josie's on a vacation far away
notes on norway
Hello!
Wherever you were and whoever you were with, I hope that you had a lovely Thanksgiving! I landed in time for a nightcap and caught up with one of my bests. The stuffing + pumpkin pie void was real though – vowing to not go without either next year.
I retract the last newsletter’s statement re: a November hiatus. My laptop has been tucked away in a drawer for the past two weeks to avoid any keyboard labor (slack, email, future-tripping, etc). The break has been gorgeouuuussss fantastic amazing. But! I’m back in time for this week’s newsletty! And it’s still November!
A couple of months ago, I requested a random week off this month. I hadn’t taken any consecutive, open-agenda time off in … years …? If ever? and could sense that I was needing it. Since moving to New York (exactly a year ago tomorrow) I’ve been romping around overstimulated, blissfully busy, or anxiously alone and scrolling without much in between. Not knowing how I would spend my week off, but knowing that I didn’t want it to reflect any of the aforementioned statuses, I was hoping something would shake out.
Then, as she does, Mrs. Paid Instagram Ad herself revealed a budget flight to Oslo. Without really thinking anything of it, I sent it to my friend, Kirsten, with who I’ve briefly chatted about a trip to Norway as she is a fellow Viking (skol) and still has family there. As it turned out, she and her husband, Allen, had a trip booked for the fast-approaching week that I had off. You can see our thorough conversation regarding this below.
We exchanged - and I’m not exaggerating - 4 texts between the DM and booking my flights.
If you know Kirs, you know that she is a fellow “yes” woman. Generosity of this kind lands you at her Besta’s place in Kristiansand, Norway. Without any expectations, I knew it would be fun to see friends + a new place I’d wanted to visit for a while.
The first part of the week was spent in Kristiansand, a small town on the south coast and Hovden, a tiny ski town. Without any obligations and little service/wifi, I spent three consecutive days reading, writing, making the same breakfast, and drinking copious amounts of coffee by the fire. AKA super concentrated rest. There is little to say about this other than when you make space for nothing, you’ll be met with thoughts and ideas that you didn't have space for otherwise.
After a few days, we drove to Bergen, a popular city on the west coast. As bopping around is my favorite sport, that’s how I like to spend most of my free time anywhere.
Bergren bops included: the perfect hot dog cart, shops filled with A+ Scandinavian brands, a way-too-chic-and-spendy hair trim, mountain-top views of Bergen, a charming wine bar, and my favorite – a wildly unapproachable antique shop due to the fact that you had to climb over a mound of antiques to enter (pictured below). As you might expect, I didn’t leave with anything.
Following Bergen, Allen + Kirsten kept North while I went to Oslo for my last couple of days. Some Oslo highlights are as follows:
The Munch Museum:
This stop came highly recommended and for good reason. The Museum is so well done + reading about the life of Munch was fascinating. I returned to this painting three separate times while I was there:
Uff Vintage:
Vintage Norwegian Outerwear galoreeee. I spent so much time here — mostly just to admire the lost art of a clothing tag.
Dapper Oslo:
A nearly perfected store + coffee shop collab. Spent an hour here perusing + reading mid-way through the afternoon.
Ask + Embla:
Another well-curated shop – picked up a Bongustra tote here.
Bar Lardo:
A natural wine bar that you’d miss if you weren’t looking for it. Cute, no frills, and played great records.
Merkur Bar:
Disclaimer - I didn’t end up making it here but it was at the top of my list. I got too distracted on the other side of town and ended up changing plans, oops!
The unhurried trip proved to be restful, inspiring, and was a really sweet way to reflect on my first year in Brooklyn. All of that to say, a 3 pm sunset convinced me that I will only visit Europe in the summer from here on out.
Hopefully you’re not working today! Do nothing, do something, black-friday scroll — or don’t. Talk soon <3
WFIM,
Josie