I was standing outside a quiet white cabin in Norway, snow crunching under my boots, breath fogging up my glasses, when it hit me.
I wasn’t lonely.
I’d expected to be. I mean, come on—I was traveling alone in a place where I didn’t speak the language, knew absolutely no one, and hadn’t seen the sun in three days. But there I was, bundled up like a marshmallow in a navy blue jacket, sipping cheap coffee from a thermos, and for the first time in ages, I felt… settled.
Not excited. Not miserable. Just quietly okay.
And that was weird for me. Because back home, everything always feels a little too loud. Texts piling up, people asking for things, constant noise. Even when things are “good,” my mind’s racing. But here, where the only sound was wind through the trees and the occasional thump of snow sliding off a roof, my brain finally took a seat.
I started noticing the smallest stuff. The way the lamp post outside looked like it belonged in a storybook. How the snow clung to tree branches like frosting. The warmth of my own body inside that coat.
Then I thought: When was the last time I was alone without being lonely?
That question stuck with me as I finished my coffee and stared out over the snowy landscape. I had always been the kind of person who sought distractions. Whether it was work, social media, or just the constant hustle and bustle of everyday life, I was always filling the space with noise. But here in this small Norwegian village, I found something different. A stillness that felt… unfamiliar but comforting. It was as if the world was telling me to slow down, to breathe, to be okay with just existing in the moment.
I had come to Norway for a variety of reasons—mostly to escape. To get away from the pressure of city life and my own complicated relationships with friends and family. The truth was, I had been feeling a little lost. Like I was constantly chasing something I couldn’t quite grasp, and no matter how much I achieved, there was always something missing. I thought that maybe this trip would help me find what I was looking for. But what I didn’t expect was that the biggest revelation would be about something much deeper than a destination or a new adventure.
That afternoon, I decided to explore the town a little more. It was small, with narrow streets lined with colorful buildings, some of which looked like they could fall over if you sneezed too hard. I wandered aimlessly, letting my feet carry me wherever they wanted to go. I stumbled across a little bakery and walked inside, the warm air greeting me like an old friend.
A woman with graying hair and a kind smile behind the counter greeted me in Norwegian, which I obviously didn’t understand. I managed to give her a sheepish smile and say, “Sorry, I don’t speak Norwegian,” hoping she’d switch to English. She raised an eyebrow and said something I couldn’t catch, but I smiled awkwardly, hoping the universal language of kindness would suffice.
She chuckled and switched to English, her accent thick but easy to understand. “What would you like, dear? We have fresh bread and cinnamon rolls.”
I pointed at the cinnamon rolls, and she wrapped one up for me with a knowing smile. “You must be new here. Don’t worry, you’ll get used to the quiet. The village has a way of teaching you to listen to yourself.”
Her words hit me unexpectedly. She was right. Everything here was teaching me to listen—not to the noise, but to the quiet. To the things I had been ignoring or running away from back home.
When I walked out of the bakery, I found a small bench under a tree and sat there, tearing into the cinnamon roll like I hadn’t eaten in days. The wind was cold but refreshing, and as I sat there watching the village move around me, I realized something: I had spent so much of my life chasing after things I thought would make me happy. Success, validation, approval. But what if the real answer was simply learning to be content with the moment I was in?
I spent the next few days wandering through the village and surrounding forest, reflecting on everything. I started thinking about the people I had left behind—the relationships that had never quite worked out, the friendships that had fizzled, the family dynamics that were always complicated. For the longest time, I’d been blaming those people for my dissatisfaction, my feeling of always being a little bit off. But in that stillness, in that quiet space, I realized something important: I had been the one holding myself back. I had been the one refusing to listen to my own needs, to trust my own instincts.
I also realized how much I’d been avoiding my own feelings. That I’d been so wrapped up in trying to please others, in trying to meet expectations, that I never stopped to ask myself what I actually wanted. What made me happy. And I realized that I didn’t know. I’d spent years building a life based on what I thought I was supposed to do, and now I was left with a question I had to answer for myself.
The turning point came one evening when I was sitting in the cabin, the fire crackling softly in the background, and I got a call from an old friend back home. She was asking about my trip and how I was doing, and I realized that I hadn’t checked my phone in days. I hadn’t felt the need to.
We talked for a while, and during our conversation, she asked the question I had been avoiding: “How are you really doing? I know you went on this trip to get away, but are you okay?”
I paused. The truth was, I hadn’t been okay for a long time. I had been so focused on everything outside of myself that I had neglected the most important thing—my own peace of mind. But sitting there, in the calm of the cabin, I realized something: I was okay. I was starting to find my way back to myself.
“I think I’m okay,” I told her. “I think I’ve been running away from something for a while. But now, I’m starting to see that maybe I don’t need to keep running.”
We talked a bit more, and I ended the call feeling lighter than I had in months. The conversation had reminded me that I wasn’t alone, even if I was physically far from home. I had people who cared about me, and maybe, just maybe, I needed to stop running and start facing the things I’d been avoiding.
The next morning, I went for a hike up the mountain behind the cabin. The snow was deeper up there, and the wind sharper, but the view was breathtaking. Standing at the top, I felt a deep sense of peace I hadn’t experienced in years. I realized then that I didn’t need to go on more trips to “find myself” or wait for some grand revelation. The answers had always been inside me. I just had to be still enough to hear them.
But just as I was starting to feel that sense of clarity, something unexpected happened. A young man appeared at the top of the mountain, seemingly out of nowhere. He had the same look of quiet peace that I felt. He smiled and waved, then walked over to me.
“You’re a long way from home,” he said with a gentle smile, his accent Scandinavian but not quite Norwegian. “What brings you up here?”
I explained a little about my trip and how I was reflecting on everything in my life. We talked for a few minutes, and then he said something that caught me off guard:
“You know, I’ve been hiking this same mountain for years, trying to figure things out. But the truth is, the answer isn’t at the top. It’s at the bottom, where the path begins. The journey itself is where the answers are.”
I stared at him for a moment, not quite understanding. But then, it hit me. The journey—life itself—wasn’t about reaching some final destination or figuring it all out. It was about learning to live with uncertainty, to be okay with the process. And the quiet moments? They were part of that process, too.
I never saw him again after that day, and I’m not sure if it was fate or coincidence. But I couldn’t help but feel that our meeting was meant to be—a reminder that the real journey is within ourselves.
When I left Norway a week later, I wasn’t just returning from a trip. I was returning to myself. I had learned that sometimes, the most important discoveries happen when we stop trying so hard to find answers and start simply being present in the moment.
Sometimes, we need to give ourselves permission to slow down. To stop running. To embrace the quiet, and listen to the answers that are already inside of us.
If you’ve been feeling lost, remember this: sometimes, the most important thing is to just be still, and trust that everything will unfold as it’s meant to. Share this with someone who might need to hear it. Let’s all take a moment to breathe, to listen, and to be okay with the journey.
