Bucket List

Do you have a bucket list? When was the last time you checked something off of your list? How much of an impact does your bucket list have on you?

It wasn't until five years ago when I started an actual list. I remember one of the first items I had written down was "to compete in a kettlebell competition." At that time I had no knowledge of the kettlebell world and community. In 2015 I checked off an item for the first time on my bucket list when I flew to Tokyo for my first competition. Since then I've met a lot of cool people who also like to lift cannonballs with handles attached to them.

My list wasn't a very long list and it still isn't. Not saying I'm a very adventurous person now but back then I was definitely not one, and so my list didn't consist of any exotic travel destinations or crazy things to do. I didn't really have a strong desire to achieve anything that wasn't practical either so the list was pretty short. I mean, what's the point of an extravagant lifestyle when you can be content and grateful with what you possess?

Fast forward to the beginning of the year when I was carrying too many responsibilities, my working hours were long and monotonous, and I had no time for taking care of myself. I felt that I was lacking autonomy and "me time."  When you're deprived of something, your desire for it becomes strong. And thanks to Instagram I kept drooling over photos of beautiful landscapes and campers and I was so envious of those who lived the nomadic lifestyle. Then I remembered that one of the items on my list was to do a road trip and live the "van life."

The images that I kept seeing on Instagram reminded me of the days when I worked at camp and my lifestyle revolved around nature. Every morning I would wake up to the sound of chirping birds and flowing water, step out of my tent to feel the morning dew between my toes, feel the rays of the morning sun on my skin and inhale air that tells you it's a fresh new day. When your senses are waken naturally you feel alive.

And I had forgotten what it felt like to be alive (corny, I know). 

The "van life" dream has yet to be fulfilled and I know that is meant for another time. But I decided to move on and do something about that monotonous routine that numbed my mind and didn't help me grow as a person. The first step to autonomy was to give myself the autonomy. I quit my job.

So the travel bug got me. And the traveling is not this concept of escaping from reality. As cliche as it sounds, it's a process of soul searching, appreciating what you have, learning, exchanging, getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, expanding your horizons, growing as a person.

The more I get to see the world, the more things I'm adding to my bucket list. Don't get me wrong, the traveling I'm doing is not for the sake of mindlessly checking off items on a list or growing the list so I can chase more items to check off of (#FOMO anyone?). Rather they are genuine experiences I want to partake in that I know will stimulate me intellectually, mentally, and spiritually.

Thanks to this bucket list I started five years ago, I am where I am at now, I am doing things I never thought I would ever do, and I am meeting the right people at the right time.

Mount Fløyen

I have to say I have been so lucky with the weather during my travels. Bergen, Norway is known as the rainiest city on Earth, but the weather was absolutely perfect when we were there; sunny skies, moderate temperature of about 17 degrees, and not too humid or too dry.

Bergen is famous for its wet weather you can even buy a postcard for it

The day we had a full day Ben and I decided to hike up Mount Fløyen, one of the city's hilltops with a spectacular view of the city itself and it's surrounding landscapes. Mount Fløyen is approximately 320m above sea level. It was an easy walk that took us around 45 minutes, and much of the trail resembles the Central Green Trail that leads to Victoria Peak in Hong Kong.

The start of the hike is just right next to the Fløibanen station, the funicular railway that goes up Mount Fløyen.

Once we reached the lookout on the top we explored a little further into the forest and took a stroll around a lake. It is supposed to be a hiking trail that leads to another mountain but that trail takes about 2 hours to complete so we decided to just see the lake.

After our walk we took the funicular back down. The ride is about 5 minutes, so I'm glad we took the time to hike up instead to make the whole experience worthwhile. But then again, we were lucky for having such beautiful weather for hiking!

Norway

I started this Europe trip in Scandinavia because Ben and I wanted to see the fjords of Norway. There was no direct flight from Hong Kong to Norway so we chose to fly to Denmark. From Copenhagen we flew to Bergen and that's where we started our six-day road trip through the fjords.

To say that the sceneries are beautiful is an understatement. The giant mountains that tower above us, the vastness of valleys, the hairpin turns up and down the steeps of the mountains, the still turqoise waters that seem to make boats levitate, water streams free falling from the edges of mountain cliffs, the glaciers that sit on top on mountains crying as they melt in the summer heat, all left us in awe. I have questioned countless times, "how is this even real??" Photos don't even do it justice.

