I've been writing this article for two weeks and I have to admit that I had a lot of trouble with it. Hence my silence and my delay... Since that, the sun came back, my mindset is a little better but I decided to deliver it to you as it is because after all, the ups and downs are fully part of this trip in Norway :)
----
In early July, we were closing the third month of our viking life. The third already. However, I still feel like I arrived yesterday ... Time here is running fast and slow at the same time and I think that the weather in June did not really help. 5 days of sunshine over a period of 30, temperatures approaching the 10 degrees and rain endlessly, my mind was definitely in winter ... Thanks to a busy program, June has been more enjoyable. Because of the visit of Ben's parents, our little express trip to France and the reunion with my friends, we were able, despite everything, to breathe a little, to explore the region and make pretty discoveries.
Comfort and travelling made this beginning of june really heartening but being back in that eveyday life has been pretty rough after their departures. If you want to know a little more about it, let's go !
A RETURN TICKET TO PARIS
After 7 months of waiting, I was finally picked up for my Canadian Visa application. Good news since once this step completed, the hardest part was done. But, to complete my application, I had to give my biometrics in person. As Norway has no office dedicated to this service, I had to fly to Stockholm, Berlin, London or wherever and as soon as possible. A phone call to my mom and the decision was made : in a little more than a week, we would spend the day together in Paris.
Barely three days after taking my tickets, it was Ben's turn to receive the famous e-mail and the letter concerning his visa. We managed to transform our duo into a trio and "hop" the three of us were reunited in Paris.
An express day to frolic the streets of the capital, to tell each others about our new lives, to eat, to be the guides for Ben who had never been on the Parisian floor before, to make him discover some of our french clichés and it was already time to hit the road again. Spending a few hours, no matter how short they were, with my mom, was one of the best moments of this month. Our last moments in France having been difficult, it was rather comforting to be in a context this time halfway between past, present and future. Because, while many think that living on travels and adventures can only be a source of happiness, there are many moments in my nomadic life where I would give anything to spend some time with my family. , my friends, just for an evening, a dinner or a day.
KIWIS IN VIKING LAND
Hardly time to realize that these good moments had just ended, that we were already starting the next step with the arrival of Ben's parents in Norway. Given the precipitous circumstances in which we had to leave them last January, it was really nice to be able to spend some time with them and in this life that is ours right now.
We took the opportunity to explore the surroundings together and discover a little more the region and the surrounding fjords. We saw hundreds of waterfalls, traversed all the more grandiose landscapes, walked in the middle of a valley just to see a glacier, (Folgefonna, the third largest in Norway) and we drove a lot. .. so much that the car almost stayed there ...
A few minutes break at the top of a snow-covered pass and we were off again! Ouff, thanks Black Betty.
This visit was also an opportunity for us to escape a little Voss and see beyond the surrounding mountains. And I must say that I was just waiting for that. Ferry crossings, boat tours, wood-fired bbqs, fjord-view cabins and card games ... it sounds a bit like a dream and yet that's the real life.
After almost a week of exploration, it was already sadly time to leave.
Despite the fact that, with time and travel, I learned to accept saying goodbye, because goodbyes are synonymous of new adventures to come, this time, I was a little apprehensive about their departure but ...
CATCH UP WITH THE GIRLS
... once again, no time to come down from my little cloud as two of my friends landed on Norwegian land.
Eugenie, is THE friend who was living above my flat when I studied in Lyon and who lives today in Martinique (french Island). It is a friendship that has overcome many obstacles, starting with the courage she had to come knocking on my door on a Saturday morning to offer me to join her for a visit at the museum. We have very different and similar stories at the same time. Sometimes, it is weeks of silence that separate us to finally, in a phone call, realize that we go through the same questions, doubts, emotions, in completely different places on the planet. So when she told me that she would come to me, here, in Norway, so we can finally see each other, the excitement was at its height.
Concerning Solène, she knows the feeling of traveling to the other side of the world since she lived in Australia for a while before returning to France and finally settling down in London. I met her for the departure of Eugenie two years ago and since then she is one of my most faithful readers. Expatriation, life on the other side of the planet, the loss of a loved one while traveling, the feeling of being away from family, the pleasures of life in another country ... so many topics of conversation that drive us and bond us.
Two years without seeing each other. Two years of life to sum up on 4 days of reunion ... Better than nothing even if much too short for chatterbox like us.
The route I had planned for them was nothing but a summary of the "best" of our visits so far. So we took the same Fjords road than with Ben's parents, climbed the same summit as during my training week, walked to the same glacier than a few days earlier, traveled the same paths as during our escapades with Ben and yet everything seemed new and different.
It is when this magic of travel takes place that I rejoice of my life choices. Do and redo the same things, at first, we think it's boring. Except that with time, we learn to fully enjoy the moment, to be in the moment. The landscapes evolve, the seasons transform them, the weather magnifies them, the people with whom you share this moment shape them ... Every day is a new chapter, life on a journey is an eternal recommencement.
It is often said that the most uncomfortable situations of a trip create the best memories. Well, once again, I can confirm. On our first day of visit, the car completely broke down. Desperate, we had no other way of locomotion to continue our escapades. I must admit that at the time I was a little peeved. We had planned to rent a car but on Sundays in Norway, everything is closed. The bus could have been an option, but sincerely public transports here are way too expensive. So... we had only one solution left : hitchhiking.
Sunday morning, 10am, direction: Gudvangen, 40 minutes from Voss. Number of hitchhikers : 4. "Ok guys, we have a problem."
