I’ve been meaning to write a post about the weather in Stavanger. It’s not great. Norwegians have a saying that “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing.” I have to admire the practicality and positive nature of that statement, which we’ve taken to heart since we moved here. When it rains we wear our rain boots and splash about in the puddles. We always dress for four seasons in one day, something we’re used to doing from living in Melbourne. But let’s be clear…usually it’s only three seasons here. I’m really curious to see what summer will be like because we haven’t experienced any warm weather yet here.

Every house had at least one Norwegian flag on display for national day.

But that didn’t stop everyone from coming out with smiles and rain ponchos for the celebration of Norway’s national day, celebrating its becoming an independent nation in 1814. Many events occur around the country on this day and we headed into town for a few hours to check out the parades and festivities.

Crowds gathered for the People's Parade in Stavanger.

We started our day at the International 17 May party in Bjergstedparken, where a small crowd was being entertained by folk dancers and the Stavanger Brass Band. Here the national and international associations sell food and ice cream. It was a bit difficult to stand around in the rain and try to enjoy ourselves for very long so we headed into town.

Extra flags flying for the 17th of May.

The swans clearly had enough already.

Things were quiet by the harbour so we decided to follow everyone else’s lead and head to our favourite bar. Sure enough, more things were happening indoors on a wet day like this.

The russ were out in force on their last day of partying before exams.

After a drink we headed back out and went to watch some of the People Parade. Everyone was out dancing and enjoying the fun. The rain had stopped for a bit and it was nice to just soak up the atmosphere. Most of the groups in the parade seemed to be associated with clubs and communities, walking together and proudly waving their banners and flags.

I think the willingness of everyone to come out despite the yucky weather and still make the most of the day really speaks to how special Norway’s national day is. It’s a bit of a shame that it was so wet (it’s been raining all week here) because we were looking forward to our first 17th of May for weeks. We didn’t stay out as long as we would have liked. But we look forward to future celebrations!

How does your country celebrate its national day?

Blog for long enough and you’re bound to get some emails from readers or those looking to set up their own websites. I love this kind of mail because a) I like to be helpful. I often email my contacts for advice about things they might know the answer to and it’s great to give back; and b) it usually means you’re doing something right. Catching people’s attention online is difficult and if someone looks at your website and thinks, “Wow, these people must know a thing or two,” that’s a good indicator.

Image by Kristina B from Flickr.

I was thinking that if a few people have these questions, surely others must have them too, so I thought I’d share a few things we’ve learned over the last two years. Hopefully they help you and shed some light on things you’ve been wondering as well.

Knowing what you know now, if you were starting a travel blog, what would you do the same or differently?

I’m certainly no expert in this area, but I think the most important thing that I would do differently is to either choose a niche or to make the blog more about myself or us personally. People get into blogging for a variety of different reasons but if you’re looking to grow your blog into something that resembles a business (i.e. profitable), then you need to make it a marketable product. Niche blogs, that is blogs that are about a particular destination or region, type of travel or a specific space within travel and tourism do better. They are going to be more focussed and therefore do better in search rankings. People who are interested in that niche are going to subscribe to them and stay loyal because week after week you will be bringing them information about what they are interested in. You will become an expert about that one topic, lending authority to what you write.
 
Personality based blogs are also strong because people like to follow other people. I didn’t make this up – it’s just information I’m passing along from the wisdom of top bloggers and personal observation. My friend Andi is a great example of this. Her blog, My Beautiful Adventures, is about just what it says: the fabulous trips she takes and the adventures she has along the way because of her lifestyle and winning personality. She and her husband have an international love story, which she openly shares and her blog also has a niche: luxury travel. If you check out her comments on each post, you’ll see that her readers care about her and what she’s doing. It’s a success. So let your personality shine through when you’re blogging and don’t censor yourself. Let your readers get to know you and figure out what about you makes your life special. That should be a focus for your blog.
 
If you’re passionate about writing and travel, then a travel blog makes sense for following mantras like, “Do what you love.” But the hard truth that you must understand when it comes to business is that people don’t really give a shit about what you love to do. Nobody buys something because they thought, “Oh, Ted over here wants to fulfill his dreams. I better help him out.” They care about what need you’re fulfilling for them. That may be information or entertainment, or it may be a solution to a real problem they’ve been having. So this advice also falls under what I would do the same if I was starting a blog today: I don’t do it for the money. When I have some information to share that I think will help people, I write a guide and hope it ranks well in the search engines. Some of our posts do that. We get up to 50 hits a day on a post we wrote about helping people choose between two different activities in a popular place in New Zealand. But that traffic does not convert to sales. I never planned for the blog to be a business so it isn’t. Though we do make money from it, but I’ll get to that later.
 
The other thing I would do again is to network with other bloggers. You can join one or both of these Facebook groups (Global Bloggers Network and Travel Bloggers) and I also like the Social Media Connect group on TBEX, though I’m not able to be as active there as I used to be because of time constraints. Help each other and get to know the other bloggers in the community. It’s a good one! Participating in Twitter chats like #TTOT is also a great way to meet other passionate travellers and bloggers, while taking part in a fun discussion. Here is a list of more of those chats (and another one here).

Did you set your blog up yourself or did you hire someone to do it?

You can probably tell that I built this entire thing myself. We run on the Thesis theme, which is a fully customizable theme with out-of-the box SEO optimization, though you still need to read up on that to get the most out of it. Every component you see on the site has been a process of trial and error over the last two years. We’ve probably tried a hundred different plug-ins and spend a lot of time on discussion forums and searching the internet for information about how to improve the user experience on this website. Making it beautiful has fallen by the wayside because at the end of the day I mainly want people to be able to read our content and enjoy the photographs we have to share.
 
You can pay someone to design for you, and if you’re going to make it a real (that means profitable) business, then I highly recommend that. But you may want to get started first and then pay for a service like that when you’ve made some money, as good designers don’t come cheap. In the meantime, splurge a little on a functional premium theme that you know how to use to do what you want and focus on writing high quality content. That’s all you need to succeed in the early days.

(yes, that’s an affiliate banner…since I mentioned Thesis, I thought we should get the credit for it)

Do you accept guest posts?

Yes we do. If you’re a fellow travel blogger and aren’t just looking to get a free backlink for a company, we’d love to have you guest post and the guest post guidelines are here.
 
To those people who set up Gmail accounts with stupid names and spam us and other bloggers constantly with your, “I love your blog and I want to write an article for your website; it won’t cost you a penny but I’ll need a backlink to my client” emails: your desperation makes me die a little inside. PLEASE find a real line of work and stop harrassing us all.

Which types of advertising/affiliate programs have you had the most success with?

I’ll go with none of them. I know that lots of people have success with these programs and maybe we just don’t have enough traffic or dedicated readers to make any money, but I no longer participate in affiliate programs unless there is a really compelling offer there.
 
What I think may be a good way to make money is selling the information products of your peers as an affiliate. There are lots of great eBooks written by travel bloggers and writing a review of those (including your affiliate link, of course) can be a good strategy for making a bit of money.
 
We make most of our income on this blog from my Moving to Australia eBook, which sells mainly on the Amazon kindle store, with the rest coming from banner ads, widgets and advertorial content. It’s about a 50/50 split. The advertisers approach us by email and we send them our rates for what they want to achieve. We’re talking thousands but not enough for even one of us to quit our jobs unless I went completely bush and lived on a rice paddy in southeast Asia somewhere. And that’s just not going to happen. But don’t get me wrong, there are successful travel bloggers out there who do make a living with their blogs. They will probably be the first to tell you that it’s not easy and just how much time they spend on their businesses. So if you want to make a go of it, be prepared to work really, really hard.

How do you approach places you’d like to review, be hosted by, talk about press trips with, etc.? What is the best approach?

