Hygge – a cabin trip to Fitjar

By Talitha Hamshaw, University of Bergen, Norway

A big part of Norwegian culture is cabin trips. Most Norwegian families will have at least one cabin which they rent out or visit at certain times of year. Luckily for me, my Norwegian friend Christina’s family own a cabin in her home town which is a couple of hours drive away from Bergen, so we planned a trip there for a couple of nights.

We hired a car in Bergen which was relatively cheap split between 5 of us for just a few days. After a drive to the cabin consisting of a lot of Taylor Swift songs, we arrived at the cabin in the afternoon. The cabin was close to Christina’s family home and so her parents invited us up to the house to eat with them. I was nervous about coming into someone else’s home especially when none of us spoke the language, but they made us feel so welcome, and after being away from home and living in halls for a few months it was nice to spend time in a proper home again and be looked after.

That night we had a girls night in, making pasta bake and brownies, playing board games and watching movies. Aside from a walk the next morning, this is how we spent the majority of the few days at the cabin. After the busy lifestyle of my first few months here it was really nice to relax and just spend quality time with my friends. The view from the cabin was so pretty and it was so cosy inside. The whole trip embodied hygge – a Danish word which means creating a warm atmosphere and enjoying the good things in life with good people. This is definitely done best in a Norwegian cabin, this trip was definitely one of the highlights of my first term! I would highly recommend a cabin trip with friends while you are in Norway, it’s a great way to experience some of their culture and get to know your friends better. Tusen takk Christina!