Still Going Places, Just a Little Differently

I grew up in a small village in the Norwegian countryside, and I was always curious about the world beyond it. As a child, I remember watching aeroplanes fly overhead and wondering where they were going, dreaming that one day I would be on one of them. That curiosity never really left me. I travelled as much as I could when I was young, and when I met Geir, I was lucky enough to find someone who was just as happy to pack a bag and go.

When Geir and I had children, travelling became something we wanted to share with them. As a teacher, school holidays gave us the perfect opportunity. Over the years we travelled to many places with our children. Some trips were big adventures, others much simpler, but we loved being somewhere new together.

When Everything Stopped

Then, in December 2021, everything stopped. At 42, with three young children, I was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer.

The year that followed was filled with chemotherapy, surgery and radiation. Thankfully, the odds were on my side. During that year I felt outside of the community, unable to participate in life. And one of the things I really was longing for was to travel. I missed having somewhere to look forward to. I missed packing a suitcase, discovering a new street, sitting somewhere I had never been before and simply feeling that I was out in the world again. Hans Christian Andersen wrote, "To travel is to live," and during that year, those words made more sense to me than ever.

With plenty of time but very little energy, I spent hours online. That was how I found PLU. At first, I just followed the Facebook group. I loved seeing the homes, the places people travelled to and, most of all, the way people spoke - or in this case wrote - to each other. There was a warmth to the community that made me really curious.

Eventually, I posted a photo of our own home, mostly to see if anyone would actually be interested. We live just outside Stavanger on the west coast of Norway, and I remember wondering whether people would really want to come here. It's not exactly Paris or New York. Quite a few people, as it turned out, would. That was probably my first PLU lesson: what feels ordinary to you may be exactly what someone else is looking for.

Finding a Different Way to Travel

After treatment, I was left with lasting fatigue and was unable to return to my wonderful job as a teacher. I could travel again, but not necessarily the way I had before. I needed to know that I could stop when my body told me to stop. That is where home exchanging started to make so much sense. In a home, I can disappear into a bedroom for an hour while the rest of the family carries on. They can make something to eat, relax in the living room, swim in the pool or go out, without feeling that everyone has to stop because Mum needs a rest. It gives all of us a freedom that a hotel room simply doesn't.

So, after plenty of conversations around the dinner table, and some scepticism from our teenagers about strangers sleeping in their rooms, we joined PLU. I took the plunge, ignored my very Norwegian instinct not to bother anyone, and dared to make the first move. And it actually worked. I was ridiculously excited.

Our very first PLU experience was a non-simultaneous exchange with Filippa in Paris. It was our first time staying in someone else's home through PLU, and I was nervous when we arrived. I think we all were. She welcomed us with a homemade banana bread, which was just the nicest touch. And we fell in love with PLU for real. Our boys had the chance to go to a PSG football match, which became one of the highlights of the trip for them. Not being that interested in football, my daughter Malene and I went out for a girls' night and dinner at a tiny, cosy neighbourhood restaurant we would never have found on our own. We had the absolute best time together. It wasn't somewhere we had discovered online, or a viral TikTok trend. It was simply a lovely local place recommended by someone who knew the neighbourhood. We loved it.

And I think that dinner was when I started to understand what was different about travelling this way. My second PLU lesson, you might say. We weren't only visiting Paris — for a few days, we got a small taste of what it might be like to live there. Our teenagers relaxed more too. Their worries about strangers, privacy and sharing our home began to disappear. PLU suddenly felt much less strange.

A Road Trip Through California

This summer, we took things a little further with the most exciting road trip through beautiful California. We started off in the heat of Las Vegas, drove through spectacular Death Valley National Park where the heat was so intense that my only thought was whether our car would survive without breaking down out there in the middle of the park.  We spent a night in a small-town motel, which was on my husband's bucket list and a fun experience. We continued on to Los Angeles, then small-town Morro Bay, before eventually reaching the wonderful Santa Rosa.

It was a dream trip, and PLU became a big part of what made it possible. 

One of our exchanges came about simply because Kristin was incredibly kind. I had sent her a proposal, but the timing didn't really match, as her family was travelling to Germany. Instead of simply saying no, she went out of her way to make it work so that we could still stay in their home. That experience stayed with me. She didn't have to make it work, but she wanted to help.

In Santa Rosa, we had a simultaneous exchange with Stephanie and her family, and I honestly couldn't have asked for a better experience. Stephanie's advice and support have been invaluable. I've learned so much from her, not only about PLU, but also about how simply being kind, helpful, open-minded and generous can make an exchange feel so safe and easy. As a slightly nervous newbie myself, Stephanie has truly been the best mentor I could have wished for. Her warmth and generosity made the whole experience feel comfortable from the very beginning, and I'm so grateful for everything I've learned from her.

Stephanie and Kristin shared their favourite local places and practical tips with us, and those recommendations completely changed how we experienced the areas we stayed in. Instead of simply visiting the main attractions and returning to a hotel, we explored the neighbourhoods around our temporary homes. We knew where to walk, where locals liked to eat, where to buy groceries and which places were worth spending a little extra time in. We saw parts of everyday life that we probably would never have discovered by searching online ourselves.

After a long day of driving or sightseeing, I could rest while the rest of the family carried on. There was room for everyone to do their own thing without my fatigue deciding when the day had to end. That flexibility has made a much bigger difference to our family than I could have imagined when we first joined PLU.

Opening Our Own Door

Having Stephanie and her family as our first guests in our home, without us being there ourselves, was also a brand new experience. I was so nervous. Was our house nice enough? Had I cleaned enough? Would they enjoy our area? Would it feel strange knowing another family was living in our home while we were living in theirs? Before the exchange, I admitted to Stephanie that I was feeling a little nervous. Her answer was simple: home exchanging is about trust and communication. That stayed with me.

Because really, that is what all of this comes down to. You open your home to people you have never met in person. They open theirs to you. You get to know each other through messages and conversations online. You share the places you love, the restaurant you like, the walk visitors might never find, and the little things that make your neighbourhood yours. We trust each other.

We still haven't met any of our exchange partners face to face. And yet, somehow, it doesn't feel as though we are exchanging homes with complete strangers anymore. Now they feel like friends.

When I think back to that year of treatment, sitting at home with very little energy and dreaming about travelling again, I don't think I could have imagined where it would lead. PLU hasn't just helped us travel again — it has allowed us to travel in a way that works for the person I am now.

We've experienced places differently. we've discovered that the place we call home, outside Stavanger in Norway, is somewhere other people are excited to experience too. And perhaps most surprisingly we've made connections, real friendships with wonderful people across the world without ever meeting them in person.  For someone who grew up in a small village watching aeroplanes fly overhead and wondering where they were going, that feels pretty special.

This is us in Klepp: https://peoplelikeus.world/properties/45485 

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