We routinely look for leads in publications such as the International Travel Writers Alliance newsletter and with networks like TravMedia. We speak with other bloggers as well and network on places like Twitter, where it’s easy to find the right people to talk to. I then create a pitch, which is usually an email telling them what need we could fulfill for them, including statistics about our blog and our media kit. We get plenty of rejections but we’ve also had the opportunity to work with some great brands last year.
 
The better defined your niche is (see my earlier comments) and the better your statistics are, the more trips and sponsored hotel stays you’re going to get. On one occasion, a client even approached us. You need to put yourself out there and you need to deliver real value to the companies you are supporting. Otherwise, I’m sorry, but you’re just another freeloader looking for handouts from travel service providers. And that makes all the hard-working, serious bloggers look bad.

How do you (or how can I) make a living while travelling?

We are expats before we are travellers. The reality of our situation is that John has a professional career that allows him to work in only certain places and our movements follow that. Last year we travelled around the world continuously for a year but that was an anomaly. I work in online media so I have a little more flexibility, though I’m not a true ‘location independent’ individual. At the moment I’m building a website that will be the basis for a company I want to form, but I suspect that if that goes well it will eventually require staff. I have a long way to go before that business will be profitable so I’m not even thinking that way yet. Plus we like being expats. Full immersion in a new culture is an amazing experience that I would recommend for anyone looking to make their international travel a permanent thing (IF you’ve really considered what being an expat entails).
 
There are all kinds of ways to make a living while travelling. You could teach English overseas or take your professional qualifications on the road with a freelancing career. If you’re in your twenties, many countries have working holiday programs that will allow you to stay in the country for a year or longer. All kinds of books and websites have been created around this so just do a search or leave a message in the comments and I’ll point you in the right direction.
 

If you’re thinking of starting a business that will make you location independent, I highly recommend that you stick to the internet or mobile. Create an online service or a game that people will love and you can run that kind of business from anywhere. This will require a certain amount of tenacity and a special skills set, but if you really want it like I do you won’t let that stop you. I’m a big fan of throwing myself into the deep-end and creating things from scratch. All the information you need to do it is online or in a book somewhere. Make a plan and just get started.
 
I hope this post has told you something you didn’t already know. If you have any other questions for us, please leave them in the comments below and I’ll see what I can do to help you.

John came home from work the other day laughing about the free show he’d seen by the harbour. A large group of teenagers, some of them clad only in mankinis, had been dancing around in the windy 5°C weather. Every time I’ve gone into town over the last few weeks I’ve never failed to see some russ, the graduating high-school revellers of Norway.

Photo by kalevkevad from Flickr.

Every year the russ tradition is in full swing from 26 April until Norway’s National Day, May 17th. Those students finishing high school studies don their outfits: coloured overalls with matching caps depending on their subject of specialty. Red are for general studies, blue for business, white for medical and social professions, black for vocations and green for agriculture. This is a time for well-organized drinking and debauchery, with the students spending large sums of money on the weeks of celebration.

What’s most interesting and controversial is that this full-on party season takes place before their end-of-year exams. Debate rages about whether they should move the festivities to after the exams are completed. Ironically, russ originally started after exams and was moved in 1979 in an attempt to tone the whole thing down. The problem is that it was never moved back when this plan failed.

Photo by Geir Halvorsen from Flickr.

The fun includes a variety of harmless (and harmful) dares as well as expensive vehicles called russebil, which can include decorated vans kitted out with stereos, televisions, furniture and refrigerators. The students create mock business cards with their names and details, while some of them create humorous newspapers to raise money for the party. This is an important rite of passage for Norwegian young people as most of them reach their 18th birthday just before the party period, the age limit for both drinking and getting a driver’s licence (not a good combo).

Photo by ronny-andre from Flickr.

Every country has their own coming of age traditions, though this is by far the longest, wildest and most creative party I’ve ever heard of. We’ll look forward to checking out the Russ Parade, which will happen in Stavanger on the National Day.

In part one of this post I discussed the timing for finding a job, getting a work permit, finding a place to live and setting up a bank account in Norway. Now we’ll look at some other settlement items and the procedure and time it takes to cross them off your ‘to-do’ list.

Please note that we relocated to Stavanger so timings may vary elsewhere in the country. John migrated as a skilled worker and I can’t speak to the timing or any other elements for those migrating under different conditions. Also please note that things change frequently here and this post may only be accurate for the last several weeks. We are not migration agents and this is not legal advice.

So how long does it take to get x in Norway, when x equals…

… registered for the healthcare system

The National Insurance Scheme provides coverage for health service benefits as well as lump sum grants for births and adoptions. Other benefits include sickness benefits and parental benefit entitlements. It is possible to also obtain private health care in Norway but if you’re interested in the public healthcare that you pay for when your employer deducts tax from your wages, this is the scheme that coverage falls under.
 
When you receive your fødselsnummer, a letter from HELFO will arrive in the mail shortly after. In some cases it may advise that you’ve been assigned a fastlege, which is known as a general practitioner (GP) in other countries. Your fastlege is your first port of call for any medical issues and he or she will then refer you to a specialist should one be required. You can change your GP up to two times per year by calling HELFO or making the selection on their website. You will need to register using MinID if you choose to do this online, which involves receiving PIN numbers for your fødselsnummer in the mail or via SMS (told you Norwegians were tech-savvy). The system is pretty straightforward but you’ll want to have the Google translation toolbar installed on your web browser because it’s in Norwegian.
 
The fastlege you choose must have availability so you may need to search around for one closest to your home or work. If you can’t find a suitable doctor, try again at the very beginning of the month when the registry is updated. More places may be available then with your preferred fastlege.

… a mobile phone

It is possible to get a pre-paid mobile SIM card on the spot with only your passport (we got ours at Telenor) but if you want an abonnement (plan/subscription) it will take up to a week for new arrivals. Netcom seems to be the most aware of newcomer difficulties and will set up an account for you if you bring your work contract, fødselsnummer (or D-number) and passport, but that still has to be sent off to the credit department. Once John received his fødselsnummer we ordered a SIM card from One Call, which seems to have the best value plans for smartphones. This took some time, however, as we were informed that he had to first register his fødselsnummer with Soliditet, which is a credit-rating agency. Soliditet can only pull your information from the Population Register, so make sure your address and other details are correct there before calling.

… cable television and internet

This will depend on what providers are currently hooked up to your rental property and whether you want to choose a different one. The previous tenants at our house had Get and they were able to set ours up in two days. We didn’t need a fødselsnummer or credit check. We simply emailed a copy of John’s work contract to the customer service representative and an hour later they called us back to say that the credit department had approved our subscription request. Then the modems and cables were sent via courier and we installed it ourselves in one evening. Cable and internet were probably the easiest things to obtain during the settlement process.

…a credit card

While most retailers accept credit cards, Norway is not what I would call a credit card using society. We can’t charge our cable bill to a credit card, for example, and I’ve placed orders for items online where they sent me the goods first and then an invoice later on. I then had to pay this at the bank, post office or using internet banking. You can also have some bills deducted from your bank account automatically. So don’t be too upset when I tell you that you will usually have to wait one year before a bank will consider giving you a credit card. Best to keep one from home for emergencies.

… a drivers licence

This is quite an involved process, which has been outlined in detail in this great post about transferring your foreign drivers licence to a Norwegian drivers licence by Stavanger Expats. Allow at least ten months for the entire transfer to be completed and make sure you exchange your licence within one year of your arrival in Norway. Otherwise you’ll get to enjoy the experience of being 16 years old again.

… a residence permit for your spouse and/or family who are migrating with you

I applied for my visa today so this is the final hurdle for my personal settlement process. I turned in all my paperwork and was told it can take up to a month to process. Check back with me in a few weeks to see how that’s going!

Other tips for your first few weeks in Norway:

• If you’re moving to Norway make sure you have at least three months of cash saved for living – more if you possibly can. If you’re deliberating over numbers in your budget, go with the higher one. Problems can crop up. For example, John’s company originally said they would act as guarantor for our house security deposit. What they didn’t tell us is that they would only do this for the length of the contract. The standard lease here in Norway is three times that long, though you can easily get out of it with three months notice after 9 months (huh?) We had to provide our own deposit, which was a large, unexpected cost.

