Explorer Genes

(Sept. 16-23) Norway is an undeniably stunning country which, landscape-wise, reminded us a lot of our experience in New Zealand. And like New Zealand, it should be made for road tripping.

It’s not. At least for a foreigner who rented an electric vehicle.

In fact, there are more layers of sh*tshow when renting an EV for a road trip in Norway than a tiramisu. Everything about this experience brought upon stress and frustration, even for my tech-savvy and normally chill husband.

Yep, 92 countries in…including India and Ethiopia…and Norway is the one that broke my Captain Calm.

We thought after a few days we’d get used to this serious technological learning curve, which has really only become prevalent in the last few years, but no.

Each day was like a modern-day blend of Kafka, meets Black Mirror, meets Curb Your Enthusiasm. Yes….calling Larry David to head to Norway if he wants some legit material for a Comedy of Errors.

Because ultimately, all we could do was laugh. And come up with our own catchphrase to help soften our frustrations every time we encountered a new WTF….why are they doing it this way?!…moment…

BIFN. Because it’s f’ing Norway….😅

NOTE: We will have many other forthcoming posts detailing the better parts of the experience. But because our stressors were a daily struggle, I decided to mostly dump them in one post rather than interspersing them throughout.

***Click photos for details

September 2026 Budget Update
$2035 ($360 OVER) of $1675; (Two people: $55/day or $20,075/year)

We are hardly surprised to exceed our September budget, having spent most of the month (22 nights) in Norway—a country that is plainly difficult to manage cheaply. Alongside the expected financial and climatic pressures, the trip brought several unforeseen stresses, which we will detail in future posts, but begin to emerge here.

All this said, we feel pleased with the money-saving efforts we accomplished, despite the challenges faced.

The final eight nights were spent in Krakow, Poland followed by Eastern Slovakia, which is where we are currently.

Below are the breakdowns for the month.
All prices in USD and are rounded. As always, let us know if you have questions! 🙂

TRANSPORTATION: $878
$82: Buses and train from Moss to Notodden (4 hours)
$347: Rental Car, Hertz, for one week. Yes, $49/day is a great deal in Norway, which we booked in April. The catch was this rental price only came with an EV (electric vehicle). Since 98% of new cars sold are now electric in Norway, the country is set up for these, and we thought we’d save serious money on gas, we figured…why not?! Oh…you’ll be hearing why not soon enough….😅
$30: additional driver fee
$28: tolls and ferries (?)
$27: Parking fees (this is incredibly low and took a LOT of extra effort and car relocation!)
$185: Electric charging (370%, or 3.7 “tanks”)
$88: Shuttle Bus/Local Bus to Oslo Airport (yes, insane!)
$76: Flight from Oslo to Krakow (one flight, we used points for the other)
$15: Train & Uber combo to Krakow hotel

ACCOMMODATION: $533
Surprisingly, Norway does not offer a lot of the standard big-box hotels usually targeted by using hotel points, such as Hyatt, IHG, or Marriott. But what they do have are a splendid array of Choice Hotels, which became the biggest ace in our pocket for the country, and major cost savings for the month.

Choice Hotels, at least from our experience in the States, are middle-of-the-road hotel chains including Comfort, Quality and Days Inn. There you might get a “hot breakfast” which from what we last remember included DIY waffle iron goop, some rubberized scrambled eggs, and limp bacon. The situation in Norway is drastically different and a quite posh experience in every regard.

To achieve five free nights during our time, we opened two Choice Privilege cards in early 2026, which offered 60k points as a sign-up bonus (no annual fee) and planned our road trip around where we could arrange these free stays.

It broke down as follows:
(15) nights Notodden at housesit (FREE)
(1) night Drammen, Choice Hotel for 12k points (FREE), valued at $225/night
(1) night Beitostolen, Choice Hotel for 15k points (FREE), valued at $220/night
(2) nights Skjolden, Booking(com) apartment for $90/night
(2) nights Florø, Choice Hotel for 12k points (FREE), valued at $277/night
(1) night Garmo, Booking cottage for $96
(2) nights Krakow, Poland, Hyatt transferred from Chase, 5k points (FREE), valued at $130/night
(1) night camping Bžany, Slovakia $10
(1) night camping Polonia, $20
(2) nights camping Mala Bara, $34/night
(2) nights Airbnb house, Kolinovce, $52/night (split with friends)

In our accommodation budget, we also included the air mattress and blanket we had to buy for camping at $52.