When we planned our route we started off really clueless. Do a quick search online and you will find bloggers warning against Norwegian websites being very glitchy or being very ambiguous with their information. Their theory is that Norwegians are quiet people, like their peace and privacy, and are wealthy enough that they don't rely on tourism. They want tourists to stay out of their country (that is what I read, I can't verify that). I remember being on several websites and the glitchiness is just plain amusing. Imagine a map flashing like strobe lights then freezing your page or a panoramic photo spazzing like the camera is skydiving. What we did in the end was refer to other bloggers' suggested routes or dig through forum discussions.

We picked all the main sites we wanted to see and activities we wanted to do and planned our route from there. Honestly it didn't matter which route you picked because the drive between points of interest were very scenic, one landscape after another, sometimes changing into a completely different scene as you turn into the next bend like you travelled to a different planet.

On the day we flew into Bergen, we tried to take money from the ATM only to realize that the machines don't support the bank cards we own. Luckily they take credit card for any type of purchase or transaction like restaurants, convinience stores, hotels, gas, tolls, bus tickets, train tickets, etc. There were instances we're we had our fingers crossed hoping they would take card, like when we had to drive onto one of the ferries and weren't sure if they took cash or credit. Ben and I survived our nine days in Norway without any cash!

Another thing we were really impressed with was the food in Norway. As most people may know I love bread especially sourdough. I don't understand how people complain about having bread at every meal when in Europe. Nine times out of ten the bread served to us was amazingly good; so fresh and moist in the center and crusty on the outside. The sourdough was almost always perfectly salted and came with fresh homemade butter. Enough of the bread, another staple was seafood. We were so worried about having salmon everyday that we avoided having salmon a week before our trip. We were so wrong about that because I think we only had salmon twice out of the whole nine days. We had fish and scallops and shrimp and were all extremely fresh. Of course we had non-seafood choices like chicken or beef, but the best dishes I thought were the fish soup and the mussels. 

I made two best (food) discoveries in Norway: brown cheese and svele. Brown cheese, or brunost in Norwegian, is basically the whey from goat's or cow's milk boiled until the water is evaporated and the sugars caramelized. Strictly it isn't cheese, and it isn't savory like cheese. It comes in a block and you slice it with a special grater, the color and taste resembling of dulche de leche. You eat it with toast or waffles or pancakes.

Svele is something we discovered towards the end of our road trip. It is pretty much a very fluffy pancake, and the reason for it's fluffiness is probably the kefir in it. Just like how the acid in buttermilk reacts with baking soda giving buttermilk pancakes its pillowy texture. We ate this folded in half with creamed butter and brown cheese. Apparently, you can only find this on the west side of Norway, so when we ended our trip in Oslo we couldn't find any!

Rainbows, rainbows everywhere

When you spot rainbows at every corner you turn into, when the people accept you for who you are without staring at you confused, when you feel safe to be yourself, when you are welcomed with a warm smile, when the city embraces the freedom to love.

City Surrounded by Water

Ben and I wondered what people do for fun here, and we discovered what could possibly be the best thing to do while we were visiting at this time of the year. The weather in Copenhagen was extremely hot, almost like Hong Kong summer kind of hot except just slightly less sticky. I consider myself a tropical person and I don't mind the heat. I used to work at a summer camp where I would live in a tent for two months. Temperatures reached 37 degrees and there we didn't have air-conditioning. But I was almost constantly complaining how hot it was in Copenhagen. Maybe it is an expectation thing because I really wasn't expecting a city so high in lattitude to be almost as hot as home.

Located in the center of the city, we went to one of Copenhagen's popular spots for outdoor swimming, Islands Brygge Harbour Bath. Here you'll find locals, kids, families, and people of all ages enjoy a nice summer dip in the middle of cityscape. According to the internet, the water quality is very high and is checked daily. The chilly water of the harbour was the perfect way to cool off in the heat. It is free of charge and is open from June to August.

Just next to Islands Brygge harbour bath is another fun and eco-friendly water activity. You can rent a solar-powered picnic sailboat at GoBoat and you have the freedom to sail wherever you want without polluting the harbour.

The boats go very slowly so they are very easy to operate and you don't need a certificate or experience with sailing. We bought food from the supermarket and had breakfast on the boat. As we cruised through the smaller channels we saw boathouses parked on the sides with people chilling on the decks enjoying the summer sun. Locals leisurely kayaked along and even surpassed us, which shows how slow the GoBoats go!

On other occasions when we were exploring the city, we noticed that there were plenty of other deck areas along the waters and you will always find locals sunbathing or swimming.

One thing to keep in mind is that usually there aren't any changing room facilities and there is usually a queue for public toilets. I decided I didn't want to wait in line so I walked back into the city in my bikini top, which seemed like a normal thing to do in this open minded city.