🛡️ Travel Journal: Day 3 – July 11, 2025
“Where the wind blows through the fjord and my thoughts ran away like wild creatures.”
📖 Travel Journal: Day 3 – July 11, 2025
“Of tunnels, traitorous insects, judgmental cows, and a snowman named ‘Why-am-I-here.’”
📅 Date: July 11, 2025
📍 Location: Aurland ➝ Stegastein ➝ Aurlandsfjellet ➝ Lærdal Tunnel (twice) ➝ Flåm campground
🌦 Weather & Scenery:
The skies were a rich Nordic blue—crisp, endless, and blinding in the best way. The air high in the mountains smelled clean and ancient, like snow melting through stone. Waterfalls tumbled down green cliffs like silk scarves dropped by careless gods. Fjords sparkled below. The sun stayed up like it forgot how to set. The scenery was rude in its perfection. I kept driving like I was inside a national park screensaver—but real.
✍️ What I Did Today:
I started the day thinking I’d be going through the Lærdal Tunnel. I did, eventually. Twice. But not before Norway dragged me over the top of Aurlandsfjellet first—on a road I’m 90% sure was designed by goats with a grudge. The so-called Snow Road lived up to its name: snow in July, ice-blue lakes, sheep with strong opinions, and curves so sharp Daisy (my rental car) whimpered the entire way.
I built a snowman up there. In a t-shirt. In the sun. Just to say I did.
I descended into Aurland and visited the Stegastein Viewpoint, where the fjord opens like a story. I stood at the edge with my hair in the wind, trying not to fall off the world while taking a selfie. I was passed by a cow. I watched the sky stretch into eternity.
Then I finally got my tunnel.
The Lærdal Tunnel, at 24.5 km, is the world’s longest road tunnel. I drove it once just to exist in that long stretch of dimly lit calm—and then I turned around and drove it again, because one pass wasn’t enough. I wanted to sit with the quiet. I wanted to feel the world above me and the mountain cradling me like a secret. There’s a peace in those long tunnels I can’t explain.
After the tunnel victory lap, I stopped at a Joker grocery store and grabbed supplies: sjokonøtt (chocolate + hazelnut magic), lomper (potato flatbread, bless), and whatever else looked snackable. I planned to picnic and wind down the day. But instead…
I pitched my tent in Flåm, aiming to prep for the train ride the next morning.
I sat down “just for a minute.”
Next thing I knew, it was 12:20 AM. I had slept through dinner, snacks, and any coherent sense of time.
🌟 Standout Moment:
That second drive through the Lærdal Tunnel. No music. No talking. Just tires on smooth road, and the blue-and-gold glow of the rest zones like little breathers from reality. Also, the instant I realized I was building a snowman in July while a sheep watched me with disdain.
🎵 Song of the Day:
"Top of the World" – The Carpenters
Why it fits: Between the altitude, the views, the sleep delirium, and tunnel therapy—it felt like I was floating just above real life all day.
🗣️ Quote / Saying of the Day:
"Jeg kom for tunnelen, men ble for fjollet."
(“I came for the tunnel, but stayed for the foolishness.”)
Also muttered:
“This tunnel is a religious experience and I will be making it my personality now.”
🔥 Daily Prompt: What did today teach you about yourself or the world?
Reflection:
I learned that sometimes plans get rerouted, and the reroute is better. I didn’t expect to go over the fjord, to meet cows and angry bees, to get bit by a vampiric bug named Karl or to fall asleep before dinner. But I also didn’t expect the tunnel to feel like home. Or the snow to feel so sacred. Or the fjord to quiet every thought in my brain. I learned that I don’t always need to do something with every moment. Sometimes I just need to be there—even if I sleep through half of it.
❤️ Gratitude / Silver Linings:
A safe place to sleep. A quiet campground. A tunnel that calmed my nerves. Friendly Norwegians. A fjord that reminded me I’m small, but not lost. The tunnel. Did I mention the tunnel?
🐉 Free Thoughts & Wandering Mind:
Let’s talk about Karl the Betrayer again.
Ceratopogonidae. Sviknott. Tiny, demonic, bitey bastard. He found my cat scratch and decided it was all-you-can-suck night. I slapped, flailed, opened windows, cursed—nothing. He haunted the car like a bloodthirsty poltergeist. I think he knew. He was sent.
Also: I made friends with a bee that would not stop buzzing its opinions into a wild rose. I got stared down by cows who think they own the road. I climbed into snow with bare hands and no regrets. I got altitude-high, tunnel-healed, and nap-slapped all in one day.
🏕 Closing Note:
Somewhere between the sheep-staring contest, the snowman, and the nap that became time travel…
I remembered what it feels like to live without rushing.
I remembered that I’m okay.
And I really, really like tunnels.