 

• Watch Lilyhammer. Imagine if Sil from The Sopranos had awoken from his coma, gone into witness protection and relocated to Norway. This is a great show that really does get into some quality aspects of Norwegian culture and really well-made.

 

• Be patient. As I said in part one, I’m significantly worn down from my experience migrating to Australia. I have patience in abundance. Try to find some for the process and also for those systems and customs that you aren’t used to.

 

• Find some friends in the same boat. Here are some great expat groups to check out, most with meetups and activities for newcomers along with the usual information exchange and conversation:

Expats in Oslo Facebook group

Stavanger Expats Facebook group

Stavanger International Moms

Do you have any other tips or groups that expats moving to Norway should know about? Please share them in the comments below.

My father came for a visit over the weekend and the weather really turned it on for him. So we took a cruise along the Lysefjord, a 42 kilometre long fjord named for the light coloured granite mountains towering above the water. We haven’t visited any fjords since our time at Milford Sound in New Zealand at the beginning of last year and it was nice to get out and see the beautiful islands and nature.

Our journey started along the Høgsfjord, where family cabins dominate the coastline.

Fjords are formed by glaciers and the Lysefjord was created during the ice ages, the most recent which was only 10,000 years ago. According to the tour guide, Norway was covered with a 2,000 metre thick layer of ice back then. Since the area was inhabitable, people have fished and hunted in the area and they still enjoy fishing today.

This bridge marked the entrance to Lysefjord.

The captain rang a bell and these goats came running for their meal of sandwiches. They seemed accustomed to these treats.

The star of the show was Pulpit Rock, which towers 604 metres above the fjord. It's a striking formation, with its flat and square cliff face. We hope to take the two hour hike to the top one day.

Hengjane Waterfall

View from under the Stavanger Bridge on the way back.

Overall this was an enjoyable day out. Catch the Rødne Fjord Cruise from the Skagenkaien in Stavanger town. Price is 400 kr for adults (about €53).

Over the last few weeks we collected some information and feedback from our readers and we’re ready to share some of the results. The sample size wasn’t huge, though we’re very grateful to each of you who did take the time to respond. Cross-referencing with information gathered with Alexa and Google Analytics, however, revealed that the people who participated did seem to represent our general readership pretty well from a demographic standpoint. But you tell us if you think that’s true!

You’re educated: 70% have at least a university degree, 44% have a masters degree.

Most of you visit our site at least once a week.

When asked how often you travel for leisure, 26% said two to three times per year, 35% said four to six and 28% travel seven or more times per year!

72% of readers are currently planning a leisure trip.

You usually travel alone (35%) or with a partner (60%).

When travelling, you’re most interested in:

Photographic opportunities
Getting ‘off the beaten track’
Culture
Seeing the major attractions
Foodie and/or Restaurants

When planning a trip, an overwhelming majority gather information from online websites (88%) and blogs (77%) as well as guidebooks (44%) and word of mouth (49%).

74% have visited three or more continents, 32% have visited five or more continents

Most of you were very complimentary towards the website and our content – I felt really special reading all of your lovely comments and I thank you so much for all the nice things you said. We also received some constructive criticism, which was welcomed too. A few of you said that you don’t care for the orange and blue colour scheme and a few also said that our site could use a new look and layout. We take those things on board – I would actually love to do a redesign and now that I finally have some time on my hands, hopefully I can prioritize that.

What we have already done is made some speed and performance improvements. We’ve implemented CloudFlare and made some adjustments to the back-end of the site. Hopefully this has resulted in some speed and loading improvements for you? Let us know!
 
A quick thanks also to Katrina from TourAbsurd for some technical assistance with our site this week as well.

The winners of our cash prizes were the 13th and 27th respondents, Zenaida from Germany and Rachel from the United States. Congrats to you both!

I’ve left the survey open in case anyone else wants to respond, but you can also leave your site feedback in the comments below. Thank you to all of our readers for your continuing support!

Some of the first questions people ask when moving to a new country have to deal with time. How long is this or that going to take? How should I prepare myself for the delays and adjustments I will face when moving abroad? No international move is easy, even if you’re helped along by a company relocation budget or, ideally, family.

A few things in Norway take getting used to. Photo by gruntzooki from Flickr.

One of the most confronting things about moving to Norway is the system here. It seems that there are procedures for everything, from the ticket you’ll take for almost every queue to the ubiquitous fødselsnummer – an identity number given to every person who is resident in Norway for more than six months. Yes, this orderly system keeps everyone in line but it can also prove frustrating for the newcomer. Let me illustrate.
 
Leaving the hotel where we spent our first couple of nights in Stavanger, a staff member called a taxi for us. We waited about 25 minutes before one finally arrived. But he wasn’t ‘our taxi’ apparently, he just saw us standing there and thought he’d collect us. The cab assigned to us was nowhere to be found, yet the second driver refused to take us. So we stood there with our many bags cluttering the sidewalk while he decided to have his coffee break in front of us and in another five minutes our taxi showed up and the first driver took off.
 
In another instance, I wasn’t home to receive a registered letter from Australia so I took the notice card to the post office, along with my passport, Australian drivers licence and a copy of our lease. Those three pieces of identification were not enough, said the woman behind the counter. She needed something Norwegian and I wouldn’t have any Norwegian identification for at least another couple of months. I mentioned that if I had been home when the postman came by, I would have my letter. She smiled and said, yes, with a ‘go figure’ look on her face. Eventually I pleaded with her to accept the lease as something Norwegian and, though she seemed very conflicted about it, she finally gave me my letter. We then proceeded to joke about the system and had a laugh about how backward it is that a person can rent a house before having a personal number or local bank account. There is no rule against that, but the rules on the back of the mail hold card specifically state that your piece of ID must have a Norwegian identification number on it. That’s that.

Photo by Nicolas-Frédéric from Flickr.

Note that the criticisms of Norway’s system were coming more from the woman. I was mostly explaining to her about how John has been working without a tax number and bank account for the last couple of weeks and how frustrating it is and that I was sorry for causing problems for her. I’m hesitant to criticise the system. Every country has its funny things and I’m pretty worn down by my experiences on the long road to becoming an Australian citizen to even put up a fight anymore. In these situations you have to laugh or cry (and I always choose the former – the latter got me nowhere in the past). Many of the system items are completely understandable, but if you come from countries where companies often bend the rules or make exceptions where common sense acts as a lubricant, this can be frustrating.
 
So I’ve prepared this guide so that you can be ready for your adventure in Norway. Many things do happen quickly (maybe nothing is ever fast enough for us these days) and a positive thing to note is that Norway is very up to scratch when it comes to information technology. You can do many things online or even via SMS. Migration to Norway will, however, go much more smoothly if you prepare yourself for these waiting times. Please note that we relocated to Stavanger so timings may vary elsewhere in the country. John migrated as a skilled worker and I can’t speak to the timing or any other elements for those migrating under different conditions. Also please note that things change frequently here and this post may only be accurate for the last several weeks. We are not migration agents and this is not legal advice.

How long does it take to get x in Norway, when x equals…

… a job

This depends on many factors and, while people with skilled qualifications are able to come to Norway and look for a job for six months, how long the process would actually take is up to you, your industry and the job market. Speaking with a Norwegian woman last night, we learned that most people do not find a job in six months and don’t think about how much it costs to live here in temporary accommodation while they are searching. Norway has a low unemployment rate but remember that if a company is not going to hire a foreigner if they can find a local of the same calibre to do the work. Check out our guide to finding work abroad for some helpful tips.

