Category: diary

ARCTIC UNICORN

This year I dressed up as a unicorn for Halloween.

Scary?

Maybe not. But I got to fulfill my dream of being a unicorn for a night, I was happy and that’s what matters.

My friend, this lovely girl…

Halloween19-IMG_7228

…threw a Halloween party in her spooky house. She has kids, and after «trick and treating» with them on the 31th of October, it was time for the adults to get childish yesterday.

I got really drunk. It matters because I obviously needed a refreshed lesson on mixing alcohols. I solemnly swear I’ve learned it now. I’m declaring white month. In the spirit of the arctic unicorn! No more spirits, but more yoga. The past few weeks have been a whirlpool of action. Now it’s time to land 🙂

*Which means sleeping more, reading and writing more, getting ready for winter. #healthymind #healthylife

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Back. In white

How wonderful it is to be back, catching huge snow flakes on my eyelashes, getting a glimpse of the northern lights at night time, traveling across the border to Russia for pelmeni… The head image was shot from the top of the stairs of Nikels Cultural Palace.

Cultural palace in Nikel, Russia 26.10.19
Cultural palace in Nikel, Russia 26.10.19

Life has been running nonstop since I got home from vacation. We celebrated the 75th anniversary of the region where I live as being freed from nazi-occupation. That was last week. Huge celebration. King Harald and several ministers were in attendance in Kirkenes:

Skjermbilde 2019-10-28 kl. 19.38.36

And my mom ❤

She’s visiting now.

00-HK-KN-NOV09881_1
Mamsi @Nikel

She told me this joke today:

The child turned out to be allergic to the cat. We had to give it out for adoption. Then try again. All children can’t be allergic to cats!

Have a nice day 😉

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Big Buddha – check

My trip to Hong Kong didn’t go as planned, if I can even claim that I had a plan.

It was more like I travelled with a loose idea of places I should visit, marked in Google Maps, with one place being especially important: The Big Buddha.

This guy.

Big Buddha in Hong Kong
Hey there!

I visited him on a Monday. Alone. It made me realize things, crazy things, like the fact that I don’t like traveling alone without a purpose. I love sharing experiences with other people. Otherwise you have to find meaningful ways to occupy yourself, which is how I ended up taking series of selfies and smiling at a lot of random people.

00-HK-KN-20191014_155931_1
selfie-moment

Although I didn’t quite find the right insta-filter to catch the mood of this day, I made a video ↓ #plansinterrupted #lonelytraveler

It begins with me sharing my fear of heights with my phone, in a glass elevator cabin far above ground. Not to say that I didn’t enjoy myself while #travelingalone. It simply wasn’t what I expected to do and my memories are colored by this filter I can’t quite name.

Let’s call it Mood E.

Po Lin Monastery - Hong Kong

The sky looked like it would cry any minute, which it eventually did. Crowds were forecast, but I found a quiet and peaceful place. I waved at Buddha, fired up incense and prayed for patience and forgiveness at the Po Lin monastery. The rain gave me the perfect opportunity to hide in the cute souvenir shops of Ngong Ping village, where I bought these kittens:

img_0007
Lucky cats for everything in life ❤

It’s nice to be back home.

To be continued…

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Documenting daydreams

Somewhere in between sleep and reality last night, I remembered a cow. Nice thoughts followed. I couldn’t convince myself that I would remember them in the morning, although I really tried, and so I wrote them down:

Writing, documenting, publishing. It’s a nice method to process life and an excellent way to remember the important things.

It’s funny how one of the scenes I remember most clearly from Haiti is the skinny cow from this post:

Skjermbilde 2019-06-27 kl. 21.41.03

This cow was shared because I encountered her while being absolutely high on happiness. I get closer to that space just from remembering that overwhelming grateful feeling. I love you cow, I felt. And feel.

The essence of this entry?

When you realize that your spiritual cow guide probably is a bull, don’t miss the point. If you can find one reason to smile right now, don’t overthink it – just do it.

.

The original cow post.

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Up north, just across the border, in Zapolyarnij, Russia. Dark season, the darkest month.

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Lapland holidays

When you’re living in the great north, country boundaries aren’t that big of a deal as in more populated areas. No matter if you live in the northern Norway, Finland, Sweden or Russia – you live behind the wall (you get it, if you’ve seen GOT). People up north share a lot of traditions and struggles, and there is a lot of border crossing going on. Which is why I didn’t think of going to Finnish Saariselkä yesterday as a big deal.

I didn’t take a single photo.

