Going to Norway was never at the top of our must see list. I mean, it was there, like the rest of the world, but it wasn’t like a tier 1 destination. The way it came about was just so organic and really driven by us being in Madrid. It started with the idea that our family would come and visit us in August. We were focused on destinations around Spain and trying to pull together an itinerary that would make everyone happy. Meanwhile we were also hearing from everyone around us about how hot it gets in Spain in August. So we decided to pivot. Where is it cooler? Well, up north. Ok, where up north? Well, ideally someplace where the hubs doesn’t have business travel. As we perused good ole Google maps we “stumbled” upon Norway. So the hubs and I looked at each other and were like, “yeah that seems cool, let’s go there.” And this is where the story begins 🙂

After getting the family onboard (it took a tiny bit of effort only because Norway was beyond everyone’s travel horizons, not just geographically but also imaginatively), we started planning. Oslo was first on the list, only because that’s what we knew of Norway. But as we started sharing our plans with people and researching we decided to add Bergen, Alesund, and finally the Lofoten Islands. The trip architects were me, the hubs, and my mom. My mom is an amazing researcher and her recommendations are what drive a big portion of our family non beach trips. She’s the queen of finding anything and everything on YouTube. So the idea of going to Lofoten Islands came from some YouTube link my mom found. 

Based on our research the fjords are THE thing in Norway (along with Trolls, which I really don’t get). So we decided to focus our trip around that.

First up was 3 days in Alesund, through an overnight stop in Oslo. Oslo was where the fam meetup was happening. At this point it’s been 2 months since we last saw each other, which is an ETERNITY considering we used to see each other every Sunday Funday. The hubs and I got to the hotel first and then sat outside anxiously awaiting the bus that was bringing the fam to the hotel. I saw the bus driving up the road, and as it pulled up I saw my mom, dad, and sister staring out the window. As the bus stopped we all ran towards each other and started hugging and squealing and shrieking and jumping up and down holding hands! LOL! It was one of the sweetest, happiest moments. (I’m tearing up as I’m writing this now…)

And this is where the trip really begins :) The next morning we had an early and quick flight to Alesund getting us in around 10am. It was a free day so we strolled the town, had a coffee and shared some baked goodies at Racoon, a local pastry shop. This was where we first encountered the local brown cheese. I know, brown cheese? But it’s quite unique and really tasty. It is slightly salty and slightly sweet and kind of tastes like salty condensed milk. It was on top of a sweet, fluffy pancake and that whole combination blew my mind. I highly recommend trying it if you get a chance! 

The rest of the day was spent wandering around the town, going up to the highest lookout point, and then relaxing at the Hotel Brosundet outdoor tubs - definitely a highlight! Days 2 and 3 were tour days - Geirangerfjord cruise and Trollstigen bus tour. Both were full day (8-9 hour) tours filled with one breathtaking view after another. Cruising along the fjord is an experience not to be missed. This is a bucket list type of thing. Traveling along the incredibly smooth and clear water, seeing nothing but the stunning land masses with random, wild waterfalls, seeing the clouds nestle in between the mountain peaks - there was something so spiritual about it. It really makes you appreciate how grand the world is, which somehow washes away a lot of the day to day things we stress about. There is so much more out there than what literally faces us on the daily. In our day to day we can’t help but be consumed with all the “stuff" like dealing with Comcast, or getting angry at our neighbors for being loud/messy, or being irritated with co-workers, etc. I love how travel and seeing newness, and especially nature, puts all of that into perspective.

After Alesund we flew to Bergen and spent about 1.5 days there. The purpose of the stop was to go on another bus tour (all links for tours will be at the bottom of the post). The day of the tour was a looooong day filled with a handful of stops with beautiful views of the fjords. Looking back on it, we could've skipped Bergen. I say this only because we had other opportunities for views and we didn’t really get a chance to spend time in Bergen. Ultimately we could’ve shortened the trip by 3 days and saved about $1K. But again that’s because we were able to spend time in the other cities.   

