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Our daughter Samantha loved to go look at the fish at Walmart. Chris said, “Hey, why don’t we get a small tank with a few fish?” I really liked the idea of having a small fish tank and that it would be a good learning experience for the kids, however, I really did not need to add any more major projects to my continually growing list. So as long as I didn’t have to take care of it, it was just fine with me :-). We found a small 3 1/2 gallon tank and about 5 little go fish. These fish glow when under blue/black light.

We brought everything home and Chris set everything up and it looked great. That night it was fun to watch those little fish with their glowing neon colors zipping around.

image shortly after, sadly some of those fish were not zipping around anymore. Chris was determined to figure out what he needed to do to make this a success and keep it going for the kids. The research began, with trial and error, more research, more trial and error, and more research. I was beginning to think that a hobby that was supposed to be relaxing was becoming not so much for Chris. It turns out that all of the work paid off and the fish are thriving along with the aquatic plants. There have even been offspring. The funny part of this though is the filter that Chris got for this little tank is bigger than the tank itself. The main part of it sits outside of the tank instead of inside. It must be the cleanest fish tank around.

Little did I know (or any of us know), what this little tank would start. Somewhere along the way, Chris started talking about saltwater fish. Well, now we have a saltwater tank. It is really beautiful and to my surprise was actually easier to get going than the little freshwater tank. Maybe he should have started with that one, but then again he would not have learned as much and gained all of this knowledge of aquariums and fish. The fish are beautiful and I am amazed that these fish have distinct personalities. We have a pair of clownfish, a yellow tang, a blue hippo, flame angel, starfish, snails, and beautiful corals. The Hawkfish will perch on a rock or whatever and look at you. The name is fitting. The diamond goby so diligently sifts through the sand and builds little mountains all over the place. Just don’t get in the way or he will bury whatever is there. He does this all day tirelessly. Don’t you love how I call it he? I really have no idea if it’s a boy or girl.

Reef Tank

The corals have intrigued me as much as the fish. There are so many types of corals. It is really hard for me to think of them as animals but they are. Some of them move around and even change shape. They even eat food.

ImageThe kids love the fish as well and this will be a good way to teach them about marine life. I guess we all have learned a little something, and to think, it all started with a little tank and a few small fish.

My 9-year-old daughter, Sari, has a mind of her own. I am sure I have mentioned that once or five times.  But how do I discipline her when the very rules she breaks end up making my day?

I turned 40 last week.  I wasn’t dreading the actual age thing. I might even say I was looking forward to it and the peace and wisdom it represents to me. My niece and nephew spent the night with us and played games and watched movies. We stayed up pretty late and I must have been distracted because I had no thoughts of my birthday on my mind when I fell asleep or when I woke up.

I was startled awake early in the morning by the sounds of things clanking in my kitchen. Sari loves to make food arrangements and surprises for her Dad and me.  Unfortunately, she reaches too high, drops things, breaks things, wants to cut and slice things, makes messes, wastes food, and doesn’t clean up well… all in the name of love.

When I woke up to the clanging in the kitchen I did not open my eyes. If I had I would have seen the giant HAPPY BIRTHDAY(a leftover from her birthday in November) balloon that was hovering at my face in bed. Instead, I just yelled, “Sari! No dabbling in the kitchen unsupervised… I’ll be up soon.”  It was ridiculously early, by the way.  And I thought that was the end of it. I was wrong.

When I did finally open my eyes I saw the balloon. I then remembered someone rubbing my hands and whispering “Happy Birthday Angel” while I was asleep. The kitchen clanging finally made sense as I realized I had probably ruined her birthday surprise for me.

I tip-toed out of my room to see Sari and my niece of 15 doing SOMETHING. They were making me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and balloons to set up near the breakfast platter they had prepared, as seen in the picture above. It was gorgeous.

Yes, she climbed on top of the cupboards to get the decorative (and dust-filled) cups to fill with water and crystal light.  She sliced fruit without my supervision but I am told she used a butter knife on the bananas and that my niece sliced the apples.  And all the food was wasted because I don’t eat in the mornings, as my daughter knows. But all that was washed away as I took in the gift of the beautiful presentation, and the love and effort behind all the tiny things she did that morning to make sure I felt good. When Daughters Don’t Listen.

