BL #2: Break Free

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Geo: 58.9644, 5.72626

"You can tell me - where are you really going?"  Most coworkers struggled with the mere idea of me taking two months off to travel, so grasping the concept of someone actually quitting a job with nothing else in the works was an even more difficult riddle for their minds to solve.  It was easier just to assume that I was off to some secret company which, for some strange reason, I didn't want to tell anyone about.

This isn't the first time I've done something like this, and in fact, it's just a few days shy of being exactly eight years since the first time I quit a job to take an extended holiday.  Though it was impossible to say exactly when it would happen again, I've always known that a similar trip would eventually be in the cards.  That feeling of complete and utter freedom is positively euphoric, and is better than any drug in existence, capable of curing anything that ails anyone.

It's really quite difficult to explain the exact feeling, as it's something you need to experience for yourself.  I know of a few people that have done something similar before, and any discussions on the subject are quite simple - specifics are rarely mentioned, only generalities on how amazing and unforgettable the experience was, as we sigh and our eyes glaze over while we ponder the good ol' days.

For most people, work eventually becomes mundane and leaves you in a rut, one that isn't easy to climb out of, because us rats are conditioned to happily scurry along inside of our maze in search of our little piece of cheese, often oblivious to the real world that lies outside.  Changing jobs does help, but more often than not, we are simply trading one maze for another; it might be a fresh challenge in the beginning, but eventually we figure out the new maze, and it quickly becomes boring, yet again ...

So rather than jump immediately into another maze, it's far more refreshing to simply break free of them altogether, at least for a short while.  What's not refreshing, however, is breaking free and escaping to ultra-expensive Stavanger, which is rich with oil money and may be the most expensive place in all of Norway.  $16 for a kebab?  $30 for a plate of pad Thai???  $35 for a burger??????  Somebody send me back to my maze!!!!

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Photos

Randomness On Lake Breiavatnet ...
... A statue of a boy with ducks, in front of a man-made lake, to the right of a traditional building, and to the left of ... an alligator???!!?

Tempting Harbourfront ...
... prime location for restaurants and bars, especially today during the brief moments when the sun broke through the clouds, but the prohibitive prices stopped me from wanting to take advantage of it.

Gamle Stavanger ...
... the Old Town, full of cute little traditional wooden houses.

Oil Riches ...
... most of Norway's current wealth is derived from oil, with Stavanger probably the epicentre of that industry. For all its old-school charms, the shops of the area have definitely been influenced by oil money, in the form of designer boutiques and jewellery stores.

Begging For Money ...
... food is so pricey here, even the statues need to resort to begging!

Expensive Cheap Dinner ...
... hitting up the grocery store for dinner saves you only so much money, here in Norway. Some lox, a bit of Spanish Serrano, Norwegian cheese, a few rolls, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and a beer - total bill was about $20 CAD. The alternative was to dine at a restaurant and spend $40 for some Asian food of dubious quality, or $45-50 for a burger, including a beer.

Desperation ...
... crispy chicken sandwich at Burger King - normally I wouldn't go for this, but it was cheap (sort of), at about $4 for a tiny little burger.