Best ways to survive the Norwegian winter months

As you can imagine, winter in Oslo is long, grey and cold. Whenever I look outside the window the world around me appears in black and white, grey and brown. From end of October to at least end of March, often even one month longer, this is my reality. And there isn’t as much snow as one could wish for. More frequently the pavements are covered by slush, or even worse ice.

So how to deal with it when all I’m dreaming of is sun, warmth, earth, living nature?

The best way to get through it is obviously to be born here. Second best is living here long enough to getting used to it. Looking back at my 20 years in Norway, I do remember the first decade suffering a lot especially in March and April, knowing how beautiful this season can be further south. And then I started to adopt, slowly but surely.

The most important lesson I’ve learned: winter is not that bad after all. At one point I just had to decide whether to get frustrated and desperate every year or accept it as it is and make the best out of it. Rather than staying indoors most of the winter months and wait until the worst was over, I tried to keep on doing stuff I enjoyed during the summer months: being outside, running, bicycling. I won’t quote the famous Norwegian saying about bad weather and bad clothes – I can simply confirm that it helps a lot with the right gear.

For the first time this year I’ve been cycling almost daily through winter in all kind of weather (except the few days when it didn’t stop snowing) and I’ve been running regularly. Studded winter tires and running shoes made this possible. By embracing winter, it is no longer a discomfort to be endured, but a season to be enjoyed.

The other important change was that I realized how much beauty there is around me, even in this black and white world. I enjoy taking photographs, and this helps focussing on the surroundings. Rather than closing my eyes and wishing to be somewhere else, I open them and look around attentively. And there is so much to see, discover, observe. The winter light is very special in Oslo, the evening skies outstanding. You just have to look for it.

Some days I still can’t help dreaming of other places, Australia to be more specific. We won’t be travelling there this year, and this almost breaks my heart some days, as homesick as I can get. Yet we have some great plans for this summer. And you might be wondering what’s going on in our garage… Dag has been spending endless hours fixing, screwing, putting together different parts. People here don’t really know the concept of a camper trailer like we have seen so many in Australia. Since it wasn’t an option to buy one there and bring it home (far too expensive), Dag figured out that he just as well could build one himself. And what I’ve seen so far is looking good! Talk about tailor-made! Fridge and rooftop tent and everything. Soon ready to be on the road from Oslo all the way down to Greece. As close as we can get our lifestyle in Australia!

And in the meantime, the days are getting longer and longer, and when the sun is out, you get a feeling of spring. It must be just around the corner, in a month or two…

Author: cobaroblog

Travelling architect View all posts by cobaroblog