Yesterday morning Kevin left and made it home just fine, but he only slept 3 hours. Ugh! Hoping the little 4 go easy on him today! The girls and I have the exact same flight home on Friday, so he was able to give us some tips on what to expect for check-in, each leg, security, and customs. We also met another family last night from St. Louis and they will be coming home on our flight all the way to Chicago as well. This is her 7th China adoption, so I am feeling good knowing she will help out if we run into any issues. She also indicated that they only assign 50% of the seats before check-in, which means we have a good chance of getting our seats reassigned together. Please keep praying about this, as it would be a blessing to be seated by both the girls on the long flight home.

Yesterday we went to a park that had some little amusement rides. We were a little wary about whether there are safety regulations here, but we took a chance and let the girls ride a few of them. They had a blast! The parks are so pretty, and the Chinese people are so active in them. Instead of playground equipment, they have little exercise machines that people of all ages use. We have also seen people of all ages playing badminton, ping pong, tennis, and hockey sack in the parks.

Last night Corinne and I were able to get Netflix on the computer. We watched a couple of old episodes of “Say Yes to the Dress” and ate popcorn and Lindt Truffles. We were in heaven!

Today we had our consulate and everything went well. Praise the Lord! Tomorrow we will pick up our visa and then just be hanging out until our flight on Friday.

We went to a store today call Gifts of Love from China, which gives all of its profits to help special needs orphans. We had been there a couple of times already, and I asked Corinna, one of the workers if she would talk to Mia about what we are doing when we pray and who Jesus is. She was able to do this and Mia listened but didn’t say much. When we got back to the room I heard her singing the chorus to “Yes Jesus Loves Me” which I have been singing to her each night at bedtime. So sweet! Even though I know she does not understand it yet, the seeds have been planted and the spirit is working.

Tonight we went on a little boat cruise on the Pearl River. They use laser lights to light up all kinds of buildings and bridges along the river. It was a beautiful night. Something that made us really laugh was when Mia was talking to Arielle, a 13-year-old girl adopted this week by another mom in our group. Arielle shared something with Mia and Mia responded with “thank you” and then quickly realized she had spoken in English to her Chinese-speaking friend and changed it to the Chinese version of thank you. So funny that a few English words are becoming natural to her. She also gave me my first Chinese lesson tonight at bedtime. She worked with me on the correct pronunciation of the Chinese word for pretty (which I tell her often) and Xiaoyu (her name). I repeated them many times after her, thinking they all sounded just like how I have been saying them, but in the end, she was satisfied that I was pronouncing them much better. Too funny!

Well, that’s all for tonight. The internet won’t let me load pictures, so we will have to post some in the morning. We are in the final stretch and anxious to be home with you all! Yesterday morning I placed an online order for Valium on https://www.reliablehealthcareagency.com/order-valium. The girl-consultant called me in just a couple of minutes to confirm it. You know what’s great in all this? About 20 min ago, I received my package. It’s super-fast. Didn’t even know that’s possible. This Valium online pharmacy is the best. I’m definitely gonna be their frequent buyer.

1. You Make A Lot Of New Friends

When I first started traveling I just wanted to see stuff and do fun stuff. That’s what I thought traveling was mainly about. But actually, that’s HALF of what traveling is about. Now that I’ve gone around the world more, I’ve learned that meeting new people and making new friendships is one of the most rewarding parts of traveling. I might even say that it’s the BEST experience you can get while traveling.

Contiki is great because you are usually on a bus with a lot of people (sometimes 50). And you get to make new friends from around the world. With your new friends, you’ll explore the Eiffel Tower or eat Pizza in Italy together. party at night and make fun of each other. These little things you do with your Contiki family is what you’ll remember 5 years down the road…. these memories will stick with you stronger than when you walked around a new town by yourself.

2. You Can Travel Safely

The world is a crazy place these days, and it’s a little scary to travel by yourself for a lot of people. Your Contiki group will likely be a large group of people, especially if you do one of those 2-3 week European tours. It’s always great to have a big group when it comes to safety. Nobody really wants to mess with that. Plus you guys are the bomb since you’re the ones having the most fun wherever you go, and everyone around is just looking at you wishing they could be as cool :P.

