Trip of a lifetime

Recently I made a journey. It wasn't a spiritual journey, nor a psychological feat of endurance, but an actual journey. Most people call them holidays.

A month or so ago a friend got in contact with me and asked me whether I wanted to join him on a trip to see the northern lights. It would be a two week trip, made entirely using railways and would see us traversing 5 countries to reach the arctic circle.

Looking out the train window on mid-norway

I tend not to do holidays, especially abroad, as I can't seem to justify the expense to myself. But this one intrigued me, and since this year is the best in the next decade for seeing the northern lights, and I haven't been abroad for almost ten years, I thought why not?

As the time to leave drew closer I realised that I wasn't prepared for the cold arctic weather and borrowed a coat, hat and gloves from various friends, and hoped that my old hiking boots and thin battered scarf would stay in enough pieces to keep me dry and warm. The beanie I borrowed didn't quite cover my whole head, so my ears tended to get chilly, so I gave in and bought a large wooly hat in Bodø, the northern-most point of our journey.

But that's jumping a few pages ahead and missing out a good three days of trains, hostels, passport check and the initial meeting of our third travelling companion.