Background

Born here, spending my first 2 and my last 10 years  in the Capitol, Oslo is basically home.

My hometown however is called Jessheim, 30min North of Oslo, and right by the main airport.

The best thing about Oslo is that it is close to everything.

My best day on this planet, I woke up early, went skiing on the hill 20min outside of the City Centre. Later that day, I was able to paddle in my Kajakk and look up at the same slopes that I was enjoying that same morning.

If Oslo is my home, Edinburgh is my spiritual home.
Best place in the world.

My mother is Scottish, and we have family in Glasgow.

But Edinburgh, that is my city. 
When I undertook my first masters degree, the living in Edinburgh, I was surprised to realise how many points of reference I was actually able to identify in Scotland just by walking past chocolate isles and looking at comic books.

When moving back home, I got involved with The Caledonian Society of Norway, and Norwegian-Scottish cultural links are very important to me.

The KaosPilot education is in a word; special.
When I was looking at an education about starting new things and daring to get outside of your comfort zone.
It just made sense to actually be a part of the first class of student that have to help build the school.

That is literally what we did, project nr 1, find furniture.

2 years in and I really got the taste of Rotterdam, its Amsterdams' brother with an attitude. You might take some time to find your feet there, but a great place to get inspired.

Why did I leave?
Because the school got shut down...
So I had to go to Denmark..

Fair is fair, I was never registered in Australia myself.

When I was living in The Netherlands, my family moved to Australia.

Luckily, I was allowed to come visit for Christmas for almost a month, three years in a row. There is really one one negative about Australia, it is really really far away.

Can't wait to go back for some reason.

Controversial?
Maybe...

It shouldn't be.


As a part of my KaosPilot education, we had to travel to a different culture to experience what that is like.

When there, my class decided that they wanted to go to the west bank to do some projects. Personally, I was already overwhelmed with Israel, and made the unpopular choice of staying behind there by myself.
But what a learning journey!

Among the highlights, humus for lunch every day in Tel Aviv, befriending a homeless man that people called Jesus, waking up to the sounds of the city in Old Jerusalem when sleeping on a rood terrace.

The most important learnings?
Understanding that though a certain story is portrayed via medias, the truth can be MUCH more complex. 
And learning to really stand up for yourself, even if it not the popular choice.  Saying NO, because that is what makes sense is incredibly empowering.

Århus, the second largest City in Denmark should be an inspiration for many other cities.

There is a 

Arguably, Norway and Canada are not that different.. at least as far as climate..

When we traveled there, I was only 2-3 years old, so naturally I can't remember too much.

I do however remember that I went to a French speaking kindergarten (and became fluent in French... and lost it again just a few months after we moved). I met a boy that lived on the other side of the street, he was also from Norway, and we are still really close friends 35 years later!

And I remember the colours of the maple leaves in the fall.
You should travel to Canada just for that!

Due to my fathers work we lived on lots of different countries.

Among them. 6 about months in the USA.
I remember we went to a Christian kindergarten, and we had to go to mass.. and that was kind of strange..

Highlight; Mardi Gras King Cake!

Many people will call this the most exotic of all of my experiences..
Traveling to Jamaica is on so many bucket-lists.. Living there is slightly different, but obviously, when we went on vacations, we did experience the normal tourist traps also.

But let's be honest, privilege is a buzzword these days, and living there was nothing but privlage.
We lived on a compound with 24/7 security, a swimming pool, our own gardner, house maids etc etc. I remember bananas growing in the garden, the smell of mint growing in our driveway, and playing football with our dog on the lawn.

Being still rather young, my main job there was to go to school and stay out of trouble. Rocking my school uniform, khaki shorts and shirt, it is still fun to think about the fact that I learned things in the shack like school building there, that I only learned 5 years later in Norway.