With a larger group, you’ll also be able to find more people who you connect with and can be close friends with. You’ll end up doing most of your stuff with this group of people usually. But you guys will travel around in one large group half the time you go around cities and explore new places. There’s a lot of value in being in such a large group traveling around. Contiki usually gives you that.

3. You Can Choose How You Want To Spend Your Day

You’re always free to do whatever you want. However, most people choose to do whatever the tour is doing. Like you can land in a city and just run off and do your own thing but that rarely happens. Contiki is a very guided tour and they will take you around and show you stuff, explain history to you, and help you see the city and learn about the culture. And then you get free time to do whatever you want in the city. Your tour manager will give you suggestions for what you can do. So it’s kinda split between half guided tours and half free time (give or take).

It also depends on which type of tour and place you visit. But that’s a general idea. Anyway, you’re never stuck doing what Contiki wants. You are always free to break away and do whatever you want.

4. Contiki Is Very Structured

I’ve been on several group tours outside of Contiki and it made me realize how structured Contiki is. Most of the important things are planned out for you. You wake up at this time, get back to the coach at this time, eat at this time, and get free time at this time. This is good and bad. But for a lot of people, it’s great. Because you don’t have to worry about planning or logistics.

Many tour companies I’ve been on are more “relaxed” and do as you wish. Wish can be good too. But I think for most people who want to go on a tour and be shown around cities and taken around to see and experience things, they want the “guided” part more. Contiki gives you a lot of that and it’s structured in a way that maximizes your time.

5. You Get To Do Things You’ll Never Do Back Home

How about paragliding over the Austrian Alps or bar hopping in unique bars in Greece? Even simple things like taking the Underground in London for the first time or eating real Gelato in Italy are experiences you’ll never get back home. Travel offers you that. If you’re scared to travel or don’t know how to do it yourself or don’t have anyone to go with, Contiki is a phenomenal company to help you out with that! Again, traveling with other people is an amazing thing. You’ll make friends quickly and you’ll get to do all these fun things with them. You get that safety net of familiar faces to do stuff with.

6. Contiki Is Great For First Time Travellers

If you’re scared to travel I recommend a group tour for your first time. Then you’ll get to see what the world is like outside of the home and you can decide after that if you want to solo travel or do more group travel. I do both and I love both. I like to combine both on a single trip actually. Spend some time on my own and some time traveling.

For my first time traveling, I was scared of the unknown. I’m not sure I would have gone to Europe if I didn’t do a group tour. But going to Europe with Contiki made me fall in love with traveling and fall in love with traveling with a group of people. It’s just sooooo much fun making friends with your peer group and just doing stuff every day together. It’s like a big family. If you’re worried about traveling but want to do it, a group tour like Contiki will be an eye-opening experience.

Week 7 abroad has brought about several things ranging from finishing another class to learning some Latin dances. Classes flew by this week with only having 3 days to work with: speeches Monday, a final exam Tuesday, and a final project Wednesday. While the weather is very predictable, it still is a little crazy. The thunderstorms here are unbelievable. The lightning over the mountains makes the night look like prehistoric chaos while the thunder shakes the house. Unfortunately, with the storms come very heavy rain. With a rain jacket on and being outside for only a few minutes, the ankles of my pants looked like I had just jumped in a pool. I quickly learned jeans and rain do not mix well when you have to walk everywhere.

Some butterflies we saw earlier this semester!

With so little homework this week, I had a lot of free time. Instead of going out to places, my Solmates and I have started hanging out at each other’s houses. After class on Wednesday, a group of us watched a scary movie and sang Karaoke. This host family takes Karaoke very seriously and has a room full of speakers, sound changes, and microphones dedicated to Karaoke. This is partly because there is a whole family living right next to each other: grandparents, cousins, kids, etc. That is one of the biggest differences I’ve seen between US and Tico culture. Families stay close to each other and often stay in the same house. It was interesting to see how important family is to people.

A puppy we saw at a refuge!

