While Neal and I have been pretty lucky to have relatively seamless travel experiences, we have dealt with our fair share of adversity. Like that time we almost got stuck in Vietnam in 2020 due to COVID. Or that time Neal lost my passport the day before our flight to France on a federal holiday weekend. Or that time we both had a GI bug in the middle of the Jordanian desert. This time, it was Jai’s turn to throw a wrench in the plan: the day before we were to leave to Norway, we took a detour to spend the day at Children’s Hospital LA. He’s doing great now, but we had a rough few days. There was no question that we would have to postpone, if not cancel, the entire trip. So instead of boarding our redeye flight to Oslo, we took the next flight home to take care of our son.
Luckily, Jai bounced back relatively quickly, but I wasn’t willing to rebook anything unless I knew for sure he’d be ready. We were flying Air France, and I will say, the few times we had to make large last-minute changes, they were extremely accommodating and helpful. In this case, we were able to recoup all of our miles and the charge for having a lap child for a $150 fee that would be refunded with a doctor’s note. The Airbnb I had booked for our first week in Oslo was also refundable. Once we knew Jai was on the mend and after hours of discussion on if we were still going to go, we were able to rebook our flights and lodging.
So why Norway in the winter? We love traveling to Europe in general during this time, as the lights, the markets, and the weather usher in the holiday season for us. Yet for some reason, visiting this part of the world seemed so daunting for reasons I cannot actually pinpoint. When our friends Sophie and Christian returned to her hometown of Oslo to lay down roots, it felt like the perfect opportunity to get over that mental hurdle.
Winter Prep
Taking a California baby to Norway in the winter meant having to buy true winter gear. Wool is king here, and for good reason. It is great at regulating temperature, easy to layer, is breathable, and moisture-wicking. Sophie made it a point that I buy Scandinavian wool in particular, not just because it is incredibly soft, but because these particular sheep, due to what they eat and the cool climate in which they are raised, produce a wool that is essentially bacteriostatic. As a result, their products don’t need to be treated with any pesticides or chemicals. Each Scandinavian country has its go-to brands. In Norway, Lillelam, Little Mountains, and Lily and Leopold are popular local brands. Getting them to the US, though, was quite difficult and quite expensive. I instead went with Joha, one of the largest producers of quality wool products that is popular not just in Norway but all over Europe, making it much easier to obtain. I bought these products through the website Childrensalon, and I used these pieces as a base layer for whatever sweaters and pants he would wear over them. They also sell ridiculously warm gloves and socks and, most importantly, a balaclava; beanies are cute and all, but you try keeping that on a one-year-old for longer than 5 minutes. That, and it provided extra protection to the neck. If I was babywearing, I’d put a one-piece snowsuit on him (mine is not in stock anymore but here’s the link to a similar product). Since he would be in a stroller quite a bit, it was important to buy a quality stroller muff. I went again with a Norwegian brand, Voksi. And again, like the other Norwegian products, it was hard to get in the US; Amazon does offer a few options which were quite expensive. I cheated and had Sophie buy it for us in Norway and she met us at the airport with it. A more easily-obtainable quality product is the French brand 7am Enfant; I have their car seat cocoon. You may ask, why buy all of this for a California kid who doesn’t spend that much time in a real winter? First off, the clothes are just so cute, and he can wear them as a single layer back home. Also, since we do go skiing, go to the mountains, and do cold-weather activities locally, the stroller muff will definitely be used. It also has an extender so it can be used for years to come. That, and he can be in a single layer on stroller walks around our neighborhood.
Oslo, Scandi-style
I’ve always had an appreciation for the Scandinavian aesthetic: modern without being cold, sleek but still liveable, simple but not sparse. There is a casual elegance, marrying both form and function. We had all of these grand plans to have a full week in Oslo and its surrounding areas, but since we shaved a week off due to Jai’s illness, we really prioritized what our friends thought was important, and I’m so glad we did.
