The Nordic Art of Friluftsliv
Author: Oliver Luke Delorie
Date: 2020-12-15 00:00:00+00:00
Description: Whereas the popular Danish philosophy of hygge espouses the joys of turning your home into a cosy sanctuary, the Norwegian concept of friluftsliv encourages us to get out into the great outdoors. However, friluftsliv – or 'free air life' – means much more than going on camping trips; it reflects an innate understanding of the basic human need to connect with the natural world. Rather than seeking to conquer nature – climb the highest mountain, for example – it is about simply spending time with nature and finding harmony with its rhythms. In Norway, even city dwellers are never far from fjords
Publisher: White Lion Publishing

THE NORDIC ART OF
FRILUFTSLIV
RECONNECT WITH NATURE

OLIVIER LUKE DELORIE

CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. 1 Just Be
3. 2 Play
4. 3 Contemplate
5. 4 Explore Experience
6. 5 Simple Pleasures
7. Resources
8. Picture Credits

Guide

1. Cover
2. Start of Content
3. Contents

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4

Introduction

The concept of friluftsliv (pronounced free-loofts-LEEV and translated as ‘open-air living’ or ‘free air life’) is not necessarily about climbing and conquering the highest mountains or recklessly racing across sand dunes (though both of these hair-raising activities fit within its definition). You don’t need to gear up to go outside, nor hire a guide, nor buy a GPS.

In his 1859 poem ‘Paa Vidderne’, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen expresses the concept of living a ‘free air life’ as our basic human need to be outside and connect with nature. He describes the need for time in solitude in nature to clarify one’s thoughts. Evolutionary biologist Professor Hans Gelter says ‘genuine friluftsliv is finding your way home to nature; being in nature not for an activity, but just to be there’.

Closely connected with the idea of friluftsliv is the freedom to roam. All Scandinavian countries – as evidenced by Norway’s Outdoor Recreation Act – allow free access to walk or camp almost anywhere you like, as long as you respect both locals and wildlife. Termed allemannsretten (‘everyman’s right’) in Norway, this open-air philosophy cannot help but encourage exploration, adventure and a lifelong respect for the environment.

In celebrating the sentiment of friluftsliv, this book aims to (re)align your values and priorities; for the natural rhythms of your body, mind and spirit find harmony – a feeling of home – when they are in nature. We endeavour to remind you of what is important and guide you towards the inner peace you seek by (re)turning your attention to such simple acts as just sitting in the grass and listening.

According to UN listings, Scandinavian countries consistently rank as the happiest countries on Earth, so perhaps it’s time to rekindle the spirit of friluftsliv in your life – no matter where you live – and break down the physical (and figurative) walls standing between you and the natural wonders of the world.

May you experience both the awesome and astonishing while deciphering the humble and simple, and may your (un)conscious desire to nurture a sacred relationship with nature be roused and awakened.

Oliver Luke Delorie

1

JUST BE

You don’t need anything to friluftsliv, just open the door, step outside and take a deep breath. This chapter will remind you in fifteen elementary ways that friluftsliv can also be a verb, as in ‘I’m going friluftsliving’.

Sit still

Choosing to leave comfortable modern conveniences and set out into the big world beyond our walls and roofs – unless it is instinctual to you – is often driven by nagging feelings of necessity. Uncontrollably drawn into action, we are compelled by unconscious desires to distract ourselves from simply sitting still and doing nothing. The next time you are happily relaxing on your favourite log, park bench or the peak of a majestic mountain you spent days climbing, resist the temptation to move on to the next thing until you have been there without a care for anything but fresh air. You will find stillness that rivals that of a Scandinavian spa.

Smell the roses

While attending to our responsibilities and the duties of our day-to-day lives, we can easily forget to focus on the delicate details designed to delight us. They appear everywhere, in every shape, form and guise. The trick is to refine your powers of observation – via repeated effort – and acknowledge the magic Mother Nature has conjured for you to connect with on some level (be it emotional, physical or spiritual). Every second spent out-of-doors will fuse your mind, body and spirit with an appreciation of nature’s magnificence made manifest. It is quietly whispering for you to pay attention. Are you listening?

Water

Drink it from a cool, clear creek or from your water bottle; watch it evaporate, turn into vapour, and shape itself into clouds; marvel at its fluid, molten nature as it crashes against craggy rocks or laps lazily at your toes at the calm edge of a shore. Visualize the immensity of near-endless oceans stretched across time so vast the next stops are distant lands; melt under the pounding pulse of a waterfall. Liquid and frozen, H2O is a crucial component in the construction of every living thing on Earth, a meat-and-potatoes miracle to be celebrated, cherished and conserved.

Grass nap

In season, lawns are like lush, soft-shag carpets. Their terrestrial thermostats are set just right to cool you off and provide much-needed relief from the heat. When was the last time you laid down long enough to fall asleep in a green meadow without a worry? Whether you like to conk out and snore on your back, toss and turn on your tummy or curl up snug and cosy on your side, keep a wool or fleece blanket tucked in the boot of your car because you never know when spontaneous grass naps can happen.