Next up, Lofoten Islands. We spent the most time here, about 4.5 days and it was my favorite part of the trip. What I remember the most was how incredibly quiet and peaceful it is everywhere. Lofoten is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay up north (go ahead Google it). Not only is it north but it’s also completely remote. It is a collection of little islands with the most spectacular views anywhere you look. We stayed in Svolvaer, for no reason other than lack of hotel availability in other towns because we planned the trip in July. But it ended up being a perfect location - close enough to the airport in Leknes (about an hour drive) and close enough to the southernmost tip of the islands, A (yes that’s the name of the city. It should have a little “o” on top of the “A” but I don’t know how to do that.)

Initially we planned for another boat cruise while in Lofoten, but after the two earlier in the trip we were all boat cruised out, so we were luckily able to cancel for a full refund (the tour link will be included in the bottom). Instead, we decided to just slow it all down. We took our time driving to A(o), stopping along the way for multiple photo ops and lunch. Another day we drove to Henningsvaer to check out a coffee shop and some galleries (the Lofoten Islands have a lot of galleries considering the size and population of the area). We also took a day to hike Ryoten. Unfortunately we didn’t make it to the top because there were some muddy and steep parts that made various people uncomfortable. So instead we decided to head back to the hotel to warm up with the sauna. That ended up being a memorable day for me, when I did something I never thought I would - I dipped into the intensely cold Norwegian Sea! 

Let me paint this picture…..it’s about 60 degrees outside, kinda rainy and windy. Enough to make your bones chilly. The hot sauna is a separate structure, outside of the hotel. It’s basically just the sauna and changing rooms for men and women, one each. This structure is built right on the sea, and it has stairs leading into the sea. The whole sauna experience is “the” thing in Norway. First you sit in the hot dry sauna and then you cool off in the sea. Sounds quite extreme but it ended up being really relaxing. There were other Norwegianers there and they were able to swim for an extended period of time, but as a beginner I stayed on the stairs :) You do need to be a bit careful about going too far out, especially if you’re not an expert, because the water is so unexpectedly cold, your heart could go into shock. I know, I’m not selling it but I promise it ended up being an amazing experience!! 

It was finally time for the last leg of the trip - Oslo. I can’t believe how fast the time went. At the beginning of the trip you’re so excited because you have two glorious weeks of travel and family - time to walk hand in hand, laugh at random things, and just be together experiencing the natural beauty of the world. But then it goes so fast, like a quick blink! 

Oslo was purposefully left for the end, so we could shop, relax, maybe indulge in some spa action. Unfortunately, Oslo didn’t turn out exactly as planned. There was definitely sleeping, but not much relaxation. We all got some kind of stomach bug! And it hit all of us to varying degrees. It started with my mom on the way to the airport in Lofoten. Slowly it started taking us out one by one, LOL. I was up next….I spent all of Saturday in the hotel room sleeping, but at least I was able to experience a bit of Oslo for 1.5 days. The day of everyone’s flight home, Dmitry and my sister got it. Somehow my dad came out relatively unscathed.

There were a few things to note that didn’t get mentioned:

1. The food is SO expensive. I know that’s what you read everywhere but I couldn’t believe how expensive it all was. For example, a can of Coke was $6!! Thankfully breakfast was included in our hotel stays, so sometimes we even had lunch if you know what I mean ;) Dinner usually ended up costing about $50 per person. And these weren’t fancy or super nice places. 

2. Not only is the food expensive, but the cuisine is very heavy. Yes, lots of amazingly delicious and fresh fish but also lots of bread, butter, and heavy cream. It does start to wear on your stomach if you’re not used to that type of food.