Oslo, the capital of Norway, is a lively city that has world-class museums, a great food scene, and has a rich tradition of outdoor activities. The city itself is an homage to the Scandinavian aesthetic, with a very functional public transportation system, numerous manicured public parks, and a mix of beautiful modern buildings (the opera house, the national museum, and the Munch are just some examples) that contrast beautifully with the forest and fjord that envelop the city. It is not overwhelming in size and is quite easy to get around. The different neighborhoods also have unique personalities. Grünerløkka is a vibrant neighborhood on the east side of Oslo with a bohemian vibe, with all the hipster coffee shops, trendy restaurants, and street art that you would expect. This contrasts with Frogner, on the city’s west side, which has a distinctly more upscale, old-money feel, with Parisian style architecture, high-end boutiques, and quaint restaurants and cafes. This vibe is quite different to the Aker Brygge waterfront neighborhood which is just to its south, known for its modern architecture. The foil to this is the more traditional architecture in the Gamle Oslo neighborhood, though it also houses the Munch museum, a Mecca for contemporary exhibits. The city center is what you would expect from any major metropolitan center with all of the international brands and businesses, and like in many European cities, there’s a royal residence thrown in.
We chose to stay in the Frogner neighborhood for a few reasons. Having Jai with us, space was key, and I didn’t want to be confined to a hotel room. Airbnb is a great option in Oslo, and we fell in love with ours. It was spacious, warm, and comfortable, executing Scandinavian design perfectly. As an added bonus, because the couple who live here have a young child as well, it was already somewhat baby proofed; think rounded table edges and low-set furniture. It also had plenty of toys for Jai to play with. All of this came in handy when Jai remained jet lagged until the last few days of our trip (of course) and would be ready to start his day at 4am. Our hosts were incredibly responsive and wonderful, so if you’re ever in Oslo and this property happens to be available, don’t sleep on it.
I wish we had more time here. We had such a great time wandering through the unique neighborhoods, enjoying the holiday lights, exploring the many parks, and trying some fun restaurants. It is truly kid-friendly here; high chairs were readily available everywhere and no one batted an eyelash if you brought a baby to a traditionally more adult, swanky environment. Something as simple as where to change a diaper, which can be anxiety provoking in the US, is a non-issue; most places have dedicated rooms for this, not just a crappy plastic fold-down over the toilet in a cramped restroom stall. Because of our time restriction, we didn’t get to truly explore the world-class museums the city has to offer or go out on the fjord or explore the surrounding woods. However I’m so eternally grateful to our friends, as we got to have a true local’s experience, including traditional family dinners and festive holiday parties.
Lofoten: a winter wonderland
Neal usually has one request per trip we take. For this one, he wanted to attempt to see the Northern lights. Also known as aurora borealis, this is a phenomenon that is the result of a disturbance in the Earth’s magnetosphere due to solar winds.There are quite a few options in Norway, the most popular being Tromsø, located just off the mainland in northern Norway and in the middle of the Auroral Zone, a ring that encircles the geomagnetic poles, making it a prime location to see the Northern lights. There is plenty of infrastructure here, with many lodges and hotels and dozens of tour groups to help you chase this phenomenon. What do I mean by chase? In order to see the aurora, you have to have the right conditions: no clouds, solar winds, and a dark sky. Tours provide guides that can interpret aurora forecasts and take you to prime viewing locations which are usually away from any towns. It’s not a guarantee to see the Northern lights, so these tours often offer the best likelihood of success. While this would have been something Neal and I would have done had it been just the two of us, the idea of lugging a one-year-old with us in the middle of the night in the freezing cold sounded awful. Instead, I chose to try to optimize our location and hope for the best. This is how I settled on the Lofoten Islands.
Located at 68° North, Lofoten is also inside the Auroral Zone. The rugged beauty is unlike anything I’ve seen. This time of year, you never see the sun given how high in the Arctic circle it is. You have a few hours of daylight where it is perpetually golden hour, as the sun doesn’t rise above the horizon. The steely blue water turns ebony in color, contrasting with the stark white dusting of snow covering the rustic shores and craggy peaks. The bright red and yellow fishing cottages that dot this landscape glow like little gems. While it’s not a big place, to get anywhere you are driving on meandering one-lane roads that hug the winding coastline, interspersed with narrow bridges and impressive tunnels. In the winter, you cannot fly into Svolvær, the main hub. Instead, we flew into Evenes, which despite being less than 130 miles away, took approximately 4 hours to drive due to the route and the winter weather; lucky for us, we arrived just in time to drive through a snowstorm.
