after all these years as well.

It was a great trip that will stay imprinted in my memory forever. I have been to these places so many times without feeling so great about a trip. It just comes to show that the special part is who you are with, not where you are going or where you have been.

xViking