I think I’m experiencing culture shock. In Norway. Stepping off the plane the fresh, crisp, clean air hit me hard. Arriving in Alesund I discovered the streets are clean, quiet and concrete. The people wear a common uniform of colourful puffy jackets. There appear to be more Tesla’s per square kilometre than anywhere I’ve been. Even the food is a bit fishy.
It’s quite the contrast from the noisy, hipster coffee shop packed streets I’m used to in Central Europe. The serenity is completely new to me. Even the Art Nouveau architecture is wildly different from what I know. I rarely eat fish and I don’t even own a jacket, let alone a puffy one.
I started writing this post above the clouds over Gdansk and am finishing it now in my cosy hotel in Alesund. It’s my first time in Norway. It’s what I expected and yet it isn’t. I couldn’t be more excited to be here.
ICYMI – August on the Blog
I had a little more time to dedicate to the blog last month and managed to publish six blog posts. It’s been a while since I’ve been that productive. In case you missed it, here are last month’s posts.
- 3 Odd Things in Neubau – Vienna’s Hipster District
- Neighbourhood Guide: Where to Stay in Budapest
- Where to Eat in Szczecin & Specialty Coffee
- Beach Time: Where to Stay on the Albanian Riviera
- Snapshots of Prague
- August Goals: Prague Edition
September Goal: Maintain this rate of publishing.
As an aside, I’d like to know how you feel about the current direction of the blog. Right now I’m focusing on publishing city guides and itineraries, neighbourhood guides, and specialty coffee guides (I have three of these half written). What would you like to see more of / less of?
Recently on Instagram
I tried something different on Instagram last month. Most of my photos from Prague were taken with my iPhone. I like the idea of the ‘instant’ part of Instagram but I don’t really like the look of those I shared. Maybe I’ll give this another go when/if I get the new iPhone 8 and its better camera.
Most popular on Instagram last month: Prague’s Mala Strana
September Goal: Go back to sharing photos taken with my Olympus EM1 (which I adore).
Reading Goals
The battle between reading and watching Netflix has come to a head and it looks like Netflix is winning out. I have so many books on my Kindle I’d like to read, including Wanderlust which I started last month, but I got seriously sidetracked watching Gypsy and Ozark on Netflix (both are great). With the latest season of Narcos going live, finding time to read this month might be difficult.
September Goal: At least finish reading Wanderlust.
Facebook Community Group
As I mentioned last month, I’ve created a Facebook group where you can ask our community questions about any upcoming travel plans or get ideas and inspiration. The group is up to around 120 people and you can join here if you’d like.
September Goal: Grow the FB community to over 200 members.
September Travel Plans
Today I rode an electric bike around Alesund’s islands and tomorrow I’m heading to the famous Geirangerfjord. After that, it’s to Oslo and hopefully Stockholm, Helsinki and with a bit of luck Kiev and Minsk. I don’t like to travel this fast but I know this is going to be the last European trip I’ll take for quite some time. I want to see as much as possible before I return to Australia.
September Goal: Don’t get burnt out travelling too fast.
September is my favourite travel month of the year. I hope you’ll get the chance to travel this month too. Let me know where you’re going in the comments.
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I was in Norway last year. The trip was wonderful, but besides last 4 days, I didn’t catch almost any sunshine. Flew from Copenhagen to Bergen, then rented a car and drove to Flam, Tindevegen, Geiranger, Trollstigen, Alesund, the Atlantic Road and Trondheim. From there flew to Tromso, then to Oslo and Stockholm.
As for September plans, we were in Belgium this weekend, between next 2 weekends, will be on the Faroe Islands and around Copenhagen, after that 3 days in West England and ending the month visiting home, Romania.
That sounds like a very intense trip around Norway. We’ve been lucky with clear skies up until today when the classic Norwegian weather has hit. 🙂 I’m quite envious of your upcoming plans. I’d be interested to hear how you find the Faroe Islands. I’ve been wanted to go for quite some time.
Thanks. You can follow my Faroes adventure on my Instagram @cinx84 🙂
I am delighted to hear that you are going to focus on city guides, itineraries and neighborhood guides. In travel very widely around Europe on business usually with short stays. You also mention specialty coffee guides – great – but do try to point out good, fun and quirky wine bars as well! I really enjoy your posts, very informative, lovely writing and good photos.
Thanks so much for the feedback! I gave up drinking about 6 months ago so I won’t be sharing any wine bars unfortunately. 🙂
Oh well – do you feel better for it? I drink much less than I used to but still enjoy my wine. Mind you, not drinking will save you a lot of money in Norway!!!
I feel considerably better for it. Drinking makes me feel tired more than anything. Plus I’d often feel hungover after having only one or two drinks the night before. I think it must be my old age!
There are cost savings too of course but it’s funny how often I get offered free drinks, for example on flights, welcome drinks at hotels, travel events, meetups, it’s never ending. It’s one of the benefits/negatives (depending on how you look at it) of working in the travel industry.