We chose to stay at the Lofoten Links Lodges, located at Hov, on Gimsøy Island. They have a particular advantage in that they are remote, thus avoiding any light pollution, and they are in the island’s northern edge facing directly north towards the Norwegian Sea, optimizing viewing. You can either book a room in a lodge with a shared living space and kitchen or book an entire lodge for yourself. We chose the latter as it gave us way more space (not that we needed 3 bedrooms) and privacy. I specifically chose Lodge 12 due to the magnificent glass-encased living space and the fact that it has its own hot tub. Having a kitchen was a must for us, as given how remote it is and the fact that it is low season in Lofoten, there’s not a lot of restaurants nearby, let alone ones that would be open.
The weather when we arrived made me nervous. It alternated between heavy snow flurries, howling winds, and a complete stillness seemingly every 10 minutes. I was a little worried that we wouldn’t be able to even step outside, let alone see the Northern lights at this point. However, the next 2 days were calm and dry, and Aurora put on a magnificent show that we watched for 2 hours from the comfort of our living room. The pictures are breathtaking, but it is important to note that in person, it is more muted. Think subtle greens and pinks dancing in giant ribbons of smoke as opposed to a full-on EDM show. It was magnificent, a true core memory.
Sleep (or lack thereof)
We have been so lucky that Jai has been a great sleeper. We clearly took those 11-hour independent nights for granted, because on this trip, Jai decided, now that he’s one, to remind us of how it was when he was a newborn. We were lucky to get maybe 2 to 3 hour stretches of “sleep” before he’d wake up screaming like a banshee in his crib. I wonder if part of it was that he got used to us holding him and rocking him, even sleeping on us, for the week he was sick. It’s also right around that time when nap transitions are happening and separation anxiety is a thing. Jet lag didn’t help either, as he was in full-on party mode at 4am. We were so desperate we tried co-sleeping, which failed miserably as Jai took it to be a game; any time we’d try to lie down with him, he’d start growling and proceed to tackle you and laugh. Days were easier in that I didn’t even bother trying to put him down in a crib for a nap, rather he’d just pass out in his stroller. Spoiler alert: sleep was a disaster for most of the trip, and of course our first full night of sleep was our last two days, so I don’t have any actual tips that work. However, I do have some insights for next time. I’d like to put it out there that had we had our full 2 weeks, this probably wouldn’t have been as painful. For starters, he’d have a full week of a stable environment without any actual travel to help him acclimate. I think what truly led to the downward spiral was the fact that we arrived late Saturday and were on a very early flight to Lofoten 36 hours later; he had no chance to even attempt a full night of sleep. Then, as he was likely starting to acclimate, we had another very early flight (meaning leaving at 4:30am) to get back to Oslo. Unfortunately, this had to be done so that we would actually get to our destinations safely due to weather and light conditions, however I think he would have done much better had we had a whole week prior. Another mistake I likely made was on that very first day. He woke up at 4am and played, but then took an almost 5 hour nap in the morning. I should have either capped that to no more than 2 or 3 hours to make it not seem like night sleep or, instead of trying to again put him down for his normal bedtime, just kept him up late.
This trip was hard. From the moment Jai got sick, we were on our toes shuffling and rearranging. Add sleep-deprivation to this and it did cause us to question if we were crazy, if it was actually worth it. At times, we felt like we made a huge mistake in continuing on. But then I remember his face when he was surrounded by lights at Oslo’s Jul I Vinterland, his little happy dance when he tried game meats and pickled veggies for the first time, his elation when he discovered he could walk with a traditional Brio pushcart, his confusion when he stared out over the Norwegian Sea to see the Northern lights—that makes it worth it. The fact that Neal and I, not once, got mad at or questioned each other, rather worked as a team and still had fun—that makes it worth it. Some of the most beautiful things in life, these memories and experiences, are hard-earned. I wouldn’t change a thing. Well, other than more sleep =p
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