If you follow me on Instagram, then you might have noticed that lately my stories have taken place in a different setting. Dan and I have moved!
Okay, we’re still living up in the Norwegian mountains and we’re still living in a cabin – in fact we only moved about 10 kilometers down the road from our old place. But it’s still exciting!
You see, this cabin is right on the edge of town, which means that Dan can walk to work, and we can also walk to most of our friends’ houses as well. Plus this place has a few modern conveniences that our last home was missing, like an indoor toilet and a washing machine.
It’s funny, most people thought having an outhouse was extreme, but actually I think it was living without a washing machine that was the most difficult. There are no laundromats in town, so we had to wash all our clothes (and bedding and towels!) by hand. We did eventually buy a little camping washer that would spin our clothes around to wash them, but I still had to ring them out which took forever and was the most painful part anyway.
What I’m saying is, forget toilets, washing machines are the best modern convenience!
Though I should maybe mention that a mere 12 hours after moving into our new cabin it was discovered that the sewage pipes needed to be replaced and we were told to use the SPAR bathroom 20 minutes down the road for any solid businesses. So not only do we not have a functioning indoor toilet in this cabin, we’re now living without an outhouse as well.
One day we will have an indoor toilet. One day! (Actually Dan and I are in Spain right now and I think it’s all supposed to be sorted by the time we return home.)
I love living somewhere much smaller (read: easier to heat) and Dan drove up to Trondheim to fetch our things from the storage container we had there, so we’re finally living with all of our stuff again! I haven’t had a chance to hang up any of our posters, but once I do it will really feel like our place.
Oh and we need plants! Lots and lots of plants.
Now, we’ll actually only be living here until the summer, when we’ll move into a house in the center of town. But for now this cabin is sort of perfect. It has two bedrooms and a kitchen, though I’m only showing you the top half of the kitchen because I made brownies right before taking the photos and it was a mess, whoops.
I know a lot of you were shocked by how expensive housing was in Trondheim, where my tiny studio apartment cost 9600 NOK (about $1200) a month, but this two-bedroom cabin is costing us 4200 NOK, or about $500 a month. So if you want to move to Norway but are worried about the high prices, consider moving to the countryside!
the view from in front of our new place!
Rachel says
A washing machine! Woohoo! I hope your toilet is fixed by the time you get back: 20 minutes! Oh!
It looks like a gorgeous little cabin. That clip on lens looks fun too.
Silvia says
Right? So exciting! (and they began work on the pipes the day after we returned… ahh Norway)
Carrie says
I’m sooooooo jealous. I wanted to live in Norway forever. But. Then I met a few Norwegians in Sweden and they didn’t seem “real” inviting……..but it’s a stunning place ……enjoy my dear!
Helena says
Ooh a washing machine! I definitely agree that it’s soo nice to have! When I was living in Kiruna last time around (2 years ago) I didn’t have one and it was such a pain in the ass to either send my clothes to my dad to wash (he came into town with work every now and then but one way it was 160km) or hand wash them. I never actually thought I’d miss having that machine until it happened!
Silvia says
Wow, driving 160 km to do laundry! haha
Stafaine says
Woow, this looks really amazing,
This is really on my have to do list before i get into my 40’s
Keep posting,
Kind regards
Stefanie
Allison @ Head Elsewhere says
Your cabin looks beyond cozy and that view is to die for! I just got back from camping for the last few days and thought the worst thing would be not having a toilet. It was definitely not having a washing machine, followed by not having a shower!
Silvia says
I don’t know how I would live without a shower!
Joella says
Congrats on the washing machine! We didn’t have one when we first moved to CA and I found it so weird and annoying. At least we had laundromats and my in-law’s house. We moved last year and it does make such a difference! Enjoy! 🙂
Silvia says
It really does make such a difference!
Anne Morgan says
I think I’d choose a washing machine over an indoor toilet too. Especially if there isn’t a local laundry. I’ve spent far too long hand washing clothes in the past so now a machine is always a priority. And I never had to hand wash bedding, I really can’t imagine how horrible that must be. Actually, I can and I know I’d hate it.
jorge ramirez says
could you do a post about renting a cabin in Norway for instance for weekend, where to see the prices and how to book ?
John Gritman says
I am sure Mutti would have loved to have a washing machine when I went to live with a German family in 1961. An American student whose mother had a washing machine living with a German family who had a big coal fired tub with a manual ringer. No one told this 17 y/o student that Germans aired out their clothing and wore them again. I bought a nylon shirt (I hand washed it every night), skipped a T-shirt and had two sweater that were alternated. Pants were changed out to two pairs of wool the weight of my AF Class A’s and impossible to wrinkle over six months! How I wished I knew before I left the States.
Bedding was a duck down comforter in a duve’ hung out the window every day when it didn’t rain/snow.
But I paid (haha) for my ignorance with a nice gift before I left to come home and then hosted part of the family a year later. I was so much fun we hosted students from five different countries before I left for university!
John