Get perspective

If you enjoy taking photographs, you have experienced perspective via the viewfinder that either connects – or disconnects – you from the objects you are observing. How does the distance between you and your subject change your approach to capturing images? Cameras are common companions on outdoor outings; when you bring yours along, do you find that the technology drags you deeper into a distorted (artistic) view of reality? Or does the zoom function allow you to focus your aim and commune with what you shoot in a more intimate way?

Feel the breeze

Depending where you live, midsummer winds either appear as friend or foe; they may be lovely and fragrant, flowering with the sweet scent of fruit-tree blossoms, or they may hint at the cool, crisp colours of the autumn harvest that find orchards bursting with crunchy apples and crispy pears. Norway itself rests on the edge of the Arctic Circle in a polar vortex of low pressure that produces wind so swift and brisk it can whisk you away. What will you make of the breeze blowing by your sun-creamed – or turtle-necked – neck of the woods the next time a zephyr of wind whispers in your ear when you least expect it?

Watch the sun rise and set

From the first light of a new day to the final farewell of nightfall, we worship in wonder the big flashlight in the sky in all its glowing glory. It grows our grapes so that we may make wine; it guides and enhances our experience as we gallivant across the globe; and it gives us the warmth we need to flourish and grow. These sunrises and sunsets mirror the two most miraculous moments of our lives. Try this experiment the next time you want a reminder of the (in)significance of existence: pretend your life lasted a single day; be there at the moment you are born, and then again when you pass away.

The breath of life

Unless you are working up a sweat, your brain may forget you are a living, breathing human being. The simple act of paying attention to the rhythm of your mirror-fogging abilities will put you into a mindful, meditative state of present-moment awareness that is only otherwise experienced while exercising. If you’re lucky enough to be filling your lungs with fresh Norwegian air, you can breathe even easier knowing this country is a zero-emission leader. As you wander the wilds of your closest countryside, private paddocks or farmlands further afield seeking to soak up the ecstatically euphoric ecstasy of your environment, remember that with every inhalation you are integrating with everything around you, and with every exhalation you are letting it go.

‘If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.’

Vincent van Gogh, artist

Pack light

Few friluftsliv adventures can rival a trek to Romsdalseggen ridge, one of the most beautiful hikes in Norway. Be sure to plan well though – no one enjoys lugging a heavy pack around all day. Wherever you’re heading, when you arrive at the perfect paradise, you don’t want to ruin the marvellous moment cursing your sack of stuff instead of gazing in reverence at the gorgeous view before you. If you’d rather not spend the rest of your life visiting your chiropractor on a regular basis, carefully consider what you bring with you on your next voyage. Every gram counts; you want to be leaping fences in single bounds, not falling face-first in the dirt.

Let your mind wander

If you dream of going somewhere you haven’t been before – yet prefer planning your great adventures from the comfort of your rocking chair – your mind is your best friend. All adventures – both physical and metaphysical – begin between your ears. We envisage crumbling castles high on hillsides; the wind in our sails as we cross tranquil seas; and the sound of music wafting over us as we wander through idyllic mountain meadows. Let the wistful wanderings that tug on your heartstrings lead and guide you out into the world of wonder so you can experience how free your life can be.

Peek over the edge

The experienced adventurer performs an elegant swan dive from the clifftop into the warm, clear blue water below and barely makes a splash. It appears a feat fit only for an Olympian from Mount Olympus itself. For the more cautious, crawling like a snail on our bellies up to the edge of the ridge and taking a look at what lies beneath – all from the safety of our risk-free roost – seems like the saner option. Keep your centre of gravity low as you approach (especially if it’s windy) and leave the thrill-seeking to the adrenaline junkies… unless you are one!

Gaze at the moon

The moon has been orbiting the sun – just like us – since before time began ticking. It enchants us with its waxing and waning, tugging on our tides and inspiring sensitive song lyrics. When hidden by our 1,400,000 km (870,000 mile) shadow, we see galaxies twinkle with memories of stardust travelling at the speed of light. When the moon sees the sun again, we see its slender sliver denoting the beginning of a new phase. And as its view increases, we see even more of its cosmic face until its lunar light shines at its zenith, inspiring tide-turning madness in all who are made of water.

Listen to birds

Tweeting used to conjure contemplative thoughts of birds wooing their mates with sweet songs. World over, they still whistle and coo high in the treetops transmitting their memos and missives to kith and kin. (If only they knew how we’ve co-opted this notion – hopefully we haven’t ruffled their feathers too much.) Listen and delight in the cadence of their catchy melodies; their arpeggiated warbles accent the wee hours of early morning before the sun has even woken up.

Walk

When you walk, you allow your thoughts to think for themselves (so you can enjoy some peace and quiet for once). Your body loves to move in gentle ways that stretch your muscles, even just slightly. When your blood starts flowing, you begin to perceive the perpetual patchwork of psychic input around you, so the more you meander through – and align yourself with – nature, the more you become a magnet for new ideas. What shape do these take? That’s up to you. Only you know what you are searching for when you walk out your door.

2

PLAY

If you can’t remember the last time you did something and didn’t care what anyone thought about it, this chapter will help you rekindle the joys of amusing yourself and the people you love in and with nature.