GROCERIES: $532
As for food, we bought almost all our food for the month at supermarkets. We found Kiwi to be the cheapest option in Norway, and our usual go-to, Lidl in Slovakia. Also, we saved on food in a few major ways:
-We bought two Too Good to Go packages for about $5-6 each which were filled with fruit and vegetables, even including 6 avocados
-We bought a lot of discounted products
-We picked grapes and black currants from our backyard at the housesit
-We had 5 included hotel breakfasts so we stuffed ourselves on those mornings, did a sensible amount of squirreling, and only ate a light dinner
-Minus one b**r when Greg may have had a breakdown without it, we did not drink alcohol in Norway, which would have been a major budget buster.

GENERAL: $53
($26) Toiletries
($13) Laundry Krakow, Self-service (very high!)
($12) Tello payment for US phone numbers
($1) Apple photo storage

RESTAURANTS: $39
If you want to call it that, we ate out one meal this month other than a splurge below….at a Norway Circle K gas station on a Sunday when supermarkets were not open for $19 😬

Also…
$6 for one Circle K coffee (black)
$5 at the Oslo airport for our $50 Priority Pass overage
$8 for 4 desserts in Slovakia

Our “OTHER” Buckets
ANNUAL SPLURGE: ($1000/annually)
We spent $130 from our splurge bucket, all in Slovakia.
This included:
($57) Two w**e tastings and a bottle of w**e & ($11) Taxi to w**ery
($27) Castle entrance fee
($34) Nice meal out with friends (two entrees and two b**rs)

MEDICAL: $3000/annually
We spent $113 from our medical bucket.

(Sept. 13) Most countries do their religious structures a bit differently and Norway’s stave churches are no exception.

These medieval wooden churches are famous for their unusual construction, tall narrow shapes, and elaborate Viking/Norse-inspired decoration.

While in Notodden, we were fortunate that our housesit was located near the largest of the 28 remaining structures in the country.

Heddal Stave Church was built in the 13th century, and is the only one with three towers. Its symbols and ornaments reveal that it was built during a period of transition from Paganism to Christianity.

It is still the main parish church and used as such during the summer months. Visiting on a Sunday, we even got to see a confirmation congregation pouring out, many in traditional Norwegian clothing.

It was like peering into the past.

So fascinating.

(Sept. 13) Our walks with Tango in Notodden were largely absent due to our illnesses and distance from any trails. Yet this was the one occasion we managed to escape for a brief dose of exercise and nature therapy.

(Sept. 1-15) Of course we never would have even contemplated going to Norway without a housesit to offset the budget, which would be our destination for the first 15 nights. It was located outside of Nottoden, which is a small town of 13k centrally located between Oslo and Bergen.

The little cottage where we stayed, rented by a Colombian expat named Marcela and her Chocolate Labrador, Tango, was located directly on Lake Heddalsvatnet with a stellar view.

Although we had access to a car, we only used it a couple times because we both got quite sick with nasty head colds during most of the stay, which is not surprising considering this is Europe and the seasons just shifted dramatically for us.

Still, it was an ideal place for healing and slowing down, especially when the days were rainy and cold. We only wish it had been for longer!

***Click photos for details

(Sept. 1) After our splurgalicious anniversary night in Moss, it was back to reality as we made our way six hours toward Notodden, where we were relieved to be spending the next two weeks housesitting in a rural setting.

While we could have gone north to Oslo by train, and west to Notodden by bus, we naturally opted for a cheaper option which involved a FREE ferry, followed by a much more expensive bus/train/bus trilogy of adventure. ($81/two)

***Click photos for details

It’s been a grueling last week in Norway and we’re ecstatic to be out. Lots more stories to come on that note, but we need to cool off. 😅

Grateful to be back in the Land of Slavs! Slovakia bound with friends from here. 🇸🇰

(Aug. 31/Sept. 1) After disembarking the train and plodding 25 minutes to our hotel, Norway started off spectacularly.

