I am a firm believer that everything works out, but my first day in Europe truly put that belief to the test. Of all the months I have spent there and all the places I have gone, the first day (technically the third day) still takes the cake as the worst day.
The first two days were mainly traveling. Minnesota to Reykjavik; Reykjavik to Oslo; Oslo to Narvik; Narvik to Svolvær; Svolvær to Skrova. Planes, busses, ferries. Like any day of traveling, things went wrong. Things that seemed bad at the moment, but ended up being nothing.
And while my friends and family love hearing about these travel hiccups, I find it tough to capture all the details in a short blog post. So, I’ll spare you the deep dive and just share some snippets. Here’s what happened:
Day 1 — The Journey Begins
As mentioned above, this was chill traveling day. Minnesota to Rejavck; Rejavick to Oslo; Oslo to Narivk. I spent many hours waiting for connecting flights and 18 hours aboard planes. Not once did I fall asleep. Probably too worried about my next flight, and too excited about being in foreign lands.
Once I arrived in Narvik (the arctic circle) I took a bus to Harstad where I stayed the night. I got a whopping 4 hours of sleep.
Day 2 — Exhaustion Hits Hard
I only slept a few hours. Exhausted, but couldn’t rest. That morning I made some calls on WiFi while I waited for the bus to arrive. (At the time, I didn’t have an international phone plan. Instead, I kept my phone in airplane mode and relied on WiFi to screenshot bus routes and timetables.) After my 4 hour bus ride, I hopped on a ferry and reached my destination by 6 pm.
My host informed me she was on a boating trip with the other volunteers. She told me she would be back by 5 pm, at the absolute latest, but the time kept getting pushed back. Instead a local greeted me at the dock and showed me the house I’d be staying at. Since no one was there he took me back to the hotel the hosts’ owned where I remained for many hours trying to sleep.
Just as I was about to doze off, a group of travelers arrived. They were old friends of my host and had come to visit. I shared my situation with them, and almost started crying. I was exhausted and I was starting to get nervous. I traveled to such a remote place and my hosts kept “blowing me off”. Did they actually exist, or was I being kidnapped like every American claimed would happen if I traveled alone. Obviously not in Norway. In reality, they just got super drunk and time went out the window, which I understand.
I walked back to the house, starving and tired. I was nearly asleep on the couch when two people walked in. They introduced themselves—Cate, an extroverted Texan, and Yannik, a chill German. They told me dinner was being prepared by the hosts. It was 10 pm!
I arrived at the house expecting the food to be done, or near done, but it looked like they had just started. The hosts, the volunteers, and Johnny (a local) were all very welcoming and fun. I, on the other hand, was just trying to stay awake, and not let my tiredness get the best of me. It ended up being a fun night, but I didn’t go to sleep until 2 am. It obviously didn’t help that the sun never sets in the summer!
Day 3 — The Real Struggle Begins
Now this was my first day in Europe.
I started volunteer work the next day, which I should have argued against. I didn’t get “situated” at the house until 2 am, and I was jet legged from the 7-hour time difference.
The volunteers felt bad they didn’t have a spot set up for me to sleep, so I slept on the couch. That was the least of my worries. At 6 am Lenka (czech) decided to brew coffee. She ended up being a close friend of mine, but I was so upset with her that morning. I had officially slept 8 hours since leaving the US.
A couple hours later I was sent across the harbor with my friends Martina (Italy) and Matt (England) to work on an old building they were planning to renovate. While they went inside to paint strips of wood, I was assigned the hard job–scraping plaster off the outside wall. I don’t know why I was assigned that job. It never ended up getting finished.
After a few hours I pulled something in my back and almost passed out–the pain was so bad. Light-headed, I crawled to the entrance of the building and called for Matt and Martina. They walked me inside and I laid on the couch until my host drove over. She showed little sympathy, and told me I shouldn’t be laying down on the couch when I should be working; a customer might see me. She said if I wanted the rest of the day off I could leave and come back tomorrow.
I went to the house and slept until the evening. Still, I was upset that she wasn’t very welcoming the day prior. And then she accused me of being lazy after I blew my back out because I was assigned to work from the get-go.
But in the end, it all worked out. My host and I became good friends and my back felt much better after a week. However, to this day I still tweak my back in the same spot, but luckily, it’s never been that bad.
One of many midnight hikes L-R: Cate (TX), Me, Martina (Italy), Roman (Germany), Miriam (Germany)
Honorable Mention — Expensive Phone Calls
Here’s a small detour—on Day 2, I used my phone on airplane mode, relying on Wi-Fi for calls back home. What I didn’t realize was that I had racked up a $500 phone bill over just two hours of calls. Worst mistake ever! Thankfully, I had a scholarship check that covered most of it, but lesson learned—I’ll never do that again.
More Stories?
Eventually I will write about all the amazing times I had in Norway and Europe. But for now, I hope you enjoyed this short story of my very first time traveling solo to Europe, and understand that all bad times eventually become good times too.
If you liked this story, feel free to read my story about my Summer with donkeys! It just so happens to be the place I traveled to after Norway.