Let your inner animal out

If you could shape-shift into any animal, what critter or creature would you morph into? Have you ever imagined silently stalking your supper on your hands and knees about to pounce? Or lazing the day away nuzzled in the nook of your favourite tree like a sleepy sloth? What would life be like as a polar bear on the far-flung Svalbard archipelago 800 km (500 miles) north of the Norwegian mainland? The next time you’re out and about in the great outdoors and feeling playful, imagine you are your favourite beast or bug and bounce around like Tigger or slither soundlessly through the tall grass like a king cobra looking for a mongoose to mess with.

Rock hound

The most sluggish of aggregate mineral matter, rocks make up the outer layer of Earth’s crust and have fascinated petrologists (rock scientists) since the first of the crust-curious among us began their studies. If you are inclined towards geology and the thought of hunting, gathering, tumbling, cutting, grinding, polishing and finishing these hard and heavy gems and minerals into jewellery and other forms of petrified, fossilized art appeals, then join a club and head out on a weekend field trip. Leave your amateur lapidary (rock artist) mark behind via pebble graffiti – e.g. write on a light-coloured rock using a dark one.

Gather seashells

A treasure trove of riches awaits your scrupulous scouring of sand dunes and pebbles down by the sea. There are plenty of perfectly sandblasted seashells waiting for you half-buried in the sand. When the water is too cold to swim and the wind too swift to play catch, lay claim to your own pieces of paradise that were once tiny homes to slug-slow undersea creatures and fashion your finds into a piece of jewellery, a soap dish, a candle holder or ornaments for a tree.

Tidal pools

Tidal pools teem with a medley of marine life in such abundance that it is difficult to find anything quite like these micro-ecosystems anywhere else on Earth. Bat stars, sea stars, sea urchins and crusty crustaceans live among microscopic aquatic life-forms that all battle to survive pounding waves and temperatures that fluctuate faster than your partner’s mood on a cloudy, coffee-less, misty morning. In Norway, the fairytale ponds in the region of Sanna flourish under around-the-clock sun every summer, so time the tides and explore where the ocean meets the land. What better way to spend the day than respectfully splashing around a natural fishbowl depicting life under the sea that only you – curious and adventurous – get to see?

Have a water fight

Fun is fleeting, so frolic with folly, absorbing it like a sponge when it spills out and flows over you and the people you love. When you all tire of jumping through the sprinkler (and if squirting and splashing those you care about most with liquid sunshine is a highlight of summer), switch to water guns and position yourself near the supply so you can reload without blinking; the last thing you want is to be cornered by the kids and be shooting blanks. If this happens – and you are still standing by the tap – grab the hose, squeeze the trigger and drench everyone in sight.

‘It is a happy talent to know how to play.’

Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet

Slide down a hill

Hills are sloped and slippery for a reason. Whether powdered with snow or covered in green grass or acres of sand, they were made for sleds in all shapes and sizes. Use a piece of waxed cardboard if you must, but to the bottom you must go. Do some calculations and ‘know before you go’, strapping on your skis, snowboard or sandboard and barrel down (or gingerly sidestep) your way to the bottom of the slope before you. What lies ahead? A green-means-go bunny hill? A you-better-know-what-you’re-doing, double-black diamond run? Hopefully something more suitable to your skill and ability lies between the two. Of course, if you prefer the padding of your bottom, you can always go aking (Norwegian for tobogganing) instead.

Your Big Year

There’s such a thing as a Big Year – an informal competition among birders who attempt to identify as many species as possible by sight or sound, within a single calendar year and within a specific geographic area. Made popular in North America, initially by scouring a single state or province (or all of them), the world record for 365 days stands at 6,852. If you’re charmed by our feathered friends, lift your wings and fly! Fledgling ornithologists would do well to head to northern Norway to add puffins, kittiwakes, auks, guillemots and cormorants to their lists.

Daisy bling

Any florist will tell you there are flowers for every occasion. And royalty – like most little kids – will tell you any occasion is an opportunity for glitzy jewellery (if not a ceremony complete with handmade crown, wrist and ankle bracelets and rings for the king or queen him/herself). Pick a bouquet of daisies and with a steady hand – and the precision of a surgeon – carefully make an incision in the centre of the stem, near the end, with the tip of your finest fingernail. Now string your posy of daisies together and flaunt your floral riches in style as you prance across the (red) carpet of green grass, dancing in the dappled sunlight.

Make music

The pulsating hum of a petrol-powered leaf blower can sound like music to some. So can the high-pitched wind whistling through slender clarinet-like reeds in a marshy bog. Think of woodpeckers as jazz drummers and whales as the baritone tuba section in the symphony orchestra of nature. Create a spontaneous concert performance by pounding (or tapping) out a rhythm with two weighted sticks and imitate the scratch of the washboard-like güiro by playing a pine cone. Finally, call a camp meeting to order by blowing into a conch shell, beckoning all with its bellow. Will they listen? Depends on how much you have been practising.

Sketch

If the house is spotless and the kids have been excitedly whisked away for the weekend – and you have always imagined yourself as an artist – toss a handful of their crayons, chalk or coloured pencils and blank paper in a bag (or stop off at the art supply-laden discount store) and head for the beach, rainforest or pine bluff to find a quiet spot. In your mind’s eye, begin by tracing the shape of any structure, surface or contour that catches your attention. Now try the same thing on paper. You don’t need anyone’s stamp of approval but your own.

