Norway couple spend year living outdoors
A Norwegian couple has spent an entire year outdoors in the country's far north, sleeping in tents, bivouacs, and huts, and living mainly off hunting, fishing and foraging.
Elise Theoline and Andreas Skagøy, both 26, set off from their home in Tromsø in August last year for their year of adventure, selling their apartment and putting their jobs and studies on hold.
Theoline took leave from her job as a nursery school teacher while Skagøy put his degree in fish health on hold.
"It's been an amazing experience," Skagøy told Norway's Aftenposten newspaper. "I think outdoor life in the winter was very exciting, sleeping in shelters, drying firewood, keeping warm and lighting fires: everyday things."
They began by hunting for wild reindeer in Norway, and then moved to the forests of northern Sweden, where they hunted birds. The couple spent the the winter in the Norwegian mountains, and the summer kayaking.
The couple have experienced much of what life in the Arctic has to offer: skiing in perfect powder, ice fishing with the northern lights above them, and kayaking on a perfectly windless day in Lofoten.
Some days have been fraught with misfortune, like when Andreas had to be airlifted to hospital for an injury to his foot, not having enough to eat, and not being able to keep warm.
"We are closer than ever and we have grown as a couple. When you are in the tent for the fifth day because there is a storm raging outside, you can't just leave things hanging," Skagøy said. "We have learnt to talk about things straight away, and to solve little conflicts. It has been a challenge to find peace when you are forced to be still for a long time, for example when there is a snowstorm for many days."
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Elise Theoline and Andreas Skagøy, both 26, set off from their home in Tromsø in August last year for their year of adventure, selling their apartment and putting their jobs and studies on hold.
Theoline took leave from her job as a nursery school teacher while Skagøy put his degree in fish health on hold.
"It's been an amazing experience," Skagøy told Norway's Aftenposten newspaper. "I think outdoor life in the winter was very exciting, sleeping in shelters, drying firewood, keeping warm and lighting fires: everyday things."
They began by hunting for wild reindeer in Norway, and then moved to the forests of northern Sweden, where they hunted birds. The couple spent the the winter in the Norwegian mountains, and the summer kayaking.
The couple have experienced much of what life in the Arctic has to offer: skiing in perfect powder, ice fishing with the northern lights above them, and kayaking on a perfectly windless day in Lofoten.
Some days have been fraught with misfortune, like when Andreas had to be airlifted to hospital for an injury to his foot, not having enough to eat, and not being able to keep warm.
"We are closer than ever and we have grown as a couple. When you are in the tent for the fifth day because there is a storm raging outside, you can't just leave things hanging," Skagøy said. "We have learnt to talk about things straight away, and to solve little conflicts. It has been a challenge to find peace when you are forced to be still for a long time, for example when there is a snowstorm for many days."
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