The syttende mai is a national holiday in Norway and most of the people dress up in the traditional clothing of their hometown. It is fascinating to see people being proud of their origins and celebrating their country in such a happy way. I visited Oslo with my exboyfriend who has relatives in Norway two times for this special holiday and a couple of times without it and loved it. The first time was in 2014, the second two years later. If you want to experience this holiday, book way in advance, because everything is booked and more expensive than Norway already is. We were glad to stay with family and we still got a cheap flight with Norwegian Airlines.

I wish my own country would be able to celebrate itself without the bitter taste of the past. In Germany we only allow ourselves to be proud of our origins during world cup or European championship. I know, there is a fine line between patriotism and nationalism. Don’t get me wrong, some of our past is awful, but we should not blame this new generations for what happened. We should remember cautiously and learn from the past but at the same time embrace the Germany we do have now with all its traditions and multicultural influences living side by side. As for me, I am proud having the privilege of being raised in our western world. Each time I travel and see places where they don’t have what we take for granted it reminds me of this privilege and makes me appreciate it even more. That doesn’t mean that I don’t appreciate other cultures or origins, on the contrary, I do love multicultural experiences. I love to travel and dive into the otherness and at the same time spot so many similarities in other countries and their people, because at the end we are all humans. So why can't we all appreciate our routes in peace and at the same time respect the other nationalities at the same time?! And surely I don't mean biological or genetic routes, but the place or country where each of us feels related to or what he or she considers their home. For me by now that is Germany, but who knows if I might feel home and connected to a whole different part of the world... At the end, one of the best privileges I have is the ability to choose almost without limit where I want to travel to and maybe also where I want to live or even settle down. I do hope you're happy with where you're at, if not, take your chance and keep exploring. It either opens new possibilities to you or makes you appreciate where you're at. I'm definitely going to keep exploring and maybe I will be able to find a place where I feel home. Who knows where that is going to be at or as I read this week "Home is not a place it's a feeling" so maybe I will find that feeling and will feel home where ever I am in this world!