Alesund is the gateway to Geirangerfjord - a UNESCO listed world heritage fjord renowned for its natural beauty. So that’s why I went there - my heart was drawn to the fjords in Norway and I wanted to see it for myself and experience the wilderness. I love nature. I went on the ferry/boat tour thing from Alesund to Geiranger and it took 3 hours. We went deep in between the fjords and it was just simply majestic. It took my breath away and I felt strangely alive, yet all the deep emotions I had just erupted to the surface. I listen to Kygo’s album as I was on the cruise. It only felt fitting to listen to his music whilst I was in Norway. And you know, his music kinda fits the landscape. I stepped onto the deck as I was listening to Louder by Kygo and the crescendo matched the wind in my hair so perfectly. I felt the strong wind on my face as we were cruising down and I felt so alive as the chill blasted my face. Maybe it’s the mystical property of the fjords that seem to inspire all the raw emotions. Because I literally started crying a little bit, I don’t know why. I think it’s also because I was so moved. There’s something about being somewhere so far removed from where you are from, on the opposite part of the world… And there’s something about the place, being so barren at times. You truly feel the weight of nature and its power in your bones. It’s a looming presence everywhere and truly awe inspiring. I spent some 3 hours in Geiranger and went for a little hike up to see the waterfalls. The little town of Geiranger reminded me so much of Wes Anderson’s movies - like the Grand Budapest Hotel. It’s the quintessential European village vibes. Maybe it’s the mix of history and vastness of nature that kinda overwhelmed my soul. But I’m so glad I went because it’s truly a marvel. I felt the gravity of the place.

I was going to go kayaking the next day but instead I decided to do a last minute booking for Trollstigen, which is another viewpoint with a whole round trip of 6 hours. We travelled in a mini van with a total of 8 tourists, the driver and the guide who was this English guy. I felt really sick on the bus and told him about it cause I needed to figure out how to open the windows. We luckily took some rest stops in between so I grabbed a chamomile tea and had some ginger lollies that I carried with me. The tour guide and I struck up a conversation over my motion sickness and that’s when I found out that he was hitchhiking through Australia in March where he went from Brisbane down to Melbourne. Small world. Turns out he was also doing guided tours in Te Anau and the glow worm tours too in New Zealand. I thought that Norway was very much like New Zealand in the vast landscapes but at the same time different. NZ’s Milford Sound felt so much more untamed and wild yet Geirangerfjord felt majestic. Both are still beautiful, just with different ways of being beautiful. I then struck up a convo with this HK couple - and honestly, it felt nice to be speaking some Cantonese. Maybe my soul was craving connection and it was then when I felt most porous and open to connecting with other people. The wilderness of Norway had me wanting to find some groundedness and it cracked me open in a way, where I learnt more about myself that it’s not that I’m super introverted, it’s more that I crave connection. Meaningful connection.

Trollstigen was truly amazing. To think that I was going to do kayaking instead of Trollstigen is crazy. The view was breathtaking and I gasped as I saw the depth of the valleys. The English tour guide gave some really informative facts and stories about Trolls. What was most interesting was the tree line with how as you go higher, the trees don’t grow because there’s not enough oxygen and nutrients. I loved driving through the Norwegian wilderness and seeing those abandoned huts - it makes you remember the deep history of a place. But I struggled so much with the motion sickness, and it didn’t help that the German family in the tour bus told me to close the windows cause they didn’t like the wind but I really needed the air in the bus cause I was going to throw up imminently.

Copenhagen introduced me to Scandinavia and nordic culture and heading up to Norway cracked me right open. I needed the nature getaway in a way because my soul craves the mountains and wilderness. It’s hard to describe the experience - it was a bit spiritual and rather personal in a way that I can’t really use words to really say what this meant to me. But Alesund roused all my emotions and truth to be told, I was emotional for most of the time in Norway. It felt like a rite of passage. The water was as pure as anything and the best water I have ever drank in my life. Maybe that cleansed my soul in some way and I felt more vulnerable than ever. Just me, in this remote place, far from everything I’ve ever known but rawer than ever and discovering aspects of myself that I never really knew. It was the precursor to falling in love with life, more than ever. And falling in love with myself - loved knowing that at every moment in life, I had me with me. I felt more safe than ever. I felt so incredibly trusting of myself.