We have been reading a lot about traditional Norwegian Friluftsliv in class. Literary translated as “free air life” (Tordsson 1993,) There is an astounding array of literature to suggest that Norwegians attach an ideology to outdoor recreation. Gelter, 2000 described friluftsliv as a “philosophical lifestyle based on experiences of freedom in nature and spiritual contentedness with the landscape.” Furthermore, Friluftsliv has been characterised by
simplicity, “a rich life with simple means” (Tordsson 2007) in contrast
to-at least at a theoretical level- the more commercialised outdoor recreation activities in North America and Continental Europe.”(Kaltenborn,
B. 2001.)
Towards the end of October the class was combined with the Norwegian students for a week long excursion into the local forests. The aims of the trip were simple, to cook our meals on the fire, improvise shelters and get to grips with the more reflective, slow passed outdoor recreation typical of traditional Friluftsliv.
It was raining heavily and we headed out into the forest armed with cooking pots, axes, saws, matches and a lot of food.
The whole of the first day was taken over by one task; making a fire in the sodden forest proved very challenging.
In our desperation I learnt a new Norwegian word, "Terri" witch turned out to be wood chipping from the roots of pine trees with a very high resin content- ideal for starting fires in damp conditions.
it smells realy good.....
The next day we made rock pit ovens and slow roasted some delicious meat. It was a relaxed and sociable day. There seemed to always be lots to do around camp.
making the rock oven.
The focus seemed to be on making ourselves as comfortable as possible. I was quite amazed by the quality of food cooked outside and our campsite became more and more developed with sleeping platforms and improvised 7 stone ovens for baking bread.
On the Wednesday we formed smaller groups and moved camp. It was great to spend so much time learning from the Norwegian students. I was amazing to see young guys as excited about making fires in the woods as about steep skiing. I think there relay is a cultural difference, Norwegian friluftsliv takes pleasure in simply being in nature.
The groups fire preparation skills were pretty dialled by the time we put our watches on again and returned to civilisation.
References
Gelter, H. 2000, "Friluftsliv: The Scandinavian Philosophy of outdoor life." Canadian Journel of
environmntal Education.
Kaltenborn B. et al. 2001, "The Public Right of Access- some challenges to sustainable tourism Development in Scandinavia." Journal of Sustainable Tourism Vol. 9, No. 5 2001
Tordsson. B, "What is Friluftsliv good for? Norweigian Friluftsliv in a historical Perspective"