Skim stones

Stones don’t float, as you may have noticed. But we don’t give up trying to keep them leaping and hopping on the surface of water, regardless of the outcome. The name of the game is to beat your own personal record by throwing a flat-as-you-can-find stone across a body of water with a quick side-arm flick and counting the number of times it bounces before it sinks. By comparison, lobbing lowly pebbles into a pond can lead to pondering the meaning of life as the wavy ripples dissolve into nothing.

Wildcrafting

Throughout the untamed wilderness of your neighbourhood exist countless uncultivated plants and herbs you can harvest and juice into liquids, mix into medicine and steep into tonics, teas and tinctures. You may walk by edible and medicinal plants every day, so keep your eyes peeled like grapes because what may appear as weeds may also be wellsprings of well-being. Find a local guide who can teach you the difference between the edible and the toxic lookalikes (of which there are plenty) and get a book to help identify each. Finally, ask permission to pick before crafting your perfumed batch of potpourri from plants growing on private plots of land.

Build a sandcastle

Once you have carefully constructed the towers of your sandcastle, make sure you dig a moat and bury any potential invaders lurking nearby up to their necks in the same stuff. The last thing you want is to sustain any damage or have said marauders demolish the new residence of future random sand dwellers, who will find comfort and solace in your tunnels and turrets. Norway humbly boasts the second-longest coastline in the world, providing free reign to stack, stomp and smooth your citadel of sand anywhere you like. If you want the sands of time to be kind to your castle and ensure it stands the test of tides, adhere to your local oceanic zoning department’s setback requirements (i.e. don’t build it too close to the water’s edge).

3

CONTEMPLATE

To contemplate is to be inquisitive about something without thinking too hard about it. This chapter will support your efforts in simply observing and appreciating all nature has to offer.

Make a pilgrimage

Traditionally, believers parade their way to places of personal spiritual significance such as Mecca, Assisi or the Camino de Santiago to sanctify the beliefs of their chosen faith and honour their commitment to the principles of their ideology. Seekers of all sorts searching for a sense of enlightenment walk for days (instead of taking the train or braving long-distance buses). If you’re on a personal pilgrimage in Norway, allow patron saint Olaf to guide you and listen for a happy hei-hei (pronounced ‘hi’) that will brighten your day on your way to your next night in modest accommodations. What humble heritage site summons you with a sacred quest on two feet?

Strengthen your connection

If you have ever shed sorrowful tears over the nagging feeling you don’t belong on Earth, that you are existentially lost, that the mothership left before beaming you back up, accept this tragic fact and adapt to your new environment. (If no one has noticed you’re missing by now, take advantage of the fact it may be a while before they come back.) Every breath and every step offers an opportunity to (re)connect with where and who and what you are. Find comfort (hygga), the root of mood (hugr), in the fundamental foundations and essential elements that inspire you to establish contact. Explore them and Earth will finally feel like home.

Go geocaching

If your imagination regularly ran away as a child whenever you pored over fictional fables of fearless fortune hunters seeking sunken riches, or real-life accounts of brave and bold adventurers digging for buried treasure beside an old tree, you can now get in on the action. Using GPS and your natural navigational skills, geocachers play hide-and-seek in search of loot (also known as caches) located in various locales the world over. But be careful: friluftsliv-inspired geo fever is incurable; you may never want to stay inside again.

The bark of a tree

Similar to our own skin, the outermost layers of trees, vines and shrubs not only protect these woody plants from scorching sun and mighty winds, they also provide shelter for insects, moss and fungi. Furthermore, many mammals (including humans) eat not the sweet and brittle bark found in sweetshops, but the inner skin of most pines, slippery elms, black and yellow birch and red and black spruce (all considered edible plants). So close your eyes and carefully caress the textural nooks and crannies of tough tree bark on your coming travels; it may awaken (or restore) your extrasensory awareness of the essential biodiversity of the forest.

Pick up trash

Regardless of how you feel about the dustbin-dwelling, green-carpeted grouch from Sesame Street, all wise woodland wanderers, bright beach-bumming backpackers and carbon emission-offsetting globe-trotting gallivanters exploring the Earth know that we must protect our planet. ‘Take only photos or memories, leave only footprints’ and ‘pack it in, pack it out’ are mottos to follow, for you know – as a seeker of freedom, independence and experience in the great outdoors – it is everyone’s responsibility to preserve the character and complexion of the countryside (and cosmos) for future generations not wanting to migrate to Mars.

Leave a trail of breadcrumbs

How else will you know where to go when you get lost because you didn’t download or update the offline map and your phone powers itself off to conserve what juice it has left? Many birds eat half of their body weight a day, so if you’re thinking they will surely pass on your scattered dark rye breadcrumbs, specs of day-old sourdough spelt or pungent caraway seeds, you are mistaken. There are other ways to remember where you’ve been: bring a compass and a physical map, learn celestial navigation (connect the dots of constellations) and tell someone if you are skedaddling off the beaten track. P.S. Bring a loaf of fjellbrød just for fun.

