Friluftsliv: Outdoor Living Connected With Nature - Norwegian

Glaciers, forests, and outdoor activities instead of endless overtime

“We can never have enough of nature. We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible vigor, vast and titanic features, the sea-cost with its wrecks, the wilderness with its living and its decaying trees, the thunder-cloud, and the rain which lasts three weeks and produces freshets. We need to witness our own limits transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander.” — Henry David Thoreau, "Walden"

When I wrote about the cold in Friolero a few weeks ago, I also mentioned how much I struggled to avoid it. Even though I was just thinking about the cold then and in a warm room, I needed to dress thicker and continuously sip my hot tea. I'm not exaggerating; that's me, the always-cold stove-side cat.

And yet, like hot summers and warm springs full of blooming flowers, the cold is a part of nature, and this week we will be navigating the waters of a life philosophy that I believe I should write and think about at the expense of feeling cold.

As everyone knows and envies, the Scandinavians are regarded as the happiest people on the planet. This has been the case for many years and apparently will continue to be so. Of course, there is no single reason for this; there are many, but the value they place on nature is decisive in their contentment. I believe that those of us outside of Scandinavia who are not Scandinavians should take a closer look at this situation.

Friluftsliv is the Norwegian term for the philosophy of being close to nature, regardless of season, and living by forming a strong bond with it. Fri-lufts-liv is etymologically related to open-air living.

The term Friluftsliv have first appeared in the 1859 poem "Pa vidderne" (On the Heights), written by famous playwright Henrik Ibsen. However, although it has become a word with this poem, bonding with nature has been a part of the lives of Scandinavians for much longer.

Everybody Has the Right to Roam

Nature is so important to Scandinavian society that it has its own law granting people the right to benefit from it. They have ensured that everyone has the right to benefit from nature through a legal regulation known as Allemanstratten, the Outdoor Recreation Act in English. You have the right to enjoy nature even if you are not Norwegian or Swedish. You can forage for mushrooms and blackberries or wander around as you want.

Norsk Friluftliv (Nordic Outdoor Council), a non-governmental organization with over 5000 member groups, promotes outdoor activities in a variety of ways.

Parents prefer friluftliv kindergartens where children spend at least 80% of their time outside.

Employees in workplaces are not constantly asked to work overtime; rather, they are encouraged to spend time outdoors. Outdoor group activities for businesses are the most common.

Hytte: Scandinavian Cabins

If you're interested in Scandinavia, you've probably seen photos of a small cottage, often painted in bright colors, next to a stunning glacier. These cabins are known as "hytte" in Norwegian and "cabins" in English.

These cabins play an important role in Nordic outdoor activities. Small huts built with the least amount of material required by a person who wants to live and live in their most basic form without harming or disturbing nature. Cabins have already become a part of the capitalist tourism order, so some more luxurious cabins have been built, but they are still made in accordance with the Scandinavian philosophy of not harming nature, despite being a little more comfortable on the inside.

Cabins, like summer houses in southern countries, can be family or private property, but many are open to the public. A cabin can be rented in the same way that a hotel room or a seasonal house can be (Airbnb, etc.). However, from what I understand, it's best to go without expecting the convenience of a hotel because you'll have to do most of the work yourself. Cooking, cleaning, and so on are always your responsibility. When you leave, you must leave it as clean as you found it when you arrived.

Sometimes being alone with nature can mean having to go to an outdoor toilet. Although this is not a problem in the summer, it is also part of the experience to go through the snow up to your knees in the winter.

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Frequent travel to Sweden was also part of my previous job. To be honest, it was a mission I didn't complain about much, and I still miss those trips today. I had the opportunity to observe Scandinavian culture in many ways. Even if they are a senior executive in a company, natural things such as rolling in the sand, walking barefoot in shabby shorts in the garden, and fishing in a boat are a normal part of their lives. Having enough money does not mean living in luxury without getting their hands dirty. They see it as a real life experience to carry their sun loungers and umbrellas to the public beach, to walk with their children, and to be in nature with everything and all its naturalness. If you've been to Ikea once, you more or less understand what I mean. Simple and natural.

Living a comfortable life by putting barriers between experiencing what is in nature and living a comfortable life seems to me just like choosing between the real and the virtual. As a city person, it is a fact that I usually make this choice for the sheltered one, in this case the virtual one, but what life teaches is that this is not the most satisfying experience. It’s necessary to get dirty, cold, wet, and burn in the sun. This is the reality.

Among the vacations I took (most of them on the beautiful Aegean beaches, luckily), the ones I remember the most were not the ones I spent in luxury hotels. All I can remember are real, unprotected, open experiences. No matter how urban-lover I am, the part of nature that lives in me—maybe a large part of the ape that I came from when I evolved—is still inside me.

I can easily take off my stilettos, sneakers, tights, or t-shirts and join the world in the same state as when I was born. I'm not sure how easy it would be, but what I do know is that I often have to hold the hand of that primitive ape inside me.

Obviously, this modern woman needs that primitive ape, or some friluftsliv.

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Notes & Reads:

Lorelou Desjardins, a French woman living in Norway, writes the blog A Frog in the Fjord. She discusses her thoughts and experiences about Norwegian life in the country. Her best-selling book, A Frog in the Fjord – One Year in Norway is also about Norwegian life from the perspective of a foreigner.

If you would like to watch instead of read, here is her TEDX talk:

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Next week, nature will be the star, specifically the green forests.

Till next week, have a great weekend.

— Gulsun

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