FRILUFTSLIV - Learning about yourself and embracing the people you are with through nature

Moving to a country you haven’t been before for one semester. Meeting new people every day and getting to know their different countries and cultural backgrounds. Going on multy-day trips into the nature, doing kayak and hiking!

The preparation

All things mentioned take you out of your typical everyday life. You may have done parts of those things before or not, either way they always offer you a lot of learning through new experiences. As for me I haven't been in the nature for four consecutive days.

Experiences in nature have always been interesting to hear from and seemed like a thing to do, also in Germany, but they seem to be more accessible here in Norway. Here Friluftsliv is a way of life and everyone has the right to roam free in uncultivated land, which includes staying over night or picking berries (Unsgård 2008).

Learning about and through Friluftsliv is what we did on our first 4-Day Trip when we took our backpacks and tents and went on a hike. The new experience was exciting, but also kind of scary. ‘Scary’ not in a bad way but a way which gives you an uncertainty about yourself; about what you are going to do during those days and the stuff you brought in your backpack.

The trip

The 4-day hike turned out to be a self-development trip, by learning through myself and the amazing people who made this hike with me in a group.

The trip itself was a big challenge for me. Days consisting of hiking for hours, eating the food you brought, pitching up and down your tent and going to bed. That paired with a lot of talking to the people you are doing the trip with.
For me the part of being exposed to nature while hiking for seven hours a day was the scariest part; and that was where the learning happened.

Each day presented itself as a new insight of being outside in the nature. Whereas the first day was a rough day, with me thinking ‘I don’t want to be in wet clothes and staying in a cold tent for much longer than today’, the second day was totally different. The weather changed, and the experience of hiking became another layer. We were climbing a higher peak and entered a valley while the group became more and more enthusiastic. We experienced different parts of nature’s landscape and hiked way longer than the day before. Me personally and the group in its whole seemed to be in a flow state; "fully involved in [our] chosen activity" (Priest & Gass 2018, p. 199) . The challenges during that day were not less but different. Through that we grew as a group while becoming closer and closer to each other. 

The time of being together during the whole trip became great and you as a person enjoyed every minute of it. Everyone was excited to hike but also was happy to pitch the tents in the evening and making food together. So, the four days went by, delivering us as a group and me as a person challenges and new insights. Whereas the group itself was developing more and more and everyone became closer to each other, we learned how to lead a group and find the way with a compass. In addition, myself and probably everybody had their experiences that made them learn what to do in certain situations, what to bring on hikes and what not.

All this was only possible through the experience we had in a whole: being outdoors for four days in the nature and learning through it. That is what Friluftsliv is all about.

References:
Priest, S & Gass, M. (2018). Effective Leadership in Adventure Programming (3rd ed.). Champaign, Illinois: Human Kinetics.
Unsgård, J. (2008). A Guide to Norwegian Wildlife & Wilderness - Hiking - Fishing - Hunting - Skiing. Oslo: Vega Forlag.