Shimmering spider silk

When it’s dry, the necklace-like structure of spider silk – five times stronger than steel in density – functions at its best, capturing food for our often-feared eight-legged friends. Even though humans marvel at a web’s ability to collect moisture from the air, spiders aren’t too happy about it. When a web is drenched in water droplets, it’s difficult to bring home the bacon. But as the sun slowly warms the Earth as it rises higher in the sky, our glimpse of glistening morning dew also evaporates, ensuring the elegant gossamer latticework returns to work and meets its daily quota. See if you can find one.

Adopt a pet rock

Go outside and pick a rock, any rock. Now pick up a paintbrush, dip it in paint and play. Unless you are the type to place it carefully in your coat or jeans pocket and carry it with you everywhere you go, the low-maintenance domesticated stone will likely be perfectly happy sitting on your windowsill or bedside table (just as long as it can see you and you can see it). If your pebble pet ever gets lonely, make it a companion. Heck, why not create an entire village and name them all? In public and in private, everyone has their quirks, so foster as many pet rocks as you can responsibly parent.

Your nature spirit

The mischievous, elemental spiritual beings pulling the strings behind all things in nature come in all shapes and sizes, and all are tasked with a unique job description. Each ensures the endurance of Earth’s ecology. Only once your third eye has been activated will you be able to even comprehend (let alone be told) the secret password to open fairy doors to other dimensions. But if you can’t wait for an enlightened elf to offer his or her imaginary hand and whisk you off to never-never land, imagine yourself shrinking into a sprightly sprite and doing what your hulder (wood nymph) would do given free reign to run amok in the wildest of woods.

‘I like this place and could willingly waste my time in it.’

William Shakespeare, playwright, As You Like It

Magical mushrooms

Not to be confused with the psychedelic variety (whose chemical composition summons demons whilst simultaneously revealing one’s life’s purpose via the dissolution of every real and imagined barrier between all living things), the sane among us trust in the secular pastime of fungi identification. The last thing you want is to go on a one-way trip. Knowing upon which toadstools to sit is crucial (so get a manual to identify them) because edible mushrooms such as ‘chicken of the woods’ are divinely delicious when fried in garlic and butter.

Make a crop circle

Cereologists (people who study crop circles) believe the masterminds behind these mathematical, geometric designs made of bent wheat and barley are simply stalk-stomping ufologists who employ rope, ladders and planks of wood to deceive and delight us. It appears as if a gazillion strands of grass have been flash-steamed – at precise angles – between sunset and sunrise. If you get good at producing these spellbinding spectacles that seem sent from the stars, don’t let us in on your celestial secrets. Keep us bewildered and enchanted.

Winter scavenger hunt

A game of grit and resolve, a scavenger hunt conjures memories of rummaging for, and rooting out, items on the list your mum gave you on a warm sunny day during the summer holidays. But now you’re an adult and what is there to find in wintertime? First, fill a thermos with hot coffee, cocoa or gløgg (Norwegian mulled wine spiced with cinnamon, cloves and cardamom). Now gather together family and friends and bribe them to brainstorm an itemized list of seasonally inspired loot to scavenge. If this is a solo venture, ask yourself the existential question: What am I looking for, and why am I looking for it?

Turn over a new leaf

Designed primarily with the aim of permitting photosynthesis, humans eat a variety of leaves and also wrap, steam, cook, spice and flavour food with them. We dry and steep this foliage into afternoon tea, and create aromatherapeutic oils by extracting their essences. When you find yourself ambling through any green space, treat yourself to an impromptu aromatherapy session. Pick a leaf of a plant you are drawn to, tear it open and hold it up to your nose. Close your eyes and breathe in the fragrant perfume. What does it smell like? What does it remind you of? Experiment with new leaves until you find one that smells just right.

4

EXPLORE EXPERIENCE

There are as many ways to explore the world as there are people and personalities, and with exploring comes experience. The ideas in this chapter will encourage you to get outside and get a breath of ‘free air’.

The ends of the Earth

While you can get to the South Pole by land, the North Pole is in the middle of the Arctic Ocean. The distance between the two – from one end of Earth to the other – is only 13,832.88 km (8,595.35 miles) so unless you live on the equator, you are closer to one of them. Standing in serene silence on the top (or bottom) of the world on an Arctic or Antarctic expedition is a feeling you won’t get from a book or film (it will be compiled by people for whom this excursion has become routine). Are you up for an extraordinary endeavour, future polar navigator?

Strike it rich

All living things – animate and inanimate – exist for your pleasure and amusement, to be relished and cherished, coveted and preserved. You decide what matters to you, and in what quality and quantity. Your values determine how prosperous you feel, and your resources depend only upon your belief in their existence. Whether metaphorically or literally, we are all on a quest for gold in the rushing riverbed of life. Whether you hike to the Klondike with pan in hand to stake your claim or luxuriate in the abundant natural beauty surrounding you, you will always strike a vein of gold when you recognize the riches around you.

Sleep in a hammock

After stomping your way over stumps and logs or plodding through thickets, let the wind rock your comfy cradle gently back and forth by turning the timberland or taiga into a breezy bedroom and hanging your hammock between two trees. Ideally, its shape and size suit your shape and size (you tested it at home before stuffing it into your kit and sticking out your thumb to hitch a lift, right?). Your circadian rhythms change based on increasing daylight the further north you go, so bring an eye mask to be sure that you get some restful shut-eye.

