A Summer Job
To the island of manshausen
Sometime in early June I was hiking in Slovenia when Astrid (my manager & friend back in Northern Norway) sent me a message offering me a summer job. A woman who had planned to spend the summer working on Manshausen had to leave, would I like to fill her place?
I didn’t say yes right away.
It was hard to let go of the idea of traveling through Europe. I had a long list of places to see, and a long list of hikes to do. If I didn’t see them now, when would I have the opportunity to do so again? I was 25 and felt life was only going to get more complicated, more expensive in the years to come with lovely things like a family and possibly grad school. I could feel my fancy free days were coming to their end, and couldn’t help but think…
what about Portugal? Greece? Latvia? Russia? Turkey?
what about the G-20 Hike in Corsica? Mont Blanc circuit? The Dolomites? Hiking the coast of Cornwall? The Kungsleden in Sweden?
the midnight sun
my friend, ingrid
In the end, of course, I said yes.
What an opportunity to live in the most beautiful place I had ever been, and making money is always nice. For the last couple years I had grown comfortable with working for several months, squirreling away all that I could to support myself during months of travel when I would have no income. However, the transition from working to not, that last paycheck was always intense. I never knew how or when I would make money next and that can be scary.
So to pass on this deal wasn’t an option.
I would live above the Norwegian Arctic Circle, on a private island, for free: first in a sailboat and then in a flat of my own. I had made really good friends on this island, the sense of community was strong, comfortable and I had my place in it. I not only ate for free, but had access to the materials to experiment with sourdough, fermentation, and got really into making cookies. I went climbing, sea kayaking, and hiking. I went swimming most days, and visited the beach once a week. And by the time I left in November, I had made a good chunk of change.