We had reserved a bougie room in Moss, south of Oslo, at the Hotel Riviera to celebrate our 13th wedding anniversary. It had a luxurious wellness center with rooftop pool and sauna with a fjord view, as well as a satisfying and extravagant breakfast.

What more could we ask for?

Getting it for free! Yes, we booked the $250 room by cashing in 12k points with a new credit card we got specifically for Norway: Choice Privileges, which had a sign-up bonus of 60k.

****Click photos for details

(Aug. 31) After spending four nights with our friends in Kullavik, Sweden it was time to chug off to a new-for-us nature-packed destination…a land of fjords and forests and waterfalls.

I’m guessing you’ve heard of Norway?! 🇳🇴

It’s a country we’ve always dreamt about exploring, but never thought attainable until recently. Still, we knew it would be the ultimate adventure in testing our budgeteering chops.

Yes indeed, the last 23 days in Norway have been one of our bigger challenges…EVER…but not ONLY for the financial reasons you may assume.

It started pretty simply, however, and allowed us to experience a Norwegian high-speed train from Gothenburg to Moss, three hours for $80 (two tickets), which we didn’t think was neither affordable nor astronomical.

Especially because it even included a cheery conductor, complimentary toilet and can of cold bubbly water…..😅

It’s a Wrap: Sweden!

Time Spent: 9 nights (Aug 22-31)
Money Spent: $378 or $42/day USD/two people.

This breaks down to:
-$0 (Accommodation)
-$222 (Transportation)
-$102 (Groceries)
-$41 (Restaurants
-$13 (General)

Our itinerary:
(3) nights Stockholm (Hyatt)
(2) nights Älta (friends)
(4) nights Kullavik (friends)

Favorite place: Stockholm

Would we return? Yes. Likely to see the same friends again, and we’d also consider housesits in Stockholm and in other parts of the country.

What we did right:
-Cut our accommodation price to zero by using 15k in Chase points to cash in for three nights at the Hyatt, and we stayed with friends the rest of the time
-Chose a hotel with breakfast
-Had only two meals out. One was at IKEA ($18 for two meals and ice cream) which is good value and a popular option even for locals, and we shared our other meal.
-Did not buy alcohol
-Ate from the salad bar at Willy’s grocery store or bought discounted ready-made meals
-drank tap water (obviously, almost everywhere in Europe)
-Relied on the cheaper (and longer) bus options rather than trains.
-Chose nice friends who let us stay with them.

What we should have done differently:
-Weather-wise it wasn’t a total fail because we had 4 nice days on the east coast, followed by 4 bad ones on the west coast. But still, it made us wonder if we should have stuck with what we know works here…coming in June or July, like our last climate-perfect visit.
-Not a lot. We planned this one well.

Our Upsides
-Digital payments are accepted for everything. No cash is needed anywhere.
-Gummy candies. No one does these like Scandinavia
-Shrimp is a form of life
-Reconnecting with old friends
-The stunning natural and green forested areas and foot paths
-Striking seascapes and coastlines
-It’s pedestrian-friendly pretty much everywhere you go.
-Stockholm exceeded our expectations…way more and charming and tranquil than we thought.
-It may be a more expensive country but it’s relatively easy to save money.
-For example, Too Good to Go is very prevalent. We just didn’t have a kitchen to use it in.
-Also grocery discounts are everywhere. You just have to scan for the markdown sections.
-You can also find absolutely anything you want. Eating vegetarian is SO easy if you choose.
-Public transport is organized, efficient and completely integrated with Google. You can also pay for it with your digital wallet. No cards or apps required.
-Of course, everyone speaks perfect English. In fact, we noticed most places of businesses used it as their first language, even for employee communication.
-The air is cool and crisp
-You barely have to worry about sunscreen with the low UV.
-All in all, it just seems to be an easy and satisfying life.

Our Downsides
-Most of the time, you’ll have to pay for public restrooms
-Very pricey local public transport at ~$4.50 a pop, some of the highest in the world
-Long distance trains and buses also expensive though buses are less
-Overall, simply the cost of living
-The rain and gloom can be quite depressing
-Bla Bla car was available but didn’t really seem to be used
-Prohibitively expensive to eat in restaurants
-Alcohol not only expensive, but you have to go to a special store.