Another world

Close your eyes for a minute and imagine you have just landed on a new planet. You have been tasked with exploring and documenting your findings for the rest of us. You have never been here before, and everything you see and feel and hear is new to you. What is the first thing you do? Observe, explore, touch, listen and play. Encounter the people, food, language, architecture, philosophy, climate and geography with an open mind and a patient heart. Now open your eyes and go somewhere you have never been before.

Shelter from the storm

Crawl into a cave, nestle into the nook of a big old oak tree or fashion your own shelter using branches, boughs and bits of whatever you can find. Try twisting the tender willow tendrils into a mat or recliner and upholster them with squishy moss to make your temporary home feel more cosy. You can always create a comfortable place if you are creative and clever – you don’t need resources to be resourceful. Settle in and count the imaginary sheep playfully leaping over your grass- covered hut as you find safety and security in the sanctuary-like stillness of your short-term digs.

Fly like a bird

Humans have dreamed of sprouting wings and flying since we saw birds doing it. Flying a kite, kite surfing, hang-gliding, paragliding or packing and pulling a parachute from your backpack as you fall to Earth all satisfy an aeon-long desire to hover among the clouds, lifted and lofted by wind and creative contraption (like the actor who tied a bunch of helium-filled balloons to a chair and lifted off, not knowing he was headed for a happy ending). If dreams of fabulous flying inspire you to jump into the jet stream and soar like an eagle, get the proper training, go with a guide and take wing!

‘The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness.’

John Muir, naturalist and author

Two wheels

Everywhere you can go on four wheels you can go on two (some of the best camping and hiking spots can only be accessed on two circles; four just don’t fit). Where do you want to go? And how do you want to get there? ‘Four wheels move the body and two wheels move the soul’, say advocates of dividing your wheelbase by two. As cycling converts all know, bikes run on fat and save you money, while cars run on money and can make you fat.

Grow your own food

Growing your own food is one of life’s greatest pleasures. Not only will you feel more secure knowing where your food comes from, and that you will always have enough, you will become more invested in the health of your family, friends and neighbours. Your fruits, vegetables and other products fuel the loving labours and empowering endeavours of everyone you share time with. Whether you communally plan and plant a community garden or simply grow a few of your favourite herbs on your balcony, you cannot feed the people you care about most with what you grew in your garden without pondering the paramount importance and purpose of plants in your life.

Float in a boat

Roughly 71 per cent of Earth’s surface is covered in water, so if you are wind- or powerboat-driven to go where fewer people have gone before, bobbing around on a boat is the way to get there. You can cross oceans on a globe-circumnavigating adventure, race your radio-controlled hovercraft on the pond in the park on a Sunday afternoon or float a tiny toy on a leaf raft from one end of a puddle to the other. However you get out on the water is up to you. Remember: your sea-faring Arctic ice-breaker is safe behind the breakwater in the harbour, but that’s not what you were built for.

Track down dinner

Unless your geography or culture encourages – or requires – you to hunt and fish to survive, whacking an animal (and eating it) can be a moral decision. Either you hunt and fish (and can’t imagine not doing it) or you don’t (and can’t imagine doing it). Regardless of which side of the river you pitch your tent, the celebrated act of gathering is accepted by everyone camped by the waterway; this activity entails no license, training or special gear. Finding and foraging for food with your own two hands brings rewards commensurate with your effort, skill and ability, so ask yourself: What edible flora and fauna make your mouth water?

Visit a farm

Milk a cow and make yogurt. Hypnotize the chickens and collect their eggs. Muck out the barn and keep the horses happy. Pet the llamas, feed the ducks and pick out your own pumpkin. Prune raspberry canes and hack down blackberry bushes. Stomp this year’s grapes as you sip the nectar of last year’s harvest. A farm tour is an outdoor party and everyone in nature is invited. You will get dirty while making new friends. And when you’re strategically balanced on a ladder picking plump purple plums high in a tree, feel free to sing ‘one for the bucket and one for me’.

Honour the ocean

The ocean roars and purrs as it rises and falls. The waves wash over you and salt pickles you as grains of sand stick to your skin. Hug your surfboard or boogie board and wait for the perfect surge of water to propel you forward, rather than trying to keep your balance by burying your feet in the turbulent quicksand whose shifting current can instantly imbalance you. Revere the (metaphorical) sea, ride its ripples and it will eventually settle and float you safely to shore. Simply breathe as if you are in sync with the rhythmic cadence of life’s cascading waves, even if you are just making your way along The Atlantic Road in Norway, dubbed the most beautiful drive in the world.

Light your fire

What sparks your inner flame? What fuels the blaze once it catches fire and starts burning? Your daydreams and burning desires you conjure and admire in your head and in your heart can only take shape in the external, outer world of form and function. Go outside, for you will meet them on the trail, see them in the stars and feel them in the breeze. On your next outdoor overnight, let the flickering flames that light up the night leap and illuminate the shadows where your fears lie. Now that you can see them, they can’t hide. Follow your firelight and run wild.

