Travel & destinations
This section is home to musings, thoughts and ideas that have come to me through experiencing people and places around the world
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The Mighty Rivers of Arabia
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It is a curious feature of humanity that we tend to obsess over what we are missing rather than rejoice at what we have in plenty. Norwegians are obsessed with heat, sunshine and warm water, concepts of which we have only fleeting knowledge. As a nation, we have convinced ourselves that there is such a…
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Cities Growing out of Deserts
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While it is always nature that fascinates me, it would be wrong to forego the cities when talking about the United Arab Emirates. The Emiratis are proud of their cities and with good reason. The impressive cityscape in this photo simply wasn’t there fifty years before. Abu Dhabi was nought but a sandbank with a…
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The Eco-Questionable Delights of Dune Bashing
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When I arrived in the Emirates, I saw the giant desert dunes as surrogates for my beloved Norwegian mountains and was happy. Here I could walk to my heart’s content and enjoy the silence and tranquillity unique to the desert. The Emiratis were also happy about their dunes, but for a different reason; one that…
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The Dunes of the Rub’ al Khali
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Winter, unless it comes with plenty of snow and cold, crisp, sunny days with blue skies, isn’t useful for much. The worst type of winter is the one that offers near-perpetual downpour, grey skies, short days and around-zero temperatures. That, incidentally, is the type of winter we have in Belgium – and indeed in most…
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Seeing out 2020 in Belgium
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❤🇧🇪 It may not be an Iguaçu, a Victoria or a Murchison, but the Belgian waterfall is alive and well. And, in a country with virtually no elevation difference, the very existence of waterfalls is something to be taken note of. To be sure, these are not for those who measure waterfalls by cubic metres…
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The polarized views on the Belgian Coast
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My first meeting with the Belgian coast was the Zwin. Many years ago, I was bicycling from the Netherlands, and after a long succession of dikes, polders and sea-walls, the broad tidal marsh of the Zwin announced that I had, at last, entered Belgium. Save grumblings about its unfortunate proximity to Knokke; I have not…
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Feudal in the 21st Century
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The ‘castle’ is a prominent feature of the Belgian countryside, albeit perhaps more appropriately described as cultural rather than natural. It is a sad thing about democracies that their buildings do so little to lift the human spirit. Intuitive beauty, the sort of beauty that doesn’t need to be explained to be recognised, is more…
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The bluebells of the Halle Forest
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In a week of celebrating Belgian nature, it would border on criminal neglect to omit the Belgian forests. I like forests as much as the next person. Notwithstanding, I suffer from an abiding inability to distinguish one forest from another. The ‘real’ Belgian forest lover, on the other hand, suffers no such weakness of the…
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The High Fens of East Belgium
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Today, I am directing my attention to the High Fens, in what is, without doubt, one of Belgium’s most beautiful parts: German-speaking Ostbelgien. None of its names, neither in German (Hohes Venn), French (Hautes Fagnes), Dutch (Hoge Venen) or English (High Fens) conjure up images of anything recognizable. The first part—’tall’ or ‘high’—seemed promising enough.…
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Nature near home: Parc Woluwe
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🎅 Today, on Christmas Day, I would like to write the praises of my daily retreat in Brussels: Woluwe Park. Growing up in Norway, Christmas Day was usually wildly anti-climactic. We opened presents on Christmas Eve, and by the 25th, the euphoria of the previous night’s bonanza had died. Only the lingering self-righteous disappointment over…