Hitchhiking when you are 2 persons can already be sometimes a challenge. So find a car with 4 free seats I let you imagine ... We decided to split into two teams and there, the magic operates ! Two cars stopped in a 7 minutes interval ! Alleluia ! Arrived in Gudvangen, we went for a small hike and a picnic along the fjord. We took our time but not too much cause we knew we would have to make it back to Voss and find two cars again. A good excuse for the girls who decided to transform the side of the road into a dancefloor to try to stop some cars. Good strategy because after a few minutes one car stopped, then 10 minutes later, Ben and I were also on our way back to Voss. Big Thank to our drivers, and Thank you universe.
This crazy hitchhiking story could have stopped there but no, it went even further.
I once met someone who told me that when you travel, you realize that 98% of human beings are caring and kind. If you turn off the TV, the radio and you trust yourself, you will open doors to incredible experiences that you are not ready to forget. Here is an other proof : after a few minutes of discussion about our breakdown, Aleksander, the girls' driver, simply offered us to lend his car for our last day of visit. .. A full tank and picking him from work at the end of the day were the only conditions he asked us in exchange ... Until early morning I could not believe it but at 9am he was really there, joining us in the parking lot next door. It was unbelievable and without knowing it, he saved our day !!
After all these explorations, it was unfortunately time to say goodbye again...
It was so intense to be able to catch up with all of them, to share our lives, share new experiences and create new memories together ... These three little parentheses of the beginning of the month will have given me a breath of fresh air. I had been able to find back some peace in me and I haven't felt this way for a while.
Obviously, the return to the daily life after their respective departures has been really tough and rough. Lost in the middle of these positive feelings and my uncontrolled loneliness, my June's inside world has been more complicated...
HEY, HOW IS NORWAY ?
"So how is life in Norway? You have to tell me !"
My discretion in the past weeks and my lack of response to your messages sometimes have tended to cause some questions from you and I'm sorry about it. I can say that the period was both empty and busy, boring and excited but above all, full of questions that I had a lot of trouble overcoming. I wanted to be alone while already feeling extremely alone.
Your enthusiasm and your impatience to know more about my Viking life made feel really out of my own experience. Because these emotions, as basic as they are, I couldn't find them back in my own body, in my own mind. Seeing you enthusiastic about my travel, while I could not even feel this way myself was really hard.
Norway is a beautiful country, landscapes are astonishing, Norwegians are nice and the city of Voss seems to be the ideal compromise for people looking for adventures and for a job. Despite this, I'm not getting use to the daily life here. When I travel or visit the area, I feel like I'm moving forward. When I stay here, working, I just feel stagnant.
Resuming the road at the beginning of the month and being able to share this experience with close friends made me realize how much I'm missing my freedom. It is true that since the end of my trip to New Zealand last August, I had a hard time enjoying the little things of everyday life as they are. And I imagine that the January episode, with my dad's death, did not give me relief.
In fact, I have everything here to be happy. But in my head, the path is too unstable and winding that I cant fully appreciate the situation in which I am. There are mornings where everything is fine. And then there are the others.
STORM IN MY HEAD
When I left France the first time, I was mourning a past life. I had a deadline: 6 months to fully enjoy a country I was thinking going only once in my life. It was my one and only goal and he never really left me. Faced with all the negative thoughts, facing all the unpleasant situations I activated the mode "I do not care, it does not matter, I have no time to lose for that" and I kept moving forward. I was aware that this trip would have an end, so I lived happiness, I observed the trials of life with a little hindsight and I kept going. I came out grown, changed, with all the necessary hindsight on the situations encountered until then. I believe that I had never been so much at peace with myself than in this other end of the world.
Yes, but here it is. In recent months, I have been through several emotional storms that have taken control of my self. I had to say goodbye to this incredible year in New Zealand without having any idea of which projects would follow. I had to relearn how to live without Cachou (Charlotte) by my side. I had to leave a life full of meaning that I loved to return to another, a priori, without interest. I had to say goodbye to my dad before even knowing it would be a goodbye.
By losing my father, I lost my bearings. When everything shifts and becomes unbalanced, you have to relearn how to live with the idea that what you were thanks to him will continue even without him. And in the end, it was the same with my departure from New Zealand. This new Coralie, totally at peace with herself, I think I left it on New Zealand land the first time I left it.
This idea that one can remain oneself, when the other goes away, when the context changes, when the journey ends, this is the road on which I travel at this moment. I era between mountains lakes and forests. Between fog, rain and sun. But I move on. I perceive some bits of horizons sometimes with new projects that are slowly emerging. I can feel a little inner joy or enthusiasm for this future coming. Our road trip in Norway early October. Our future in Canada (since we both have finally received our visas). It is a slow motion world in which I live but a world in motion. Time is the only and best of my allies. Traveling just helps me to move on.---
For those who know me best, you know how much I do not let you see transparently through me when I am not okay. That's why I hesitated a long time before delivering this article as it is. Since then, I realized that the period of June and early July had just been very complicated to go through. Many different situations that I had to endure : the atmosphere at work had completely deteriorated, my loneliness here, it was also 6 months without my dad, not to mention the emotional roller coaster of these amazing time early June ... It was a lot for a single month ! As July is already well underway, I can already tell you that my indoor weather is a little closer to summer. I found a little sun in the clouds and I took a few steps forward, to perhaps finally return to this nomadic life that I liked so much !
I'll tell you more soon,
Love.
Co.
Comments