… a work permit

This is a residence permit that will give you the right to work and live in Norway. You must have a job offer from a company to apply and the company can usually apply on your behalf. The company will not be able to apply for your family members to migrate with you but they can do this once your permit is granted. John’s work permit took about two and a half weeks to be processed once they had all of the correct documents and signatures. Visit the UDI website for more information.

… an appointment to get the visa label in your passport

In Stavanger, John’s paperwork was handled at the Rogaland Service Centre for Foreign Workers, which meant that he could only get his sticker put in the passport there. You don’t need this label to begin work but you do need it in order to travel outside the country and to open a bank account (at least at our bank – see below). It took two weeks for him to get an appointment to receive the label. If you have applied online (or can get the login details from your employer who applied for you), you should be able to make an appointment there.

… a fødselsnummer

This is the big one: an 11-digit number consisting of your date of birth, followed by your Social Security number (not the same as the US social security number, however). Almost everything in Norway revolves around this number, from the tax office to your credit rating to healthcare. Even if you are waiting for the stamp to go into your passport, you can take your permit approval letter to the Skatteetaten (tax office) and they can begin the process of applying for both your fødselsnummer and tax card. You will go onto the folkeregister (the national population register) and receive your fødselsnummer in the mail in about one week. I have heard of this taking longer over a holiday period or when the office is very busy. If you will work in Norway for less than six months, you should enquire about getting a D-number instead.

… a tax card

This is the second most important thing that you need to get started in Norway. The tax card tells your employer how much tax to withhold from your earnings and if you do not provide this, they will take 50 per cent. This should arrive in about one week also by mail, separate to your fødselsnummer (though in our case the person doing data entry input our house number incorrectly so this one got lost in the post). If you do not receive it in a reasonable amount of time, be sure to contact the office again and check on it.

…a bank account

Setting up a bank account will only take about 15 minutes, BUT you must have your fødselsnummer (or D number if you can get one – only some banks will accept this), work contract AND your visa label in your passport. Our bank told us that it would take a week or two for online banking to be set up and to receive the debit card that comes with the account but you can take money out at the branch in the meantime.

Should you find yourself with a bill prior to getting your bank account set up, you’ll have to pay it with cash. If the bill says GIRO on the payslip, take it to the post office or any bank branch and they can send your money through the system (for a lovely little fee of 75 or 100 krone respectively). The recipient will have it the next business day.

… a place to live

Luckily you do not need your fødselsnummer to rent a house or apartment. This was one of the first things that we were able to do while we were waiting for John’s permit to be approved. But be prepared to provide your work contract to the owner, otherwise he is not likely to consider you. A guarantee from your employer also makes you a little more attractive as a first-time renter in Norway. Mortgages aren’t generally given to newcomers so you should plan to have three months worth of rent on hand when you arrive and prepare to rent for at least a year before buying a property. Security deposits are usually two months rent and you’ll need to pay for the first month of rent in advance. Most properties in Norway are listed on Finn.

In part two, I will continue discuss the the timings for healthcare registration, visas for your accompanying family, drivers licences, cable television, internet, telephones and credit cards. I will also share some handy tips for migrating to Norway and how to survive as an expat during your first few months here.

Tip: If you’re having trouble reading the content of the resource websites provided, try installing a translation toolbar in your browser. I couldn’t survive without mine in Norway.

Have you moved to Norway for the first time from somewhere else in the past? Have any tips to share?

John finally started his new job last week and a few people have asked me whether I’m going to work here in Norway too. Well, the short-term answer is no. I wasn’t able to apply for my residency permit until John’s was approved last week. I’m now waiting for my appointment to hand in my visa paperwork next week. The current waiting time for family visas could be two months from the date of that appointment. While I believe I could technically start looking under Norway’s jobseeker scheme, I’m applying at the moment as the qualified spouse of a skilled worker. I don’t know what happens if you do both simultaneously and, quite frankly, I don’t want to find out.

Time is on my side...for now. Photo by imelenchon from morgueFile.

Sounds pretty lazy, doesn’t it? I should begin this by saying that I don’t spend my time sitting around watching daytime television or out shopping. I’m an unemployed workaholic. And right now I’m being completely greedy and protective of my time. If there’s one thing I learned on our sabbatical last year, it’s that I love the refreshing freedom of that lifestyle. People who know me might have an idea that I am determined to retire by the time I’m 40, or at least make my first million before then. It’s not about money, not in the grandiose way some might be thinking. It’s about freedom and choice – the ability to spend every moment of my life with my family and friends if I want to. Having the means to travel wherever we want, whenever we want or to get involved in personal projects without having to think about the opportunity costs really appeals to me. I’m not even that big on flashy purchases (ok, I do like cars), just having the option to buy them and pay cash is what I’m after.

So what is this post doing on a travel blog?

Most travellers are pretty passionate people. I see this quality in most of the bloggers out there in the travel and expat community. Many of us are already living this “dream” to some extent. When you hear about someone leaving their hard-earned corporate job after many dedicated years to live cheaply off their savings overseas for awhile, maybe even permanently, you’ve witnessed a breakthrough event. He (or she) may not consider himself an entrepreneur but he possesses the same thought process that might lead one to riches (both physical and spiritual). It’s about being in the minority, not buying into the soul-sucking consumer process that we’re conditioned to accept by our governments, our school systems and maybe even our families. I don’t want to kill myself slaving away at a job making someone else rich. I don’t want to give up 40+ hours a week unless I’m working for the direct benefit of my own family in the long-term. But that’s just me.

I’m nowhere near the first person to write about this. In fact, I’ve been inspired by the writings of people who have risen above the time trap and made themselves super-wealthy by their own initiatives. The reason I’m writing this post is to tell you what I’m doing about it. And I also reason that once I put it out there for public consumption, I pretty much have to act. We’re not dirt poor. John’s work and our savings afford us a very comfortable lifestlye and I think that’s almost the worst thing you can have when you want to do something big. Without hunger or a crappy apartment in a bad neighbourhood, those of us who know how to live simply probably have a little less motivation to act.

Every time I stop by Caz Makepeace’s blog, she reminds me of the powers of positive visualization. I know that’s just one part of the equation and I’ve acted on my desires for much of my working life so far. I’ve always gone for the most entrepreneurial path I could, starting a nutraceutical beverage company with friends in New York several years ago, doing freelance work as an art director when I worked in advertising and constantly reading and updating my skills and knowledge since my undergraduate education finished. I started this blog with John in order to have a project to work on while we were travelling and it has morphed into a business, however, it’s a small one and I prefer to keep it as more of an outlet and hobby than a serious money-maker. Our sabbatical year gave us both time to think, to envision what our ideal lives would be like. Now I’d like to take steps towards those goals.

So I plan to use this time over the next couple of months to think, to plan and to learn. I have a few business ideas that John and I toss around in our downtime but nothing solid, certainly nothing I’m ready to move forward with. It’s a process, one that I have the luxury of risking my time on only because one of us works full-time. I’d like for us to get away from that, to design our lives and our business so that we don’t have to spend our precious time hovering over computers most of the week under fluorescent lights. There’s a lot of money out there in this world and not thinking that we – any of us – can get our hands on it if we work smart enough is just silly.

Do you have any big, ambitious plans or dreams? I’d love to hear them!

I had some errands to run on Friday so I took the camera along on my wander around town. It’s still gloomy and overcast most days here, but despite the clouds Stavanger just pops with colour.

Costumes on sale for National Day as Norwegians gear up for the event.

Down by the water, people line up for fresh seafood.

Such a dapper walking man...

I’d love to say I was always a traveller, born with a backpack and jetting around the world from a young age, a multicultural polyglot with worldy penpals and different schools like a military brat. But my life didn’t start that way at all. I grew up in a relatively small city in the Southern United States to parents who, though they travelled quite a bit themselves as time went on, never really took me anywhere exciting in my childhood or formative years. We’d take those precious two weeks of vacation to visit either set of grandparents, a journey that involved either a nine or fourteen hour car ride in either direction. Just them, me and the dog.

