“Better to see something once, than to hear about it a thousand times.”
– Asian proverb

February 26th 2018 I had officially been travelling for a whole year. I celebrated the day by checking off a bucket list item: Cu Chi Tunnels. The tunnels the Viet Cong used in their resistance against the US in the Vietnam War. It’s an item that was high up on my list since I started planning this trip so I organized it for this day to appropriately mark the date.

Exactly one year ago Andreas and Barbro drove me to Gardermoen to see me off. We had coffee, talked about life and how we’d miss each other, then I told them to leave before I started queueing for security because I knew I wold just start crying if I saw them waving every time I turned around… I still remember the sad smile Barbro gave me before they turned and walked away. In line for security I was seriously thinking “what the hell did I just do?”. Fortunately that feeling disappeared pretty quickly and by the time my stuff was cleared I was excited.

I’d sold my apartment, quit my job, sold or donated pretty much everything else I owned… The time had come for me to follow through with my adventurous plan. So I put myself on a plane bound for Zimbabwe, Africa.

A year later I have visited 20 countries travelled over 50 000 km, sustained one injury and been really sick once. I’ve met so many awesome people who still enrich my life today and I’ve had more experiences than I can actually count. I will, however, try to slap down some stats, because I like that stuff.

 

STATS YEAR 1

Countries visited: 20
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique, Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Hungary, Egypt, Jordan, UAE, Nepal, Malaysia, Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam

Flights: 19

Distance travelled: 32984 miles / 53083 km (flights/long distance buses/trains)

Injuries/Disease: Two days of Malaria symptoms in Zimbabwe & a sprained ankle in Tanzania

Spontaneous music concerts: 2 – Sting in Budapest, Armin van Buuren in KL

Visits from home: 2 (Maja & my mother in Budapest)

Trips back to Norway: 0

Time spent deleting spam-mail: 95 million hours 😛 (for some reason this bullshit is a lot more noticeable to me now)

 

COSTS

MAJOR TRANSPORT: 39422 NOK / $5005 (flights/long distance buses/trains)
VISAS: 4102 NOK / $520
ACCOMMODATION: 70649 NOK / $8987
(Not including Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique & parts of Tanzania (project/tour included accommodation). Also, not included is my night at Burj Al Arab, see “Extras”)
FOOD: 28099 NOK / $3568
(Not including parts of Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique & parts of Tanzania – project/tour included some meals)
DRINK (incl. non-alcoholic): 10232 NOK / $1299

NECESSITIES: 18447 NOK / $2347
(Big category, guys. It includes f.ex. shampoo, toiletries, replacing necessary stuff like when my handbag broke, medicine, birthday candles and funz like that, sending stuff home etc)
EXCURSIONS/MUSEUMS: 17188 NOK / $2182
SOUVENIRS: 9279 NOK / $1178
TAXI/UBER: 7891 NOK / $1001
CLOTHES: 5442 NOK / $690 (some of these are “souvenirs”, but I’ve put all clothing bought in this category)
TIPS: 5205 NOK / $600
TOUCHNOTE: 1446 NOK / $183 (topup of credits (“stamps”) in the app that I use to send cards)
CHARITIES: 1239 NOK / $158
LAUNDRY: 782 NOK / $99
WIFI: 517 NOK / $66
ATM CHARGE: 488 NOK / $62 (this is not necessarily 100 % accurate, sometimes there is no charge and because of that I have forgotten to log this “religiously”, I may have missed some fees)
BRIBE (Malawi): 23 NOK / $3

EXTRAS
Lion Project in Zimbabwe: 22100 NOK / $2806
Tour (Victoria Falls, Botswana, Namibia to Cape Town): 16700 NOK / $2120
Tour (Mozambique): 16333 NOK / $2073
Tour (Tanzania): 15000 NOK / $1904
Tour (Ethiopia): 28000 NOK/ $3298
Dubai (a night at the Burj Al Arab): 16000 NOK / $2031

 

HIGHLIGHTS

Bucket List highlights: Lion Project (Zimbabwe), Okavango Delta (Botswana), Dune 45 (Namibia), Cage diving with Great White sharks (South Africa), Snorkelling with whale shark (Mozambique), Ilala Ferry (Malawi), Serengeti/Ngorongoro (Tanzania), Karen Blixen’s house (Kenya), Church of St. George (Ethiopia), Pyramids of Giza (Egypt), Petra (Jordan), Burj Al Arab (Dubai), Petronas Towers (KL) (yes, really. I like buildings, ok? Shaddap), Bayon and Angkor Wat (Cambodia), Cu Chi tunnels (Vietnam)

Favourite countries so far: Malawi, Tanzania, Malaysia

Again I want to thank all the awesome people I met on my trip who helped make it fantastic. And thank you to all my friends back home who send me pictures and messages of ecouragement ❤ This adventure would feel a lot lonelier without you.