Finally the costs….it definitely was not a cheap experience. The average price for a tour/activity is about $150 per person. We ended up planning 4 excursions but only did 3 of them. For hotels we tried to balance quality and price, we ended up staying at 4 star hotels and the average price was $230 per night for double occupancy. But that included one night by the airport in Oslo, which was much cheaper than the other hotels. Excluding that it was $240 per night. We also booked our hotels in July, so I’m guessing rates could be a little better if you book further out. Getting around within Norway is time consuming by car and/or train so we chose to fly and use taxis, which is definitely the costlier option. We took 4 inner country flights - 3 of those cost about $300 each and the other was $120. Plus our flights to and from Norway. So all in all we spent $10K —> $3K on hotels, $4K ($2K per person) on transport (flights and car rental in Lofoten), $1.2K on tours/activities, and about $1.5K for food and miscellaneous. I do think costs can be cut if the trip is shortened and/or if lower quality hotels are booked. I suppose you can also book less tours and do more self driving. 

Norway is one of the most unique destinations I’ve seen, and we only scratched the surface! The dramatic landscape combined with the precious family time made this one of my happiest and most memorable trips.

Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Logistic info below.

Hotels:

Alesund - Thon Hotel Alesund 

Bergen - Hotel Norge by Scandic

Svolvaer, Lofoten Islands - Hotel Thon Svolvaer

Oslo - Hotel Thon Opera

Tours:

Geirangerfjord cruise - https://www.viator.com/tours/Alesund/Fjordcruise-Alesund-Geiranger-Alesund-3fjords3hours/d4312-188207P1

Trollstigen sightseeing tour - https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g190504-d24018665-Sightseeing_Tour_in_Trollstigen_Land_of_Trolls-Alesund_More_og_Romsdal_Western_Nor.html

Fjord and sightseeing tour - https://www.viator.com/tours/Bergen/GUIDED-TOUR-TO-NAEROYFJORDEN-FLAM-AND-STEGASTEIN-VIEWPOINT-CRUISE/d4318-210586P1

Lofoten Islands cruise (we ended up canceling this one but it looks amazing) - https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductReview-g227941-d23597609-Lofoten_Islands_Luxury_Trollfjord_Cruise_with_lunch_from_Svolvaer-Svolvaer_Vagan_L.html

Luckily I’ve been able to start building a community bit by bit. I get introduced to one person and then another and then another. I’ve been on a lot of coffee dates :) The people I’m meeting are so very kind and generous with their time. A lot are expats, but not all. And I’ve even managed to organize a couple of double blind dates! So I’m working the social angle for me and the hubs. That’s definitely a new muscle I’m building. Having to constantly reach out and ask people out is a lot of effort and a lot of time spent outside of my comfort zone. But it’s a must, so there’s no way around that. I also choose to look at it like growing a muscle in addition to growing a network.

Another positive is the traveling component of this overseas thing. That has been very enjoyable! More of the world is so much closer and easier to get to. In the last month we’ve been to Puglia for a wedding and Paris for a weekend (wah, tough life, yeah I know). And if you follow me on IG you’ll know that Paris was a big first for me. It was the first time I traveled by myself. My hubs was there for a work trip and I joined him. Which means I had to do all my own packing (my hubby is an exceptional packer so I’ve been very spoiled), fly in on my own, get to the hotel on my own, and spend 2 days touring Paris on my own. This may not seem like a big deal to some, but for me it was. It was a lot of firsts. But I pushed through all the fears and made myself do it anyway. Honestly, it was scary. And I was nervous. But you know what else? It was also so freaking empowering! It felt so good to push through all those fears and do it anyway. Do it even though it scared me. I’ve been doing a lot of walking-towards-my-fears things lately. And coming out on the other side of that feels really good. It’s kinda like knowing you need some help figuring out how to manage your money, but you’re scared to look at it. Yet once you do, you realize it really is not that hard or scary. And then there’s so much excitement about building your wealth because you see it’s completely doable. :) If this rings a bell, email me for a consult! fincoachjulia@gmail.com

So yes, the travel piece is just amazing. Next up on the horizon we’re heading to Norway, Switzerland, and Istanbul! All will be on IG as well, follow me if you’re interested!

