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Published: February 15th 2020
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Turning 50 in 2020, we wanted to have a really special holiday. Looking back, it was probably 18months ago that I started throwing ideas around of places I’d love to visit -
Madagascar, Galapagos Islands or Antarctica.
My love of photography, animals and nature were big factors when deciding where to travel to but price has to come into it, unfortunately. We ruled out Madagascar and Galapagos Islands because in 2015 we had the most amazing wildlife experience in Borneo and although not the same, decided to give these two a miss for this trip.
Antarctica was a dream for both of us, but once we started doing the research, ruled this out too for several reasons which I won’t get into. Luckily, there was another destination which would offer not only spectacular scenery, wildlife and interesting history but the natural phenomena known as 'Aurora Borealis’ - Scandinavia.
Once we agreed on where to go, it was time to research and I have to say, countless hours online looking for tours began. In October 2018, Trav came home with a page ripped out of the Herald Sun travel section with a deal - ‘Northern Lights Discovery -
Norway Cruise & Scandinavia Stay’ through Imagine Cruising. This included stays in Oslo, Bergen and Copenhagen as well as a 11 night full board cruise of Norway and the Arctic with a Northern Lights Promise - receive a free Hurtigruten voyage if the Northern Lights don’t make an appearance. SOLD !!!!
From my first phone call (and there were many), I had lots of questions as we wanted this holiday to be memorable. Not that any of our other holidays haven’t been - in 2016, we did 9 countries in Europe in 18 days (what a whirlwind) then in 2017 it was Canada/Alaska/Hawaii for our 25th wedding anniversary.
It didn’t take much convincing and we booked our holiday for 18 February 2020, even though my birthday is in April. I figured we would just celebrate early, and you can’t time when the Northern Lights will make an appearance - even if my 50th is a reason for a light show. We also will be away for two other important events - Trav’s birthday and our wedding anniversary so celebrations will be in order.
We decided whilst we were in Northern Europe, why not add on some extra nights in Sweden and it only took a phone call to Imagine Cruising with our idea, and they made it happen. Of course, we had to pay for a deviation from the tour and extra for accommodation and a flight from Copenhagen to Stockholm, but hey, this could be a once in a lifetime opportunity so we embraced it.
There’s been many purchases for this trip, some essential and some just because. Essentials have included snow boots, thermals, woollen clothing, and wind/waterproof jackets. Non essentials have included a new camera - Canon EOS80D (early birthday present from Trav) and wide angle lens, and second hand Lenovo Thinkpad (so I can blog on something bigger than my iphone).
And now, with only 9 days to go, this is getting very real. We’ve packed our cases, charged the camera batteries and have our passports ready. Both have one more week of work to go, then 4 weeks off. This trip cannot come any sooner - we are ready for you Scandinavia.
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