Who

So it might surprise you to hear that the who in my inspiration story are these two people. They made up for it all later on in life, my father taking me to Europe for the first time when I was 19. It was incredible. I’d never been anywhere so cultured or fascinating before and I became instantly hooked on the continent, a place where I would eventually come to live. After that, the travel tap flowed: I went to Singapore to spend a couple of months with him while he was working there and we went to Thailand and Indonesia together. My mother and I took trips to California, France and the British Virgin Islands. Dad and I spent almost three weeks in Spain one year as well.

My photo archives are currently on a boat coming from Australia so I hope these photos will suffice. Here we have my father walking me down the aisle at my wedding in 2010 - he's definitely one of my travel inspirations and I thank him for making it to Australia to see John and I tie the knot.

But they inspired me long before they took me anywhere. My father’s work took him all over the world when I was growing up. He did long stints in places I didn’t even know existed: South America, Turkey, China, Saudi Arabia and the state of Washington. Of course, the older I got, these places did eventually hit my radar; as a teenager I was determined to get out in the world someday and see it all. He’d bring me t-shirts, leather goods, jewelery and souvenirs from every place he visited and I kept a collection of global trinkets in my room, many of which I still have today.

My mother also loved travel, more in her later years but it was never too late. As a child she had moved around the United States quite a bit and chose a more settled life when I was growing up. But as soon as I went off to university she was suddenly out in the world, flying to Europe and the Caribbean or her beloved California. By the time I finished school I had itchy feet as well, picking up and moving over 4,000 kilometres from Miami to San Francisco where I didn’t know a soul. My nomadic adventures had begun.

Exploring the Grand Canyon in 2009 with John.

A third person who inspired me to travel is my husband. I met him on a practically spur of the moment trip, the first international trip I’d ever taken without my parents. I took a break with friends to Crete, where we were supposed to spend a few days and then head to Germany for Oktoberfest and on to Italy after that. John was our roommate in the dorm we’d been assigned and he’d travelled and worked all over Europe on his own before ending up by himself at the same hostel as me. The rest is history but his entertaining stories from the road and some of the other people we met on that fateful trip (my first real backpacking experience) really got me thinking about how much was out there that I hadn’t seen yet – and who!
A post to inspire you: Are Some of Us Meant To Wander?

What

Any little thing can get me interested in a place. Sometimes I read about a quirk of its people like Icelanders believing in elves, or a dish I taste that’s from somewhere exotic and it makes me decide that I have to go there. Reading really gets me motivated to travel because today so many people are writing about destinations and with the internet we get to hear from voices beyond just guidebook authors and the usual travel columnists. I’m also inspired by other forms of media like television: watching nature shows has made me determined to get to Africa someday.
A post to inspire you: Ascending the Beast: What Our Volcan Villarrica Climb Reminded Me About Life

Europe has always been magical for me. This was taken in the Krakow square on Poland's national day last year.

Where

France. Somewhere along the Rue Mouffetard I decided I just had to spend more time in Europe. It was probably something I ate or a conversation I had with my father over dinner about this or that. I can’t really remember. But Paris and the visits that followed to other parts of the country really set my imagination off. It’s probably the food or the passionate nature of the people, or perhaps the gentle humming of the boats along the river Seine. I think the most intriguing places are those for which you just can’t put your finger on the reason why, n’est-ce pas?
A post to inspire you: A Day Out In the Swiss Alps

When

Now. That saying “today is the first day of the rest of your life” might have come from a sketchy 1960′s drug rehabilitation program, but you don’t have to be in crisis to believe in it. I may get inspired by the places and people of my past but that doesn’t sustain me for very long. I feel I’ve only scratched the surface with the little travel I’ve done and my only concern about completing my destination wish list is how much time I have to see all the places on it. I’m always on the lookout for a chance to travel. It’s in my blood. I hope this post has inspired you to start thinking about it and get out there too.
A post to inspire you: Bozcaada: Turkey’s Island of Wine

This post is my entry for the easyJet Holidays Inspiration Initiative and I’d like to thank Emily in Chile for nominating me to participate. I’m not sure who else has been nominated, but I would love to read some inspiration from these bloggers:

A Montrealer Abroad
The Travel Chica
Technosyncratic
Monkeys, Mountains and Maultaschen
A Dangerous Business

John and I always talk about getting a couple of dogs and a cat someday, but our nomadic lifestyles have kept us pet-free for years.

Thank goodness our neighbours have them!

We LOVE animals. And apparently the Norwegians do too – there is no dearth of dogs, cats and pet shops in Stavanger. But we mostly come in contact with the neighbourhood kitties, who all seem to live outdoors and have the fluffiest bodies we’ve ever seen.

Meet Mr. Whiskers

He (or she? we actually can’t tell) lives right next door. We’ve sort of ‘adopted’ him since the Easter holidays when his family was out of town and he hung out in our yard for awhile. He’s very friendly for a cat and loves attention. Apparently the crawlspace under our deck is his hideout place when it rains or hails and he can’t get back to his own front porch.

Do you have or want a pet? How have your travels affected this?

Have you taken our reader survey yet? We’re giving away two CASH prizes this month to participating readers. Learn more and take the survey here.

Recycling is pretty important to me and I’ve felt discouraged in the past by the places I’ve lived. Sometimes apartment buildings or complexes have had separate bins for paper but often people would just throw other rubbish into these. So even when we brought our boxes of paper waste down I was dubious as to whether it would just be tossed together with the regular waste.

Not the case in Norway. Waste disposal schemes vary by municipality here but I’m really encouraged by what we see in ours. At residential properties and on the streets are three separate bins for sorting paper, organic waste and everything else. We have three large rubbish bins on our property for this purpose. It’s easy to sort the rubbish into different smaller receptacles indoors and then carry it out. Our local council even provided rolls of ‘bio bags’ for the organic waste. How much easier can one ask for?

'Bio bags' for organic recycling

Residential recycling bins in Stavanger, Norway. Brown is for organic, green for paper and black for everything else.

When it comes to plastic bottles, each one has value. These can be collected and taken to the local supermarket where there are machines for depositing them. Just place the bottle into the compartment and receive a ticket for the refund amount to use at the cashier. Glass, metal and hazardous waste are a bit more work to recycle as these have to be taken to the waste recycling centres. We did, however, notice receptacles for electrical and electronic equipment (EE waste) at one of the large electronics stores near our house – a bit more convenient for things like old phones, batteries and ink cartridges. The municipality even sends around little cardboard battery boxes for collecting these.

Recycling while you're out and about is easy in Norway.

Norway is certainly not unique in Europe for being conscientious about waste management, but I haven’t seen anywhere else so far that makes it so easy for people to sort their garbage on the street. This is just another area where the country is exceeding our expectations as a place to live.
 
Do people recycle where you live? How does the system work?

Have you taken our reader survey yet? We’re giving away two CASH prizes this month to participating readers. Learn more and take the survey here.

Today’s guest post takes us east to enchanting Russia as Ashley R. Cummings shares five tips for getting the most out of a visit to Moscow.

The thought of traveling around a country with a culture and an alphabet that is completely unfamiliar can be intimidating at first. If you pocket some important information about Moscow before you embark on your trip, however, you are ensured to have a great experience. Here are a few things I tell any friend who is planning a trip to Moscow.

Russia really is as cold as they say it is.

Unless you are planning to pack a fur hat, coat, thermal underwear, sweaters, a ski mask and wool socks, go to Russia in the late spring or summer. Summertime in Russia is beautiful, and since most of your travel requires more walking than the average person is used to, it is nice to not experience what it feels like to be an icicle.

Thinking and walking like a New Yorker will bring you one step closer to thinking and walking like a Russian.

Russians walk at lightning speeds without making eye contact or smiling, and don’t be surprised if you get pushed and shoved in a line, on the metro, or in a bus. This is normal.  It doesn’t mean they are upset, it just means they are in a bigger hurry than you.  That being said, even though Russians may have a stern look on their face and may not stop their car for you when you are crossing the street (seriously, look both ways), Russians are happy to help with directions. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Buy yourself a metro map and use it.