Whyyy,  Ksenia?

._.

Saariselkä with it’s 350 inhabitants was pretty much as expected: Quiet, empty and moody. The rain was poring down most of the day with no sight of the midnight sun. The Acho-shop was closed.

Midsummer’s Day is a Holiday in Finland. So after a delicious dinner at the hotel, we found the only open bar “downtown”. Germany beat Sweden 2-1 in the World Cup, as we were drinking fresh blueberry shots with cream while kind of watching the game.

I really wish I had some proper photos to share from this trip (not counting the selfies or snaps on my iphone).

Recommendation: If you go to Finland you MUST drink Minttu Cacao with cream! It’s delicious.

Other things you probably should do in Finland – not in the midnight sun season, though ^^

Lapland, Visit Finland

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Hello there, blog

Well.

It seems I’m starting yet another post with complains about how I don’t update you often enough. I’m pretty sure nobody in the whole world cares about why you have not been getting any new content for a while. Which is why this post is dedicated specifically to you, my outdated online journal.

What’s the point of having a blog in 2018 anyways?

You were created to be the place where I could showcase my photography and write about the stuff that matter. Now, all half decent pics go to Instagram, while I write about the “important stuff” as I my job. Which makes me want to forget everything about the existence of “important stuff” when my shift is done.

Perhaps it’s time to realize that my days of blogging are over? I want to lock the box.

Yet it feels like I would also be locking up my window to the internet world, the one outside the feeds and echo chambers of the social media where the people I know post their amazing vacation life and puppies. It’s through WordPress (and some odd forums) I have chatted with random people all over the world, read their everyday stories and thoughts, and felt that I’m a part of a global internet community. It looks like Facebook groups are the right place to seek that feeling now.

So what now, blog. Is it over for us?

As I write it, I realize that the surest way for me to keep up with an activity must be to determine that “I’m never doing that again”.

Stop entertaining the dream that one day I’ll become a real blogger who shares her thoughts and images on an everyday basis, making people laugh and cry and understand what life is all about? Never! (So what if my mom (and maybe my ex) are my steadiest followers?)

Even if my sketchy dream above doesn’t come true, at least I’ll have a random collection of online memories to flip through on hangover days. So we’re not doing the farewell scene after all, blog. In fact, I promise to never write the “Ops, it’s been a while…” speech again  I will never work out ever again! No guilt! I will just not do it!!!

…

So I’ll jut go on rambling about nothing now and then, maybe share some photos from my last vacation some day. I bet you are looking forward to that!

– and maybe I’ll find a new blogger friend to exchange RAWs or do photo challenges with? 

Kenya 2018

The promised vacation pic.

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I got to visit an interesting place after work 😁 #Andersgrotta #bombshelter ⭐️ #bomberommet i #Kirkenes 👍 It was #cool #cold and a little scary 😅

Andersgrotta bomb shelter

Then I got home (crazy hungry) and realized that my car had disappeared while I was away.

My kind neighbor had moved it into our garage.

I wish I hadn’t called the police 👮‍♀️👮‍♂️ #embarrassed #facepalm …Oh well 😅

Initially, my insta-plan for the day was to post a mopey #selfie or a sad cloud and whine about how boring my life is when I’m not traveling 😂 Lesson learned.

Don’t overlook the little good things that happen every day, be open to them, stay positive and don’t call the police before calling your neighbor. 🙌

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Refresh.

Hey there!

It’s been forever since my last post, and even longer since I started this blog. I haven’t changed very much though – and that’s quite frightening.

There have been changes in my life situation, that’s for sure. I’m no longer broke and unemployed. I found love. Then it broke. I’ve moved to a place some people would describe as «arctic wilderness». I live in Norway however, so there’s a limit to how wild it gets around here. I’m still a brat: In my late twenties and still unsatisfied with myself and my life, waiting for the next Monday to turn it all around.

I suspect I’ve had a mild depression for a while now. The winter blues came early this time. Then there’s the fact that winters last full eight months up here. I really shouldn’t complain, with all the privileges I have, but duuuuuude… It’s been dark.

I’m not sure when it happened, but I guess I have decided to empty my saving account. It’s not that huge (my years of full employment can easily be counted) and what are money for anyway? They bring me no pleasure slowly growing in the bank.

Which is why I have bought a camera and ticket to Kenya. I got four weeks off from work.

I need to fulfill some dreams.

Join me for the journey.

  • Ksenia

PS.

Today I upgraded to premium account.

Do you like my new theme?

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