Sleepless in Oslo, July 24

I thought leaving Oslo would be a simple affair. I would catch the same ferry I had taken to get there and by morning I would be back in Fredrikshavn. It was as simple a plan as I could figure. It took some time, but I was able to decipher the Norwegian website and found the departure time the ship. My bag was packed and I had said most of my good-byes, I was ready to go.

As the day turned into afternoon and the time to sail was drawing nearer, I came across my Australian friend busking in the street and wished him well before returning to the hostel to collect my pack.

It began to rain, an ill omen. Any distance is exaggerated when walking in the rain and carrying a heavy load, so the twenty minute hike felt like forever. When I did reach the port and the ticket counter, I waited for my number to be called. I was looking forward to the trip, I would be able to enjoy the night sky over the ocean and see the stars like I never have before. When my number was called, I sidled up to the counter and asked for one ticket. Sold out. Not a pleasant surprise, I didn't want to have to stay in town another night. I inquired about the next night. Yes, there was room, but at a cost of five times the price I paid to get here. I had to rent a cabin. I walked away stunned and unhappy, I had no idea this would be the case. Perhaps if I had been able to understand more Norwegian or used a little sense, I might have been able known better.

My frustration and anger grew as I walked to the train station. I had mentally checked out of the city and had planned as best I could, but came up short. Again. Mad at myself for not planning better and mad at the ferry company for not writing in English, I thought about how I was going to leave. Plan A was barely thought through, there was no plan B. The train station had internet stations, so I thought I would search for my answer there, as though the internet gods would present me with the answer.

Signing into a terminal, I searched the possibilities and even enlisted Guro's help. She directed me to the cheapest bus service out of town, but no matter what I did, I could not book a ticket with my credit card. There was an obvious solution to my problem, but I was so fixated on finding it through the internet, I was blind to it. It appeared as though I was staying for one more night.

Guro generously invited me to crash at her place if I needed to, but as much as I appreciated the offer, I knew she simply did not have the space to house me. Moreover, I was reasonably certain there would be space at the hostel. I was mad though. Unreasonably frustrated and mad. So I pouted.

I decided I was not going pay for another room if I had to stay the night. As if my act of defiance made a difference to anyone or anything, I decided to spend the night awake wandering the city. With stubborn determination, I dressed warmly, in layers, and locked up my pack for the evening at the station.

One of my favourite spots in Oslo is the church that had been turned into various shops and boutiques. On the outer terrace that wrapped around the back of the building, was a small café. I would spend a few hours there drawing in my new sketch book and writing in my journal. Drinking my first over-priced tea, I thought about some of the things I had read and the people I had met. A common thread I was beginning to recognize in people who had achieved greatness, was a singular, life changing event. Some extraordinary thing that or person who stepped in from nowhere and directed that person to a course of action. I thought about the friend I had met just a few days before, she had a stranger walk up to her and tell her she needed to be across the country in three days. The stranger helped her get the money to make the trip and a friend found her a place to stay. A few days later, she was singing on stage with a band in the bar where she was to meet the person who would give her a place to stay. In the audience was a record exec who put her on the path to signing with a major label. It was an incredible story and wonderfully inspiring. Anything can happen when you least expect it, but where was my moment? I desperately wanted to find that person or event that would make the world clearer to me, that would illuminate my path for me.

Drinking my second cup of over-priced tea, I started to wonder if maybe I would ever have that moment and if I didn't, did that mean I would never achieve the success I was looking for? The best I could do was to sit peacefully and let my inner voice guide me. If I kept looking for these challenges and doing these crazy things, will I find that moment will come where I will find that inspiration? At the very least, I will have some amusing stories.

With a page of my new sketch book filled and the café closing, I moved on. Having nowhere in particular to be or to go, I stopped at a 7/11 to buy another cup of tea. Hopefully the limited caffeine would be enough to get me through the night. At least the night wasn't cold. From there, I went to the pier where the tourists wandered by day. There was an outdoor lounge playing some groovy chill-out music, so I sat nearby for a while and sketched some more. I was starting to regret my brashness, I really wanted a bed. I was tired and bored. There was no turning back though, it was late and the hostels would be closed for check-ins now, I had forced myself into a corner and had to see the night through. When the music ended and the club closed, I left.

I walked far into the night, with no direction or purpose, much like most of my life. Eventually seeing I was going nowhere, I turned back and sought out the spiked guardians for company. I expected them to be far more fearsome at night, but the constant stream of traffic and bright street lamps detracted from the spiritual experience I was hoping for. At three in the morning, they were not at all scary.

I made my way back to the train station, ambling slowly and dodging the dirty prostitutes hissing their offers of sex. By the time I made it to the plaza where the tiger prowled, I still had a few hours to wait.

When the station opened, I returned to the internet and tried to book a ticket on the same website with the same result. Even my mother, who came online and tried to help me, couldn't get her card to work either. I am sure there are worse ways to hurriedly buy tickets, but I am hard pressed to think of one worse than directing a person, who is an ocean away, through a website neither of us can read.

Short on patience, hungry, and over-tired, I gave up on the internet and found a little that little sense that I needed to get out of town. The bus station was near the train station, I knew that, if I could find that, I could buy a ticket out of this city. Within a few hours, I was on a bus to Copenhagen, cruising through Sweden.

My night on the town could have easily been averted. Had I just needed to use my brain instead of the computer, I would have spent the night dozing as miles flew by. Would I have had the adventure of wandering the city by night though...