Leaving for Scandinavia - Part 1

The last few days have been a whirlwind of work, packing, and visa applications, but I am officially packed and ready to go. Getting picked up in an hour, flight to Minneapolis at 2:00PM, and then flight to Amsterdam at 7:00PM. 2 days of hosteling in Amsterdam, then just a short 1 hour flight to Bergen - my home for the next 6-12 months.

Travelling has always been a dream of mine, but I am finding it a little strange being on the cusp of such a large trip. It's difficult to convince my brain that something exciting is about to happen when I am laying on my couch watching "Kate Plus 8", which by the way is a pretty weak show without Jon. Hard to believe that tomorrow at this time I will be an ocean away from friends, family, work, life, etc...

This is my third trip to Norway, but the first trip where I will be staying for longer than 3 months (3 months is the maximum stay on a tourist visa). I am definitely a little anxious about the language aspect of the trip. You never know how nice it is to run in your own language until you've tried to stumble through someone else's (this is a line from the book "Shantaram", I am rarely this eloquent when sober). Not speaking the language fluently is definitely a bit isolating, but one more reason for me to keep working on learning Norwegian and improve it from a functional level to a conversational level.

My personal goals over the next few months are:
- Travel with Hilde to at least 2 countries we have never been
- Converse in only Norwegian whenever possible
- Continue my freelance work
- Have as many new experiences as possible

I am hoping to have Internet access while enroute, so I'll update as the trip progresses.

Matt Cox