On the flip side…the language barrier is very hard. For example, just this morning we lost all hot water. I was like, ok, now what. Who do I call? What do I say? How do I ask my neighbors if it’s just me or a building issue. It’s bad enough dealing with utilities in the States knowing the language. I reached out to our landlord and he didn’t even know what the issue was. It turns out, it’s a building problem. Ok…. so when does this get fixed? Well, here’s what I received from the building administrator:

So yeah….I hope we get hot water back before the weekend (today is Thursday)….

What else can I share? Ah yes, all bills are mandated to be direct deposit. So we were going through our charges during our money date (I’m still a money coach :)) and noticed we were charged by the electric company for May 11- June 12. Except…our lease started June 15. So yeah, we’re getting some help trying to get that money back. We shall see what happens.

Thank you for staying until the end of this post! I hope you’re enjoying reading about my journey and perhaps can relate to some or all of it. If it helps you in any way, then that makes me very happy! Ciao for now.

Since my last post some highlights include: 

• Going to Barcelona for a night to see the Queen Beyonce. We didn’t get to do any sightseeing so I can’t comment on Barcelona, but it’s on the to do list! 

• Signing a lease for our new place and getting rental insurance

• Planning a 2 week trip to Norway

• Going home to Chicago for a week 

And in between all of that I’ve also managed to get in touch with some groups here to start making some friends. Making friends as an adult is not an easy thing to do! Especially for me….my friendship circle is very small, mostly because I’m lucky to have my fam and hubs as my besties. The flip side of that is I don’t really know how to make friends, especially as a middle aged adult! You really have to put yourself out there. LOL, that seems to be the theme lately. 

The rental process here is definitely different than in Chicago. The laws favor the landlord. I mentioned a few things in my 2nd post but I’ll go into a bit more detail now that the lease is signed. So, as mentioned the landlord can ask for as many months of a deposit as they want. Also they wanted to see the work contract to prove we will have the funds. If you don’t have a work contract some landlords will ask to see your bank account with enough money to cover the term of the lease. 

The landlord is not required to really do anything to the apartment before you rent it. Not even cleaning it. As renters were responsible to fix anything inside the apartment that goes wrong while you’re living there. So if the sink gets clogged, the expense is on us, etc. We decided to hire a company to do a deep cleaning - scrub the grout, clean the floor, inside the fridge, etc. The total cost was about 300 euros. I’m sure there will be other “hidden” costs that we haven’t anticipated. That’s why it’s sooooo important to have money saved for these types of things. If you’re planning a budget for something make sure to bump whatever number you land on by at least 10%, because there will always be something that wasn’t anticipated.

Also in Madrid it’s mandatory to get rental insurance. Luckily the rental insurance accounts for the fact that renters are responsible for maintenance type costs (at least through Santander bank). We didn’t shop around, which I know is typically considered a no-no when looking for services, but it had everything we wanted and then some. For 300 euros a year the limits are 1m euro and INCLUDES car insurance. It also covers you if something of yours gets stolen when you’re outside the home. Win/win from my perspective. 

Money isn’t always the indicator of value. Sometimes it’s time, sometimes it’s peace of mind.

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading! 

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Still acclimating and trying to find my way in this new life. You know, one of my goals dreams for myself when moving here was to find a different way of life. Instead of the intensity of climbing the corporate ladder, I wanted a life with more purpose and intention. A life that focused more on enjoyment and being present vs. being in auto mode. I was tired of the back to back endless meetings in the corporate world that seemed to just generate more work; I wanted to go and see more of the world more frequently; I wanted to learn and grow and experience new things; I wanted to help more people with my money coaching business; and I was tired of how expensive it was to have a night out of the house.

I knew I’d miss my family and friends; I knew I’d have to figure out what my coaching business was going to look like; I knew I was going to have to put myself out there and make friends. I also knew there would be challenges that I couldn’t even imagine. 

But knowing and anticipating it, doesn’t make it any easier to actually LIVE through. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t regret this. I’m still excited for all those things I dreamed of. But I also can’t ignore the reality of the emotional journey. 

