I have a funny relationship with traveling. I am a homebody at heart, but have a conflicting and innate desire to explore the world. Perhaps my love of being home also coincides with my love of a routine. I thrive on the known and get anxious about the unknown.

While in Font this past February, I got the travel bug again. I’m not sure if it was unfairly balanced with the fact that I’ve spent more time at home in the past two years than I can remember, but being in France, living the simple road life, climbing with friends and being in French culture, made me want to travel more than anything. Kayak.com started being my go to website, dreaming up future adventures.

I’m currently half way through my trip to Norway. I visited this amazing country about six years ago and it has since always been on the top of my list of places to return. I think it’s a little known fact (at least among people I know) that Norway is a large producer of oil. Before coming across that fact I didn’t quite understand how Norway could be so darn perfect. Everyone speaks impeccable English, blonde haired beauties flank the sidewalks, the modern architecture and style spans from apartment buildings to shopping malls to houses, and everyone is extremely friendly. I remember my friend Leo Houlding talking about his trip to Norway where he and his wife had a bet,”who can find a mean Norwegian first?” Almost all the way through their trip both of them were coming up empty handed. Finally at the end of their trip Leo thought that he had victory in his sights, only to later find out that the person was Swedish.

I guess the one downfall Norway has is the cost of being here. Gas is about $10 per gallon, a bag of raisins cost $10, and a can of soup ran me $8. Other than that, I can actually find no reason to not attempt to become a Norwegian citizen. I’d definitely need to brush up on my modern style taste, my love for everything fish, and my shy demeanor towards strangers; but, I’ve got the English and blonde part down. The climbing is awesome, the scenery reminds me of the Lord of the Rings, and the friends here are incredibly gracious. It’s the first trip in a really long time that I am not completely homesick.

On our way over here, we had a quick 23-hour layover in Amsterdam. It was a brief visiit but just left the taste in my mouth for mork.

Unfortunately, this is my last planned trip overseas for a while. Three trips in five months filled me up and I’m psyched for a little time at home. But I know I’ll be looking at airfare soon enough 🙂