Camping sesong. It is upon us.\u00a0 Less than half of the year where I reside (in the upper midwest) is suitable for camping in a tent.\u00a0 Of course staying in a cabin is always an option despite the season or the weather, but rustic camping is a whole different ballgame.\u00a0 I, personally, love to camp.\u00a0 It’s such a fun and simple way to enjoy the outdoors.\u00a0 It really doesn’t have to be that much work either.\u00a0 I like to backpack and camp in the mountains (which is about a 20 hour drive from me), but driving 15 minutes to the nearest state park is quite enjoyable also.\u00a0 My boyfriend and I (and our dog) have now been out camping 5 times this season (pretty good considering it wasn’t warm enough until mid-April).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Norwegians love the outdoors.\u00a0 I can definitely vouch for that statistic.\u00a0 Every Norwegian that\u00a0I have ever spoken to long enough to know a few things about them enjoys being outdoors and camping.\u00a0 I definintely cannot say the same for all the Americans I know.\u00a0 My mom and one of my college roommates, for example.\u00a0 Most Norwegians, regardless of age or sex, love the outdoors.\u00a0 Anyone who has ever been to Norway can understand why it is so easy to love to be outside there.\u00a0 It’s beautiful!\u00a0<\/p>\n
So what is the camping scene like in Norway?\u00a0 For starters, there are\u00a0over 10,000 cabins throughout the country that are open to the public for reservations.\u00a0 They are rated on a scale of 1-5 based on how nice they are and the amenities they offer (size of the cabin, the extent to which they are furnished, the location they are in, etc).\u00a0 There are also about 400 cabins available to the public that the DNT<\/strong>, the Norwegian Trekking Association maintains.\u00a0 The DNT <\/strong>maintains mountain trails and cabins and believe it or not, the association was founded in 1868<\/span> with the idea to build up travel and tourism.\u00a0 That’s pretty impressive!\u00a0 And get this, the president of the association is former Minister of Defence, Kristin Krohn Devold.\u00a0 Of the 400 cabins, 41 are staffed and the rest are self-service sites.\u00a0 Most of the self-service cabins do not have running water and electricity, so they are usually located near a river, so campers have access to water (and water that is a lot cleaner than most of the river and lake waters around me-and I live in the “Land of 10,000 lakes”!)\u00a0 It is good etiquette to leave firewood and a clean place behind you when you leave.\u00a0 Doesn’t that sound awesome?\u00a0 And if you are a member of the DNT <\/strong>(which doesn’t cost much at all) you can stay in any of these cabins essentially for free.\u00a0 You put in an initial deposit via credit card and then get it back after you leave as long as there are no damages.\u00a0 I am now in the process of daydreaming about a camping trip to Norway.\u00a0<\/p>\n Would you like to know some Norwegian camping vocabulary?<\/p>\n ei hytte <\/strong>is a cabin<\/p>\n et telt<\/strong> is a tent….\u00e5 ligge i telt<\/strong> or \u00e5 telte<\/strong> is to camp<\/p>\n en teltstang <\/strong>is a pole, like a tent pole<\/p>\n et b\u00e5l<\/strong> is a campfire<\/p>\n \u00e5 grille<\/strong> is to grill<\/p>\n en telttur<\/strong> is a camping trip<\/p>\n en teltleir<\/strong> is a camp<\/p>\n and best of all, my dictionary doesn’t exactly tell me how to say marshmallow.\u00a0 The definition it gives is “en spesiell type godteri<\/strong>” which means ‘a special kind of candy.’\u00a0 Ha!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \ufffd<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Camping sesong. It is upon us.\u00a0 Less than half of the year where I reside (in the upper midwest) is suitable for camping in a tent.\u00a0 Of course staying in a cabin is always an option despite the season or the weather, but rustic camping is a whole different ballgame.\u00a0 I, personally, love to camp.\u00a0…<\/p>\n