The hardest part has been trying to figure out how to ease this for myself. I want to fast track to just feeling good, and have the structure of my day figured out, and know exactly how I want to spend my time. And what I’ve realized is….I can’t. 

The only thing that will help is time. So I’m working on surrendering to it. I wish letting go was easy, but it’s not. It’s much much harder than it sounds. But it doesn’t mean I won’t keep trying.

So there you go. It’s not a sexy saucy post about how exciting and adventurous everything is right now. But I will not apologize for showing the other side of this adventurous journey.

Thank you for reading! Hopefully this helps you wherever you are in your journey.

Wow, I’m going to repeat that….my first week here in Madrid. 

So, last post’s main emotion was fear….there’s a competition for first place this week. Overwhelm, excitement, joy, overwhelm again, exhilaration, and topping it off with a little sprinkle of sadness. The sadness comes from discomfort, and not quite knowing what will bring me comfort and when that will come. I know it’s silly to expect or even hope for comfort within the 1st week of moving to a new country where I barely know the language, have no permanent housing, no friends, no family, and still building a business. 

Just because I realize all of that doesn’t mean emotions behind all of that do not exist. 

Anyway, I’ll focus on some logistics instead. We’ve sort of settled in, in that we laid out some clothes (I don’t want to unpack all the luggage because then we have to pack it all up when we find our longer term apartment). Rest assured the blow dryer and diffuser available in the apartment is lovely, I know everyone was very concerned. I found Oatly!!! 🙌 Yay!! And coconut sugar! Yay again!! OMG and the MOST important, I found a gluten free bakery within a 5 minute walk from our place - Leon the Baker. The bread is SO good. So, basics are covered. 

Next, we started looking for a permanent apartment. Apparently the rental market is really hot in Madrid, everyone is moving here, go figure. The agent helping us informed us that things move really fast, so if we like something we should grab it. Something that’s different here is the renter pays the leasing agent the rental fee (1 month’s rent plus 20% tax), not the landlord. So as a renter you need at least 1 month deposit, the rental fee, and 1st month’s rent - so at a minimum you need to pay 3 months worth of rent up front. Thank goodness I’m a luxurious saver!  😉

What else can I tell you….? Oh yes! Dmitry had an encounter with a bird, LOL. We’ve been anointed! Luckily that means good luck!! It’s true, Google it. 

Separately, yesterday was a really tough day for me. It was my first round of crying. It was a culmination of checking out neighborhoods and being down on myself for not figuring out the layout of the city, realizing this move is like for real and not a 2 month thing like Paris, and just overall overwhelm. I also think being in a constant state of some sort of transition for the past 1.5 doesn’t help, but not sure how much that plays into it. 

So there you go. Week 1 is a wrap. I’m sure more happened, but I can’t recall. I think I may start documenting daily for myself like I did in Paris. We shall see….until next time. Thank you for reading. 💖

Main emotion → fear. 

Like what the f&ck are we doing?? We’re uprooting our entire life. Leaving everything and everyone we know. My beloved blow dryer with the wonderful diffuser!! And of course our family and friends too, lol.

These past few weeks have been like a whirlwind. Ever since we closed on our house at the end of April, it has felt like the speed of time has tripled. We went to stay at my sister’s for about a week, then we had our family trip to Mexico. And fast forward to today, we are a week away. 

I feel like I “should” be more excited. And it’s definitely in there, somewhere. But also a lot of fear. 

Last night (with the help of some margaritas) I realized something about myself that I don’t think I’ve ever put into words or even had the audacity to feel about myself: I’m really brave. I walk towards the things that scare me. Whether it’s changing jobs for growth and learning, to hiking a glacier in Iceland, to IVF at 42 after it didn’t work 10 years ago, to quitting the corporate grind. All of those things scared me every single time. Yet every single time, I came out on the other side enriched, with new learnings and experiences. So, while I may not really be “ready” for it, it’s time. And I KNOW this is where I’m supposed to be because life has led me here. See you on the other side!!

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