5

SIMPLE PLEASURES

You know deep down inside the cockles of your heart and in the corners of your soul that fun, friends, freedom and love are better when brought together in nature. This chapter will jog your memory.

Make every day Earth Day

Pledging to celebrate our planet – and our connection to it – creates a conscious bond not only between us and Earth, but also between each other. Rekindling our relationship with the source of life that sustains, feeds, waters, warms, shelters, excites and challenges us ought to be a daily ritual. From sea to sky, without land and the protective cocoon of our atmosphere, we would not survive a second. And without gratitude and reverence for all living things we will either lose our home, or it will lose us. Promise to honour the planet and it will faithfully honour you.

Under the midnight sun

At the equator, day and night are equal all year, but as you approach the North Pole, summer days linger longer, allowing you the opportunity to frolic or reflect as day turns to dusk, and then to dark, whose time this season is short. As the sun dips beneath the horizon, you find comfort knowing it won’t be long before a new day dawns again. The further north you go, the longer the light show. Watch the parties and pleasure endure with merry measure into the wee hours as you and your loved ones celebrate the twilight between darkness and daylight.

Play in the rain

Warm rain is welcome relief on a hot and dry sun-drenched day; it’s like the first spray of a sprinkler when the hose has been sitting in the sun soaking up solar rays all day. If you fend off winter every year, your big umbrella, high-priced rain gear and duck mindset are your best friends. But what about the rest of us featherless, non-down-filled humans who fear tears falling from heaven? Instead of curling up inside listening to the pitter patter on your roof, go outside and feel the pitter patter on you. One reason pluviophiles (people who love the rain) are happier is because sadness doesn’t frighten them.

Autumn in abundance

In autumn, Norway is a paradise ‘powered by nature’. The crimped and curled brittle brown, red, orange and yellow leaves falling to the ground are simply another time stamp in the seasonal cycle of life. Before slipping into a melancholic mood, brooding about the passage of time and the thought that winter is just around the corner, get out your rake and mark the moment. Cast your mind back to the time when you were a child and you conjured your own magic, waiting in patient anticipation while your mum or dad did all the work stacking the leaves in your favour. Now your happiness is up to you, so jump in!

Give a tree a hug

Oxytocin bonds you with your favourite things, and dopamine makes you feel good. Put these two heavenly hormones together and you feel as if you can do anything. Science shows people are happier, healthier and more creative and connected when they spend time with trees. If ever you haven’t met your daily quota for hugs (four for survival, eight for maintenance and twelve for growth) and are feeling unwanted or unloved, head for your nearest forest. Once you wrap your arms around a giant, old-growth cedar, you never have to let go. The best part? Trees of all shapes and sizes will always hug you back.

Get the gang together

In 2017, a United Nations committee named Norway ‘the world’s happiest country’, with close connection to friends and family being largely responsible. Thanks to technology, you have no excuse not to summon your flock of nearest and dearest to a family or school reunion, your rabble of radical activist associates to a militant meeting of the minds or your tight-knit congregation of like-minded church-going parishioners to a Sunday-stroll-slash-strawberry-tea. Beckon them from near and far, for all seek to bond via friendship and heritage, find comfort in companionship and comradeship and worship what they believe in faithful fellowship. Where will you meet and where will you go?

Soak in hot springs

What is more calming and tranquil than melting in a bubbling bath? Hot water thaws you out and soothes your sore muscles after a long day on the slopes (or after days and nights slugging through snowy woods on snowshoes in search of sanctuary). Whether you bushwhack your way through a blizzard, blaze a mountain trail across an Alpine meadow or follow the beaten path to the carpark, relax and let the hot water do what it does best. Loosen up and put your feet up, because stress and anxiety weren’t given directions to the party.

Walk barefoot

When you imagine going barefoot, do you get flashbacks of walking flat-footed – fuelled by hype and in a light trance – across burning coals at a personal development seminar? Instead, take off your shoes and squeeze cool grass between your toes or sink them into warm, soft sand. How long can you keep your balance when you promenade across a pebbly playground, or hop over a snow bank and plunge into a glacier-fed lake for a bracing dip before tip-toeing back to the hot tub to tingle? Find a foot-safe place to break the ice between you and the floor beneath your feet and revel in the sensations to be had from warm sand, cool earth or frost-tipped grass.

The end of the rainbow

What lies at the end of the rainbow? Wouldn’t you like to know? So go and find out and tell us all about it (unless you find a pot of pay dirt piled high with leprechaunian liquid assets that may be worth something to someone someday). Unicorns, fairies and gosh-knows-what-else surely lurk invisible within the technicolour mist as rain and sun squabble for supremacy. As you make your way through the refracted and dispersed light of enchanted lands, let mythical magic and fabled fairytales guide you to your treasure, for what you seek is seeking you.

‘Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.’

Henry David Thoreau, essayist, poet and philosopher

Skinny-dip

When you’ve tried everything and still don’t feel a connection to tangible terra firma or a sense of place in the unending universe, there is always a body of water, a way to get there and the midsummer opportunity to let it all go. Feel free to feel the folly of baring your beauty in nothing but your birthday suit. In the nude, in the buff, take it off. Whatever you call it, it’s the most daring, entertaining and amusing diversion for fish of all ages (even stoics stand starkly in awe of luxuriating lunatics as they dissolve into oneness with water, whatever the temperature). What are you waiting for? Strip!

