One Year Down

Reflecting on our first year in Norway

Did you know some science suggests the best way to make time feel slower is to create new experiences for yourself, be more present in the moment, and break up your normal routine in life? While having a routine is comforting and part of human nature, making opportunities to break up the monotony that our lives can fall into can be beneficial and help us to create lasting memories. Nothing has proven this to me more than moving abroad and spending the last year really stepping outside of my comfort zone and into a less predictable routine. 

Looking back, it’s hard to believe we’ve only been in Norway a year. It honestly feels longer, not in a bad way, I just can’t believe how much we’ve experienced in the past year. From traveling throughout Europe and adjusting to cultural differences to attempting to learn a new language and way of life, we have taken ourselves out of our old routine and are adapting to a new one. One that has encouraged us to not only slow down a bit, but also explore our world even more. We’re learning, growing, and discovering what parts of our old routine we enjoy and what parts should be adjusted. 

We landed in Norway on August 6th, 2024, exactly one year ago today. Upon our arrival, I was tired, nervous, excited, recovering from a minor surgery after a miscarriage, and a little sad, missing my family and friends back home already. Needless to say, I was a mix of emotions and feeling overwhelmed but ready to start this new adventure. 

Exploring Trondheim

The journey started by adjusting to the time change, moving into our new house, and getting our ducks in a row. The first few weeks are a blur of figuring out how to get set-up with Norwegian residency, establish a bank account, get our son to daycare with all of the correct clothing and necessities, and find where to do our grocery shopping. Basically we were figuring out how to “do life” in a new country and a small town. 

Once we got somewhat settled, the travel and adventures began. We started with exploring our local area, going on nearby hikes and stopping into the local farm stores. Then we ventured a little further out, still staying inside the country but driving to other towns, taking the ferry back down to Trondheim, or flying to Oslo. After about three months of living abroad, we were ready to start traveling outside of the country. Since November of last year, we have visited four new countries; Norway makes five for the year. These travels and new experiences are what have slowed time down for us. 

Exploring new places, not just with big trips to other countries, but also in our local area, breaks up our routine and creates new memories. We are lucky to have this experience and opportunity to move abroad, so I’m doing my best to ensure we don’t let the time pass by too quickly. Of course every day is filled with 24 hours, but how we use those hours is what changes our perception of time. I don’t feel like I need to slow every moment down, but I am trying to be more present and appreciate the small moments, like reading a new bedtime book with my son or taking a few extra minutes on our way out the door to daycare to allow him to splash in a puddle. 

I think one of my biggest takeaways from this past year is that our Western culture leads us to rushing through things. We don’t utilize our vacation days like we should. We accept hustle culture. We sign ourselves and our children up for endless extra curricular activities without leaving time in our schedule for boredom or free-days. I still believe drive and ambition are great qualities, but they’re also probably qualities that lead to a faster pace in life. I want to make sure I maintain balance in the future by not allowing our routine to become too monotonous. 

I’m not naive enough to think we won’t find a routine to settle into eventually, but I’m setting a goal now to have days for exploration. Maybe that’s finding a new hiking trail, exploring a different neighborhood in town, trying out a new recipe, or planning and taking a trip to a new country. Sometimes the break in routine will be short and at home and sometimes it will be extravagant and abroad, but it will be something that takes us out of our routine and likely creates a new memory. These moments have to happen regularly as well or else they won’t really help to slow our pace. Hopefully it doesn’t take moving to new countries to continue this perception of slowing time down.