First Introduction to Norway/Scandinavia and How It Made Me Feel

First of all, I need to confess that my first trip to Norway and Scandinavia was merely motivated by the fact that I had no burning desire to see new places in the continental Europe in addition to those places that I had already seen. Even though this first trip to Scandinavia was not triggered by exciting reasons, I can today say that this 2009 trip has to great extent changed my life. Scandinavia is today my favorite region in the entire World. 

While every single region of Norway is amazingly beautiful, I still remember that exact place and moment, which had a great impact on the way I today perceive the World, the concept of travel and the nature as a whole. Thanks to the first image that you see on this post – depicting the view in Hamnoy region of Lofoten Islands where I have had a chance to visit three times  – I understood that the nature will always be stronger and more influential than us humans and the best we can do is to follow its rhythm instead of running against it. I believe that this is the reason why Scandinavians are today known to be among the most modest group of people in the World. They live in a region where they continuously experience both the power and the supremacy of the nature making them better understand the place they occupy in this World. 

Scandinavians are similarly among the leading nations in terms of the understanding of design which is in total harmony with the nature. Their connection to the nature is so strong that this harmony is not only felt in the rural areas. You can sense the prioritization of nature above any man made structure in the largest Scandinavian capitals such as Stockholm and Oslo as well. The architecture is in full harmony with the nature and the identity of the real dominant power is always out in the open – nature over humans. The people of Scandinavia do not aim to get ahead of the nature with their personalities or the products that they put out in the World, they just go along with many wonders the nature has to offer to us if we are open to it. 

If you have never been to Scandinavia and especially to Norway, I strongly recommend that you consider it for your next trip. A trip to Scandinavia will offer much more than a mere travel experience and will probably change the way you perceive the World around you.