Much of the beauty of Moscow lies underground.  Each metro station is clean and ornamented in beautiful décor that you won’t want to miss.  However, there are some things to know before entering a metro tunnel. Everything is written in Russian.  When you buy a map, make sure to buy a map that has Russian letters and the English transliteration, and then think of it as a matching game.  You don’t need to be able to read Russian to navigate the subway, you just need to be able to recognize the letters and the metro line color. Despite what you might hear, the metro is well constructed and easy to follow. If you simply chart out where you want to be before you enter the metro, and then count the number of station stops before you get off, you will get to your destination in a timely manner.

Russian food is delicious.

If you see borsch (beetroot soup) on a menu, don’t automatically think of the canned beets your grandma used to force down your gullet as a child.  Keep and open mind and an open pallet and you will be pleasantly surprised at how delicious your new favorite soup tastes.  You will also want to try pelmeni (a meat dumpling), galuptsy (meat filled cabbage), pirozhki (bread cakes with yumminess inside), and vareniki (vegetable or fruit filled dumplings).  Yum.  Unless you have an adventurous pallet, some foods to avoid are sala (think of an inch of bacon fat), kholodetz (meat jello), and kvas (bread juice…I personally like this one, but most foreigners don’t).

The sights are more breathtaking and enchanting than you can imagine.

Be sure to visit Saint Basil’s Cathedral and the city center, on Red Square.  For good luck, you can toss some rubles over your shoulder in the city center and make a wish.  On Red Square, you can also see the embalmed corpse of the fearless Russian leader, Lenin, which is creepy and cool.  Make sure to check your camera, unless you are interested in what a Russian jail looks like.  The Kremlin is also right next-door.  If you are interested in buying a martryoska (stacking Russian dolls), do no buy them at Red Square.  Buy them at Old Arbat Street and you will save a ton of money.  Remember that Russians are used to bargaining, so you can bargain your way down in price.  You will also not want to miss the Temple of Christ our Savior, the Tretyakovskaya Gallery, the Pushkin museum and Victory Park, to name a few.

Russia is one of the most enchanting and amazing places in the world.  If you know these few things, you are sure to have an amazing adventure in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Bio:  Ashley R. Cummings has a passion for traveling the world, writing and any other creative expression.  She lives in Provo, Utah with her husband, Brandon. Find her on Facebook and Twitter.

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A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the high cost of living and travelling in Norway. Today I thought I should share the other side of that coin, which are the incredibly high living standards enjoyed by Norwegians. This isn’t necessarily about being rich and having a lot of material possessions. Yes, the quality of housing and goods in the country is high. It’s a clean place and people live quietly with each other – politeness and order are foundations of the social atmosphere. But leisure policies and the social welfare system are also a big part of this.

Time with family is a protected priority for Norwegians. Photo by hotblack from morgueFile.

European countries are known for high taxes and we were also subject to these while living in Australia. Norway is no exception, with residents paying at least a third of their income in taxes (a breakdown of these may be found in this post by Dave Manuel). The Norwegian government also uses profits from its vast oil reserves and ownership in many public companies to fund the social welfare system.

And just what are some of the benefits provided to Norwegians under this system?

• Membership in the Norwegian National Insurance Scheme, which provides healthcare to all residents. Patient charges apply (a co-payment or ‘gap’ payment and there is a calendar year limit to these) when visiting the doctor unless the patient is under 16 or attending a pregnancy check-up. Dental care is free for children under 18 only.

• Free hospital care and services for childbirth

• Sickness benefit payments for leave over 16 days

• One year of paid parental leave for those working for at least six of the ten months prior to the date of receiving the benefit. Parents may choose to receive 100 per cent of their salary for 47 weeks or 80 per cent for 57 weeks. This time is split between the mother and father as they decide, with certain weeks reserved for the mother. Fathers get at least 12 weeks. Women who don’t work are entitled to a lump sum grant. In comparison, Australia only offers 18 weeks of parental leave, and only at the minimum wage.

• Family allowances are paid to parents until just before each child turns 18.

• Parents of children between the ages of one and three whose children do not have a place in a pre-school daycare centre receive “cash-for-care” benefits (rates and regulations are set to change this August).

• Public school is free for all children from the age of six through upper secondary school (usually until the age of 19). If a child lives over a determined distance from their school, transportation to school is free.

• Free family counselling services

• Housing allowances and grants for low-income earners

• First-time buyer mortgages and ‘start’ or ‘basic’ loans for buying, renovating and re-financing

• Free public access rights to the country’s forests, mountains, beaches and lakes as well as free camping as long as you are 150 metres away from houses and cabins
  

  Norwegians have a close connection to nature and many families have 'hytter,' or cabins, that they retreat to with their families on the weekends. Photo by clarita from morgueFile.

I’ve never been an advocate of socialism (nor am I now), but what we currently have in most western countries is not what I consider a pure form of capitalism. Governments support certain industries and sectors, bail out banks and allow the interests of lobbyists and the largest corporations to affect markets and push aside true competition, not to mention what’s best for the majority of people. I can’t help feeling that the ‘American dream’ chased by people both in and out of the United States is a farce.
 
In Norway, however, the characteristics that contribute to the high quality of life go beyond the universal government benefits. Family life and free time is protected. Working hours are flexible and it is completely acceptable for parents to leave work early to pick up their young children from school. The work and life balance is very important to Norwegians. Holidays are generous, with the recent Easter break being a good example.

According to a government publication called New In Norway, which was given to John by his new employer, “The Norwegian work culture is characterized by flat structure and empowered employees.” Personal development and getting along well with fellow co-workers is supposedly prized above monetary rewards. Take a look at the Attitudes to Being Rich chart recently published by The Economist and find Norway’s citizens down there at the bottom.

Work/life balance is very important to Norwegians. Photo by calgrin from morgueFile.

As a newcomer to the country, the store hours and long holiday periods are a bit confronting. Most everything is closed on Sundays and we can expect more holidays this summer during the main period from June through September. Employees are entitled to 25 working days’ paid holidays each year and three continuous weeks are usually taken during the summer period. It’s a pretty nice lifestyle.
 
I read posts by fellow travel and lifestyle bloggers all the time that discuss the virtues of leaving the corporate world to travel full-time, whether to take a year or two off for a sabbatical or to completely redesign a life. The unrewarding work culture in western countries is an often-cited motivator by those who are quitting their jobs and leaving their countries for the travelling or expat life. It doesn’t matter whether you listen to Forbes, the United Nations, the Legatum Prosperity Index or the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Norwegians are consistently ranked among the happiest and most prosperous people in the world. I’m new here so I have no real idea or opinion as to the truth of these statistics. I’m dubious as to whether something so nebulous as ‘happiness’ can be measured at all. But with their progressive, egalitarian society and a focus on family, I’m very interested to see how this new lifestyle will compare to the others I’ve experienced.

What do you think of Norway’s egalitarian system? How does it compare with where you live?

Spring seems to have barely sprung here in Norway but it’s Spring Break just the same. Norway has the longest Easter holiday of any Scandinavian country and, I’m guessing, the world. Everything here shuts down from around 6pm on Wednesday and most won’t re-open until Tuesday morning. Alcohol sales at the Vinmonopolets finished at 3pm on Wednesday – it was funny to see a post on an expat forum today from someone looking to buy secondhand beverages from the better prepared (it is still possible to purchase regular percentage beer at the grocery stores on Saturday until around 3pm).

Skiing in the mountains is a popular Easter activity. Photo by Andreas Solberg from Flickr.