Resources

Henderson, Bob, and Nils Vikander. Nature First: Outdoor Life the Friluftsliv Way.

Toronto: Natural Heritage, 2007.

Hofmann, Annette R., Carsten Gade Rolland, Kolbjørn Rafoss, and Herbert Zoglowek. Norwegian Friluftsliv: A Way of Living and Learning in Nature.

New York: Waxmann Verlag GmbH, 2018.

Isberg, Roger and Sarah. Simple Life “Friluftsliv”: People Meet Nature.

Bloomington: Trafford Publishing, 2007.

McGurk, Linda Åkeson. There’s No Such Thing as Bad Weather: A Scandinavian Mom’s Secrets for Raising Healthy, Resilient, and Confident Kids (from Friluftsliv to Hygge).

New York: Touchstone Books, 2018.

Muir, John. John of the Mountains.

Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2009.

Thoreau, Henry David. Walden.

London: Penguin Classics, 2016.

Williams, Florence. The Nature Fix: Why Nature Makes Us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative.

New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2017.

Picture Credits

2, 10, 42, 72, 102, 132 Shutterstock/krrowl48; 5, 106 Shutterstock/Lukasz Kochanek; 7 Shutterstock/baranq; 8 Shutterstock/justsolove; 13 Shutterstock/Titova Iuliia; 15 Shutterstock/kuni---ka; 16 Shutterstock/PrasongTakham; 17 Shutterstock/Becky Starsmore; 19 Shutterstock/AnjelikaGr; 21 Shutterstock/REDPIXEL.PL; 22 Shutterstock/optimarc; 24 Shutterstock/Yuriy Kulik; 25 Shutterstock/Yury Smelov; 26 Shutterstock/fizkes; 29 Shutterstock/Andrew Mayovskyy; 30 Shutterstock/Konstantin Egorychev; 31 Shutterstock/Brian Goodman; 33 Shutterstock/M Vilaret; 35 Shutterstock/evenfh; 36 Shutterstock/kdshutterman; 38 Shutterstock/Vishnevskiy Vasily; 39 Shutterstock/ra3rn; 41 Shutterstock/In Green; 45 Shutterstock/Vlada Cech; 46 Shutterstock/Lukina Anna; 47 Shutterstock/Dario Lo Presti; 49 Shutterstock/LadyAtlantis; 51 Shutterstock/Robert D Young; 52 Shutterstock/mykhailo pavlenko; 55 Shutterstock/Haywiremedia; 57 Shutterstock/DGLimages; 58 Shutterstock/Blue Planet Studio; 60 Shutterstock/UmFOTO; 61 Shutterstock/Claire Plumridge; 62 Shutterstock/David Dennis; 65 Shutterstock/Christian Mueller; 67 Shutterstock/SteAck; 68 Shutterstock/Henri Koskinen; 69 Shutterstock/Anna Chudinovskykh; 71 Shutterstock/Zepedrocoelho; 75 Shutterstock/Katepax; 77 Shutterstock/Denis Belitsky; 78 Shutterstock/Radu Bercan; 79 Shutterstock/TonelloPhotography; 80 Shutterstock/ErethoroN; 83 Shutterstock/olmarmar; 84 Shutterstock/WDnet Creation; 85 Shutterstock/Boltenkoff; 87 Shutterstock/Hellen Grig; 89 Shutterstock/ziche77; 91 Shutterstock/ju-see; 93 Shutterstock/Bildagentur Zoonar GmbH; 95 Shutterstock/Brum; 97 Shutterstock/Markus Gann; 98 Shutterstock/Repina Valeriya; 99 Shutterstock/seeyou; 101 Shutterstock/mycteria; 105 Shutterstock/happyphotons; 107 Shutterstock/Phawat; 109 Shutterstock/Canon Shooter; 110 Shutterstock/Zhukova Valentyna; 112 Shutterstock/Tanes Ngamsom; 115 Shutterstock/framedbythomas; 117 Shutterstock/Ruslan Ivantsov; 118 Shutterstock/gorillaimages; 120 Shutterstock/Parinya Feungchan; 121 Shutterstock/Daria Arnautova; 123 Shutterstock/anthony heflin; 125 Shutterstock/fuujin; 126 Shutterstock/The Len; 129 Shutterstock/Kelly Headrick; 131 Shutterstock/solarseven; 135 Shutterstock/Aphelleon; 136 Shutterstock/luri; 139 Shutterstock/A3pfamily; 140 Shutterstock/Africa Studio; 142 Shutterstock/Maya Kruchankova; 143 Shutterstock/StratfordProductions; 145 Shutterstock/IMG Stock Studio; 146 Shutterstock/Gorodisskij; 147 Shutterstock/Arcady; 149 Shutterstock/eakkaluktemwanich; 150 Shutterstock/muratart; 153 Shutterstock/iravgustin; 155 Shutterstock/Mayer George; 156 Shutterstock/LaMiaFotografia; 158 Shutterstock/Vadven.

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First published in 2020 by White Lion Publishing,
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