Waking up at 4am to climb a mountain is my kind of jam, and luckily I have friends who don’t mind to tag along. This was only the beginning of what would turn in to a 10-hour day traversing a beautiful ridgeline covered in tons of fresh snow, all under a perfectly blue sky.
Hi dear all,
Man, has it been a while since I posted anything on here. A looot has happened in the year and a half that has passed and for those of you who hasn’t followed I’m currently living and adventuring in the Southern Alps of New Zealand. This photo was taken a few weeks ago when me and an awesomly crazy human being and friend from Alaska took off to Fiordland National Park chasing sunshine, stars and quality rock climbing. We found all of the above.
I truly believe in following my heart. To live my passions and stay excited about the simple fact that I am alive. I think that when you stop being excited by things, when you lose that wonderful, childish, pure sense of excited exhilaration, then you’re doing life wrong.
Life is far better following excitement, and chasing those ‘wow’ moments where there is simply nothing to do other than just stop, take a breath, and soak it all in.
I’ve been pretty darn true to myself for the past three years, ever since I decided to let go of a well paying job and what could have turned into a quite “successful” career back in Scandinavia. But thankfully I had already spent years of my life traveling and living abroad and I thus knew there was so much more to life, and that the kind of success I was looking for was of a way different nature.
So I bought a one way ticket to Peru, packed my backpack and took off into the unknown, without much expectation, but with tons of excitement. Some people call me brave. A girl venturing out in the world on her own, but hearing that just made me slightly upset. Why should my gender ever stop me from living my dreams? The thought of locking myself up in my room at home for the rest of my life and neglect all the joys the world has to offer in order to stay safe is way more scary to me. To push ourselves outside our comfort zones is so healthy, and I find it very sad to see how many people let fear limit themselves from living life fully.
One fellow blogger once so wisely put it: “When you are following the will of the Universe, when you are following your heart’s true desire, even if it looks and feels like jumping off a cliff into the unknown, all the doors will open”. There is an immense amount of truth to that, and I’ve experienced it firsthand.
Taking off into the unknown sure is scary at times, but when I take a moment to actually look back at what I’ve achieved in these three years, I can almost not handle the gratitude that I feel. As soon as I finally let go of the thought of how I “should” live my life, when I let myself free and started following my desires, I’ve been rewarded with the most amazing experiences and moments of joy. And they keep on coming. A few months ago I got my dream job as a travel photographer, paid to go capture the charm and beauty in different corners around the world. I’m not sure how long the assignments are gonna keep on coming, but I do know that I’m happy and super excited to be alive, and that’s all I really need.
So don’t fight the current of your heart. Swim with it, and all the doors will open.
Next week, India.
Added charm to an already charming town, provided by a countless number of old but well taken care of Volkswagen Beetles. Oaxaca, southern Mexico. Probably my favorite stop-over on my travels through this colurful country.
11 am Bloody Mary breakfast in Portland, Oregon. It had been a long night.
6am, the alarm goes off. I open my eyes, and this is what I see.
Some people fear it, I love it. If the way to someone’s heart is through the stomach, I’ve got my heart split between hundreds of street vendors in random town squares, city streets and side alleys all over the globe by now.
León, Nicaragua.
Lichnos Beach, northwestern Greece. The economy may be collapsing but the natural beauty of this country remains.
I never considered myself addicted to coffee and caffeine, but since my trip to Greece and the intense two weeks of photo and video editing that followed in June, that lovely brown liquid has slowly started to take over my life. Which is why I decided to break up with it for a while and regain control. It hurts, it literally does, and all I can think of are those gorgeous green rolling hills in Salento, in the coffee region in central Colombia. Best coffee I ever tasted and one of my favourite spots in Latin America so far.
Then be the tree.
Kananaskis Country, Alberta, Canada.
When I drove though the heart of the Canadian Rockies on my birthday, 1,5 years ago, and saw Castle Mountain rise beside the road in Banff National Park for the first time, I fell in love. It sometimes makes me wonder how many car accidents are actually caused by the simple beauty of these mountains…
I appologize for the cheesiness, especially on a day like today. But love is beautiful and sometimes I just can’t help myself but to reach for my camera and capture the moment of two people in love.
The pain associated with getting up at 6 in the morning is rapidly eased when this is what meets you outside the door.
I spent some magical days in a tiny Italian village on a hill near San Miniato earlier this year. I have always dreamt about experiencing the true countyside life of Tuscany and by meeting Daniele, another rock climbing globetrotter, with his roots deep down in the Tuscan soil, I suddenly found myself living that dream. Fantastic locally grown food and wine, gorgous views and lovely people – Just what I imagined, only slightly better.
Gratitude overload <3
Happiness is when late October delivers 18 degrees and sunshine. I got into may car as soon as I was off work, drove into the uncivilized Kananaskis Country south of Canmore and climbed a mountain. There is something so satisfying about the sound of nothing but the wind and the birds.
It’s a real thing.
When I thought I could never get enough of the stunning peaks surrounding Banff, then suddenly they doubled. Soon enough snow will be covering the ground but this month has delivered sunshine and colors beyond my expactations and I’m loving it.
I love this place. And I love how the randomness of travel brought me here through friends I made in Central America. A place I probably would not have been taking the time to get to know if it wasn’t for that little coincidence. Spent quite some time here last summer and another week around midsummer this year, which is when I snapped this photo.
Such a beautiful part of the world, both for its nature and people.
Back out here for a few days to do a little bit of filming. Loveitloveitloveit.
Been venturing up these walls a few times this summer now and I have to admit, the view’s not too shabby from way up there.
Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, September 2013. One year goes by so fast.
I love September. The air, the light, the temperature. Just what I was designed for. What better way to enjoy this month than being taught how to multi-pitch climb under a big, blue, beautiful sky, surrounded by snow covered peaks? If I could marry a country I’d be very likely to pick Canada, holy shit I love it here.
I live here and I’m happy. Period.
Banff and the Stars
True story. It’s in Canada it all happens.
Went hiking with some friends in Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park near Nelson, BC, last week when we bumped into this little fella on a meadow about two hours from civilization. We soon realized he didn’t know much about fear as came up real close to check us out. I sat down in the grass to take some photos. Then his attention rapidly shifted from my friends onto me and he came up to sniff at my lens before jumping up on my leg to start chewing on my bare skin. I was like “eh, dude?” and hastidly ended our short but intense relationship.
The say don’t feed the wildlife but I didn’t realize my right thigh counted as marmot food.. my bad.