Easter in Norway is known as Påske and it’s not so much about religion here as it is about having a nice long break. Maundy Thursday (Skjærtorsdag), Good Friday (Langfredag) and Easter Monday (second Påskedag) are all official public holidays. Norwegians take holidays, head to the mountains for skiing and hiking or retreat to their hyttes, cabins in the mountains that are owned by many Norwegian families for weekend escapes.
 
Traditionally everything looks about the same as in other countries – yellow is the colour of Easter and chickens, eggs and bunnies are the popular symbols. Children decorate eggs and have hunts for them, families and friends exchange chocolate bunnies or candy-filled eggs and loved ones gather for traditional meals such as lamb roasts over the weekend. But there is an unusual Easter pastime as well: crime.
 

Norwegians become obsessed with mysteries and crime stories around the Easter holidays. This began back in 1923 with the running of a crime book launch campaign in a newspaper a week before Palm Sunday. The advertisement got everyone’s attention because it was run as a normal news article with the headline, “Bergen Train Looted In the Night.” Due to its success, the publisher ran a similar campaign the following year and today the phenomenon continues. Publishers produce Påskekrimmen or “Easter Thrillers.” Classic detective shows and movies are broadcast on television and radio, with milk producers joining in the fun by placing detective stories and cartoons on their cartons.

Tine runs a Collective/Easter Mystery puzzle series on their milk cartons.

The indigenous Arctic inhabitants in Scandinavia’s far north, the Sami, have their own Easter festival as well, which you can read about in this great post from My Little Norway.
 
What are we doing this Easter? We just moved into our new home in Stavanger and have been settling in and relaxing. Hopefully next year we can take a mountain holiday of our own over the break. We hope everyone is enjoying the long weekend and your Easter celebrations if you participate in them.
 
What are the Easter or seasonal traditions where you live?

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Photo by alexanderdrachmann from Flickr.

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We really enjoyed Hamburg when we visited last year but never got around to posting about the city. Thankfully we have Stephanie Kopf from Trenditionist to take us on a tour of the city in today’s guest post.

The two young women sitting next to me on the subway are discussing Hamburg. They are clearly from out of town.

“I heard the city has more bridges than Venice and London put together,” says one. My inner patriot grins at this oft-repeated comparison that I hear all the time on the local radio. “Yes, I thought so,” answers the other.
 
It’s true, Hamburg does have a lot of bridges, though it’s not like you end up on one anywhere you go. But in a city where so much has to do with water it’s not surprising. I hear a girl who looks to be about 11 years old telling her friend casually, “Yeah, Hamburg is nice, with the Alster and all.” Don’t I agree!
 
Anyway, as you can already tell, I do have a certain bias, because I‘m in love. I’m in love with the city on the water.

This is the Lombardsbruecke, a bridge in the center of Hamburg. Stop here for one of many great views over the smaller part of the Alster river (Binnenalster) and the Jungfernstieg street opposite.
 
A few more words about the Alster, the river that flows through Hamburg. Basically it looks more like a lake. There’s a smaller part, the Binnenalster, in the town center – a favourite spot to have lunch when it gets warmer. The larger part is the Aussenalster. You can start walking along one side of the Binnenalster and just go straight on along the water. Seven kilometres builds one of the most picturesque routes in the city. It’s one of my favourite places to be. This is where I go to feel that spring has arrived.
 
The surrounding lawns are great for picnics or just lying around in the sun. And trust me, locals know how to make use of sunny days around here, since we don’t get them all too often!
 
Various statistics from Germany will tell you many impressive things about the country. A lot of them are located in Hamburg, for example one of the largest ports in Europe. If you want to go to the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe river, take the subway to the Landungsbruecken station and then the exit to the bridge of the same name. On a clear day you might see the construction site of the Elbphilarmonie – a new concert hall that has caused severe debate among the city’s cultural experts because of the amount of money spent on building it. At this point many have forgotten when the construction has started and it doesn’t seem to be clear when it will be finished. Though tickets for the first concert seem to be sold out.
 
You can take a boat trip with your subway ticket from Landungsbrücken. Basically the boat is like a water bus, but it’s also a great and cheap way to see most of the port from the water.
 
Hamburg is a northern city where it rains quite often, but there are still plenty of opportunities for a beachy feeling here. When the boat docks at Oevelgoenne station, you can just wait for it to turn and take you back to the port. Or you can get out and take a walk along the Elbstrand – the Elbe beach. You’ll see at once that it’s a different walk from the Alster, but there’s plenty of history here as well, quintessential views combining the water and the ships making their way through the port, and you actually do walk along a sandy shoreline. So a beachy feeling with a Northern Germany note is guaranteed.
 
Needless to say, no swimming in the Elbe, since it’s dangerous because of the current and ship traffic.
 
The Chilehaus is one of the most famous buildings in the city, stemming from the 1920s. Now an office building, it fits perfectly in the city on the water, also because the top part reminds one of a ship. The name comes from a magnate who became rich through trading saltpeter from Chile. My favourite part of the building is actually the inner courtyard. There are some nice cafes there, it’s lovely to just sit there with a cup of coffee and look at this typically local brick architecture. And try to count all the windows without getting dizzy.

Hamburg Wax Museum

Feeling like something different? The Reeperbahn street is so much more than just a party mile. I remember a friend saying to me when I asked her about it, “I actually feel totally safe there, because it has the highest police presence in Germany.”
 
It also has some quirky places to visit. The Beatles Museum is great for finding presents for an obsessed fan or indulging in your love for the band. Hamburg maintains that the Beatles’ career started here, because they played on the Reeperbahn before they were famous. If there’s a connection with something famous in the whole world, this city will find it.
 
Another fun place to stop by is the Panoptikum, Hamburg’s very own museum of wax figures. Don’t take it too seriously and don’t expect a major likeness of the famous people you recognize. In any case there are plenty of quirky things to take pictures of.
 
Hamburg grows on you. I keep trying to put my finger on what makes this city special and keep coming up with new reasons or just taking another walk along my favourite stomping grounds. I still don’t always know what it is and maybe that’s what keeps me on my toes. And even when I want to go somewhere else, after awhile I start missing the city on the water.

Bio: Stephanie Kopf has lived in Siberia, New York City and Germany and is passionate about writing for an audience. Her subjects include the human psyche, education, communication, entertainment, travel and lifestyle. She has had her work published both in print and online and she currently blogs at Trenditionist, which focusses on trends and forecasts.

We’ve been trying to explore our new surroundings in Stavanger as much as possible these first couple of weeks in Norway. We were very excited to sign a lease on a house this week as the market in the area is very tight at the moment. Our new home is about halfway between Stavanger and the next town over, Sandnes.

It was a busy week for us so by the time we got up and out the door most of the shops were closing – most shut by late afternoon on Saturdays and nothing is open on Sundays here. So perhaps that explains why Sandnes was looking a little dead when we arrived. It’s smaller than Stavanger and I’m not sure what we were expecting but we found very little to do but walk around and have a look.

An interesting covered hang-out area on the main shopping drag in Sandnes.

Located just 12 kilometres from Stavanger, Sandnes seems like more of a shopping outpost for local residents who don’t want to go into the larger city for their errands. The main shopping streets have plenty to keep people busy for an afternoon and there is also an indoor shopping centre and movie theatre. Sandnes is called Norway’s ‘bicycle city’ and apparently these can be hired at no cost from the tourist information office for use on the many bike paths around town.

Other than that, we didn’t really find much to entertain ourselves in Sandnes. The city seems to have more affordable accommodation options for visitors to Stavanger, however, as we noticed that it has a hostel and some inns. For us the most beneficial part of the journey was our experience using the local train for the first time. We noticed paths along the water between the two cities and were finally able to see a bit more of our surrounds just outside town.

Getting there: Trains depart frequently from Stavanger train station for Sandnes. A return journey costs NOK 88 (€11,60).

Have you been to Sandnes? What are we missing?