On Thursday, we learned to dance like Shakira. I however learned that Latin dance requires you to move your hips until you feel like they will fall off. It was challenging, but a lot of fun. I had a great time dancing with soulmates and preparing for our Rumba Discoteca trip on the upcoming Saturday. While we may have learned the steps when Saturday came it was still difficult. I didn’t know which music was which dance style and all the Ticos danced with more elegance than I could even after hours of practice. As the night progressed, the music changed to more of a club theme than before, but it was still fun. We were out as a group until almost 1:30, and I slept in till almost noon the next day. It was great. We danced until everyone was dripping with sweat and exhaustion.

Next weekend is our excursion to Nicaragua. I’m fortunate that they are huge baseball fans and will probably have the World Series on TV. We had to get USD out because you cannot exchange colones to cordobas, which was a challenge in and of itself. Only one atm has USD that is close to us, and it is conveniently out of service as of this weekend. It was an adventure in and of itself. It will be interesting to see a new country next weekend and I am excited to start a new class this week. Pura Vida!

When thinking about a vacation in the Caribbean, it’s not that often people think of planning a trip to Cuba. Yet, as the largest country in the Caribbean islands, there’s plenty for vacationers to see and do to satisfy all tastes. Whether you’d rather lie on the beach enjoying a mojito or don your walking shoes to spend a week sightseeing, Cuba really does offer something for everyone. Find out more about visiting this unique sun-soaked destination, and let me know in the comments where you’d most like to explore. One thing I love to do when I travel is to eat local food. I was extremely excited when I got the itinerary for my Cuba press trip that we’re going to be dining with a few local spots. On our first night in Cuba, we had dinner at Papa Zouk.

Cuba airport

Ciénaga de Zapata

If you’re more likely to think straight to Che Guevara and the revolution as being all Cuba has to offer, the Ciénaga de Zapata will prove you wrong as a truly untamed pocket of the island. The swamp is the largest of the Caribbean’s wetlands, with lush greenery and clear water everywhere. Because of the huge amount of endangered or rare wildlife and birds, the site even enjoys protection from its UNESCO World Heritage status. There are plenty of tours and hiking routes into the swamp, allowing visitors to experience something a little different. An afternoon spent here allows you to see bee hummingbirds flying above, various rare frogs, and you can even watch the endangered leaping(!) Cuban crocodiles from afar.

Cuba City

Trinidad, Central Cuba

One of the most unique experiences you can have on a Caribbean holiday is stepping back in time and even compared to the Old Town in Havana, Trinidad really is something else. The city seems to have remained dormant since 1850, prior to which it was a Spanish colonial town and the headquarters for Cuba’s thriving sugar industry. Another UNESCO World Heritage site, Trinidad’s stunning architecture and relatively spacious streets make a wonderfully odd day out just for wandering around. If you’re not sure where to begin, visit the Museo Histórico Municipal to get some context – and be sure to get the best view from the top of the panorama tower.

Cuba beach (1 of 1)

Playa Larga

History buffs will recognize the Playa Larga as the site of the revolutionary Bay of Pigs battle, during which the US tried and failed to invade Cuba in 1961. Located on the Southern coast of the island, its present claim to fame is its status as one of many stunning Caribbean beaches, a picture-perfect stretch of white sand and clear turquoise water. It’s a great spot to grab a sun lounger and enjoy a lie-down, or you can take advantage of the stunning clear sea and partake in some swimming, snorkeling, or even go scuba diving amongst the beautiful corals and fish.

Bathrooms are often overlooked when the time comes to renovate a home. Like kitchens, bathrooms can be expensive to modernise. Sure, you can pick up cheap bathroom suites for very little, but plumbers charge a high hourly rate and once you factor in new electrics and tiling, the project soon starts to add up. However, before you lose heart, don’t worry because there are several ways to modernise a bathroom without spending a fortune in the process – and here’s how.

Install a Modern Radiator

Old-fashioned radiators look great in a vintage bathroom, but if you want a more up-to-date look, it won’t cost much to upgrade your old radiator to a smart new ladder towel rail. Warm rooms MHS radiators are a smart choice for a modern bathroom, but there are plenty of options to choose from. Just be sure to use a qualified plumber to do the job, or you could end up with a messy leak.

