Fly on the wings of love…

Seminars, concerts, festivals, long breakfasts, exploring new cities, a mattress in a kitchen in Berlin, drinking games and parties in Brussels, 30-year celebrations, 40-year celebrations and eventually 50-year celebrations. Eurovision, walks in the park, walks in the city and walks by the water and in the countryside. 

In 1998 I met Saso from Slovenia (or Aleksander as he is actually named) at a seminar somewhere in Europe - we had both flown there. It was the start of an instant, long and close friendship. Through meetings and seminars in a joint youth organization, we flew across Europe together with like-minded people. A couple of years later we both met Elina from Finland at a summer camp outside Stockholm in Sweden. Two weeks later, she celebrated my 25th birthday with me in Oslo. Since then, we have hung out together - every single year we have found time to see each other and continue our flying journey across Europe. Often to Belgium where Saso first studied in Löwen, and then has lived and worked in Brussels for a long time - sometimes through weekends filled with activities - other times just to spend a weekend together eating good food and talking about life. 

When I got married, we were all together in Norway (although the marriage didn't last), when Elina got married, we were in Helsinki, when Saso got married in Spain we all met there. We have celebrated birthdays, watched Eurovision finals, gone to festivals and concerts. When Aleksander Rybak won the international Eurovision finals, we gathered friends from nine different countries in Europe in Oslo the following year, and celebrated music and love together. When A-ha had their farewell tour (one of them..), we all met in Brussels for the concert there. 

When Norway shut down in March 2020, it happened exactly on the weekend Saso and Elina were supposed to come to Norway to visit. The sadness that they could not come was scarier than the uncertainty surrounding a pandemic. The first loophole we got in travel restrictions was used in Brussels, and the next in Helsinki! The happiness of seeing each other even if it meant wearing a mask and being careful not to spread infection across national borders, was beyond words. It was in a way as if you regained a part of your life. 

All these experiences have one thing in common - we have flown to have the opportunity to meet each other. All three of us work full-time and have never had the opportunity to set aside time to travel in other ways. Staying friends for so many years if we hadn't had the opportunity to meet each other? – I`m not sure. I'm already counting down the days until we see each other in Tirana, Albania at the beginning of May - where Saso now lives and works. 

All three of us are eco conscious people who know very well that all these flights come at a price. But the quality of life we ​​get from knowing that we have each other through ups and downs, quickly outweighs the conscience of another flight to spend quality time together.