Back in October I wrote a post about how much I loved Switzerland, despite the high costs of travelling there. It was my first time in the country and, while I couldn’t believe the prices, I still adored it. What can I say? I have expensive taste. Clean, efficient, high quality places attract me and I’m happy to pay a bit more if I feel like I’m getting my money’s worth. I said at the time how nice it must be to live in a place like Switzerland. We even looked into it as a potential home. But I think it was all just forshadowing for the place we would eventually end up: dear Norway.

Norway's currency: the Norwegian krone - Photo by kjelljoran from Flickr.

Let me preface by saying that we love it here so far. Even more than my beloved Switzerland. While there’s no cheese fondue or Swiss-German being spoken around us and we don’t have the Alps, I’m more than content. Standards of living are high, people are friendly and helpful, efficiency seems the go and everywhere I look is nature’s eye-candy. But it does all come with a hefty price tag, even moreso I imagine for visitors who aren’t earning the local currency, Norwegian krone (NOK). Norway has one of the highest price levels for personal goods and services in all of Europe; the cost of food is a whopping 47 per cent higher than the continental average.

It’s all relative, though. We moved here from Australia, which seems to get more expensive every time we return. When I first migrated Down Under from the United States several years ago I couldn’t believe how expensive things were. We regularly pay A$9-12 for a pint of beer, A$1.50 for a litre of fuel and don’t even get me started on the costs of cable television and internet subscriptions: the top-level pay television package is around A$120 per month and that includes less than 100 channels. Clothing, cars and accommodation are dear and the tax level is very high for what you get back as a mid to top-level earner. So coming to Norway wasn’t as shocking for our wallets as it might be for someone from say, the US, UK or Germany.
 
That said, we are finding some things to be extremely pricey. Restaurants, alcohol, fuel and accommodation seem to be the most costly. We went out for fajitas the other night and paid NOK 310 each (A$50). They were some tasty fajitas but not any better than I could make at home for a lot less. Fast food burgers are about A$8 each, a pint of domestic craft beer about A$20. That’s high by anyone’s standards. We’re in Stavanger so I’m conscious that things might be a bit cheaper in Oslo – a student we spoke with the other night told us that our town is actually more expensive than Oslo when it comes to renting an apartment. Fuel prices are the scariest: A$2.50 per litre in central Stavanger! That’s pretty crazy considerin Norway sits on one of the world’s largest oil reserves. We’ll definitely be waiting as long as possible before purchasing a car.

Alcohol is very pricey in Norway.

It’s not all bad news. Anyone can camp for free in the wilderness areas (some restrictions do exist so be sure to do research before pitching your tent). Taxes are high but the benefits are the best I’ve seen in any country with a socialized health and work system. Some things, such as cable television and internet are cheap for us compared to Australia, especially considering the differences in speed and the variety of channels available. There is no need to purchase bottled water. Our grocery bill is only slightly higher than it would have been in Australia. And hey, we’ll be loving it when we travel internationally: we’ll be spending NOK and everything will seem like a bargain, even London.
 
For locals, these prices are affordable with the wages on offer. People don’t seem too concerned with the costs going about their daily business and no one talks about how overpriced things are. This is just the way it is here and it’s best to just not think about it too much. For us, Norway is a place where we’ve come to settle for a little while. We’re not drinking much alcohol these days and won’t be going out to restaurants often. Our plan is to start a family, take it easy and enjoy all the nature and outdoor activities in our free time. Thank goodness hiking is free!
 
But we did get a taste of what it’s like to be a tourist here for a couple of weeks and I certainly could never recommend Norway as a budget travel destination. A basic room at a no-frills chain hotel on the outskirts of town with breakfast ran us around A$350 a night. Again, this is Stavanger and it’s always busy here for business people, which drives up prices. A guide to some of the prices can be found in this cost of living index for Norway.

Have you visited or lived in Norway? What are your thoughts on the cost of living?

Vienna is an incredible city. We visited twice last year and can’t wait for the opportunity to return. In today’s guest post, Barbara shares some of the great tours visitors can take around Austria’s capital city.

Last time I stood and waited in front of the Vienna Opera House for 20 minutes, not to grab last minute tickets but to outwait two large humming tour buses which had settled right next to the entrance. Finally, a small group of tourists was shooed into the carriages among the indignant looks of their already seated fellow travellers and I could shoot the perfect image of the opera house.

Luckily, there is a whole host of different Vienna tours out there. Tours that connect travellers with the city, that blend personal with genuine travel interests and that simply let them breathe.

Start Off On Your Own: Vienna Ringtram Tour

If you don’t know where to start from, go in a circle. The ‘Vienna Ringtram’ tramway tours the Ringstrasse state boulevard and provides a great first orientation of the city. The 30 minute trip lines up a dozen landmarks, from the Vienna Opera, the Museums of Fine Art and Natural History to the Imperial Palace, the Parliament, the town hall, the University and the Museum of Applied Arts to our finest palace hotels. Videos and audio phones in multiple languages in the carriages provide the background. For EUR 7 per tour, this is great value for money.

Walking Tours

Vienna is as compact as a Swiss army knife. Most of its best attractions are based in the city centre within three square kilometres (10,000 square feet). Vienna walking tours therefore have a high ratio of ‘attractions per walked mile’ and are unlikely to cause you blisters. There are daily city walking tours by a number of local tour operators.

Going on themed walking tours is particularly fun as they allow you to explore Vienna according to your own personal interests. I had seen Graham Greene’s Vienna-based cult film ten times before embarking on the Third Man Movie Tour ‘Vienna In The Footsteps Of The Third Man’. The photo shows the doorway where Harry Lime famously appeared in the dark. I also love good architecture and finally did a private tour through the historic Vienna Gasometers with their great architect-designed interiors (I almost bought a flat there before moving to London). Other themed walking tours include a photo safari, a tour about Sigmund Freud, about Jewish Vienna, Death in Vienna, and the Danube National Park.

Third Man Tour in Vienna

If you are into quirkier and more individual Vienna tours, private guides will likely cut it. Tour guide and  flutist Martha Tretter and her fellow musicians, for example, love to envelope their clients in live medieval sounds as they lead them to hidden places in the old town. There are tours to traditional small trades shops which produce suits, jewellery, shoes, bags and confectionery, gourmet tours and hiking tours in the outskirts.

Biking and Segway Tours

I used to bike everywhere when I lived in the centre of Vienna for 10 years. Vienna is full of bike paths, largely flat and low on air pollution. Most of the Vienna tours by bike include a round trip on tree-lined Ringstrasse, which has a separate bike path, before they dive into the old town or into green outer space like the Prater or the Danube Island. It is also quite easy to rent one of the bikes from the city’s bike scheme and explore Vienna on your own. Travellers can obtain a Citybike Tourist Card for EUR 2 per day and per bike, and then pay an hourly fee between EUR 1 and EUR 4, whereby the first hour is free.

Gasometer Tour; photo by Andreas Poeschek of Viennaphoto.at

My segway tour through Vienna last summer was good fun. Being a native Viennese, I had given myself a head start on learning the basics of local history. Not so with going on a Segway. On a quiet strip of bike path between the Museumsquartier and the Burgring boulevard, our group of seven practised a few tentative moves before swarming out onto the bike paths of Ringstrasse and the old town. We whizzed and jolted across asphalt and cobble stone past state buildings, the Imperial Palace, St. Stephen’s Cathedral, and the Stadtpark, with a good many stops and stories in between. There are an increasing number of Vienna tours by segway and private segway tours, which let you explore the centre, the Vienna Prater and Danube Island.

Bio: Barbara Grüll-Cação, a native Viennese, runs travel site Vienna Unwrapped. Barbara has lived in and around Vienna for 30 years and regularly visits the city from London, where she now lives with her husband and two kids. On Vienna Unwrapped, she shares her knowledge as a native, a former local, and a frequent Vienna traveller with you. Says Barbara, “The longer I am away from Vienna, the more obsessed I become about my city.” Stay in touch with Barbara and Vienna Unwrapped on Facebook  and Twitter.