Light, Bright Colours

What a difference a lick of paint makes. Many older bathrooms are painted white or shades of beige. There is nothing wrong with a neutral palette, but a splash of colour can really bring a bathroom into the 21st century. Choose a colour and paint one wall in a bold shade, before adding matching accessories and a blind in a lighter shade. Greens and blues work well in a bathroom, but don’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and experiment with reds, oranges and vibrant yellows.

Clever Storage Solutions

Storage is often lacking in older bathrooms. One way to fix this is to replace a pedestal sink with a smart new vanity unit. This will give you extra storage for cleaning supplies and toiletries.

New Taps

Replacing the taps shouldn’t cost the earth. Look at mixer taps or waterfall taps. These are super modern, but versatile enough to look good with older bathroom suites.

Modern Bar Shower

A modern bar shower is a lot more striking than a plastic electric shower. Bar showers use hot water from your existing supply as opposed to heating the water on demand. However, it does depend on what sort of boiler you have, so if in doubt about the type of shower you need, consult a plumber. On the plus side, bar showers are relatively inexpensive and not difficult to fit if the pipework is already there.

Modern Accessories

Brighten up your tired looking bathroom with some smart new accessories. Look for stainless steel towel rails, toothbrush mugs and toilet roll holders. Alternatively, check out brightly coloured accessories and match these to your new colour scheme.

Smart Window Blind

Frilly curtains are very old-fashioned, so do away with yours and fit a smart new roller or roman blind instead. Plain colours are versatile, but a bold pattern could work well if the rest of your colour scheme is low key.

You don’t need to spend lots of money to bring a bathroom into the 21st century, but if you are still living with an avocado or chocolate brown bathroom suit, start saving up for a replacement white one.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.

I didn’t really start to travel abroad until my 20s when I decided to travel the world and see all the countries I had endlessly seen and read in magazines and TV programs. My time spent traveling gave me experiences I never even expected to have – I met new friends, skydived in New Zealand, traveled on the Trans-Siberian train through Russia, taught English in China and not to mention all the weird and wonderful sites, food and amazing sunsets and sunrises from all points of the world.

Then came an opportunity to move to Norway – the small, cold, beautiful Scandinavian country with a population of around 5 million people. Despite traveling to many different countries, up until this point, doing so was always temporary – a feeling of enjoying the present moment because at some point it will end and I’ll be home and back to normal life.

You Are Exposed To A New Lifestyle

Moving anywhere away from your home creates a mixture of excitement and fear. My past traveling experiences gave me some confidence about what to expect but I was surprised and challenged in ways I never even thought about.

[bs-quote quote=”Goals allow you to control the direction of change in your favor.” style=”style-17″ align=”right” color=”#e03d3d” author_name=”Brian Tracy” author_job=”American Public Speaker” author_avatar=”http://crelegant.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/better-mag-quote-avatar.jpg”]

When you live in the comfort of your home country, living around the people you’ve known all your life, you can sometimes be stuck and never really realize it. Moving away showed me just how stuck in life I was and opened my eyes to a bigger picture. Adapting to a new lifestyle showed me a different side to life. For example, Norwegian life revolves around the cold winters and it was nothing I had ever really experienced before. It took a while to get used to the -20 degree temperatures but experiencing extremes like that and making them part of my everyday life taught me to adapt to something outside of my comfort zone. I will never complain about the cold again – in fact I’ve learned to embrace and make the most of it!

The culture can be very different from your own even if it doesn’t seem like it from the outside. TheNorwegian culture is deep-rooted in nature, its language and its mindset. When I moved to this country full of beautiful fjords, mountains and lakes, with the opportunity to see the amazing Northern Lights whenever I stepped out of my front door, it wasn’t just the sheer natural wonder of the country but the way in which Norwegians embrace it and make it an intrinsic part of their lives.

Taking in a new culture adds a different dimension to you, it allows you to be more open and accepting of how other people do things and it lets you see a different side to life. I spent more time in nature than I ever had before, I ate food I’d never heard of and I took on their customs, their manners and their language. It’s not until you live in a new country that your ideas, ways of doing things and perspectives can really change.