Arrival

Well, we finally did it. We moved to Norway.

After months of paperwork and logistics, fears and anxieties, excitement and anticipation, and of course, a long, drawn-out string of tearful goodbyes, we took the long journey to our new home in Kristiansand. Since we arrived, I’ve had a terrible case of writer’s block, which is why this blog post took so long to create. Long ago, writing like this was a tool I often used to process my feelings, and the words would pour out effortlessly. These days, after too many years of failure to consistently journal or write for pleasure, my skills have dampened and my creative mind seems to have atrophied. But I know that the only way to build a muscle is to exercise it, so here I go…

I have to start with Rusty, our seven-year-old hound mix. From the time we made the decision to move to Norway as a family, whether or not to bring our beloved dog wasn’t even a conversation – he’s part of our family and there was no question that he was coming with us. But, for those who aren’t aware, bringing a pet overseas is a bit of a harrowing process. Each country has their own rules about which vaccinations are required and how an animal’s medical records are documented and certified. So, my work preparing Rusty for our move began back in March, when I first scheduled a consultation with our veterinarian in Vermont. Together we looked at Norway’s regulations and put in place a plan to gather and prepare all of the documentation we would need to allow him to enter the country. I won’t bore you with all the details of the process, but suffice it to say that after two more appointments, coordination with the USDA, and a significant investment of money, Rusty’s paperwork was in order. About two weeks before we left, we did a test-run with the Trazodone the vet prescribed to keep him calm during travel, and he handled it well.

The weekend before our Tuesday flight I did my best to tire him out by scheduling two days of long walks with his favorite person in the world, Jess (of Jess Walks Dogs). This seems to have backfired slightly because on the third day he was getting antsy, thinking that he would be going on another long walk, but it was our last day in Vermont, and we were busy running last-minute errands and loading up the car to start on our way to Boston.

That afternoon we finally hit the road. We were headed to see one of my dearest and oldest friends, Sarah. We spent the night at Sarah’s and on the morning of our flight, Rusty and Sarah’s dog Oggi tired each other out with lots of walks and playtime antics. I gave him his sedative medication around 3:30 in the afternoon, and by the time we arrived at the airport around 6:00, he was already feeling groggy and relatively immune to stress – which was a good thing because BOY was I stressed. We checked our bags and paid for Rusty’s fare on the plane in the cargo area, and then went through a security check before handing him over to the airline.

We were all pretty worried about him, since he’s an anxious little guy and this experience of being in his travel crate for 10+ hours in an environment with unfamiliar sights, sounds, and interactions had the potential to really spook him. I pictured him trembling and drooling in the cold, dark cargo section of the plane, listening to other animals cry or whine or bark, wondering where he was and whether or not he would ever see us again.

Fast forward to our arrival in Oslo the next afternoon. The kids and I made our way to the baggage claim, which is also where we expected to find Rusty. He’s a nervous dog and even on his best days, he gets overwhelmed by crowds and places that have lots of activity. I was sure that an airport would spike his anxiety, especially after the long flight and being separated from us. But when I found him in his crate near the last baggage claim conveyor, I was thrilled to see that he was awake, alert, and not stressed at all, albeit extremely thirsty. As I approached his crate he stood up and excitedly wagged his tail and “smiled” at me. I couldn’t believe that he wasn’t drooling or shaking – he didn’t even have his tail tucked.

After our brief reunion, we gathered our bags and made our way to the animal control station to have his paperwork checked. After a few minutes, I was told that we were good to go, and we headed outside. Jeremy met us at the airport to drive us to our townhouse in Kristiansand, but we knew that the four of us, with all of our bags and Rusty, who is 70 lbs. and nearly as long as I am tall, wouldn’t all fit in one vehicle. So, JJ and I spent the night in a hotel near the airport while Jeremy drove back with Wren, Rusty and our things.

After a nice dinner in the hotel restaurant, JJ and I closed the blackout curtains in the hotel and had no problem falling asleep at 9 pm. The next morning, we had a beautiful Norwegian breakfast at the hotel. It was an amazing spread of breads, cheeses, meats, eggs, croissants, tea, coffee, juice, eggs, sausage – you name it. And all of it was absolutely delicious. Once we finished, it was time to head to the train station to begin our final leg of the trip: a train and bus to our new home.

The train station, just a two-minute walk from the hotel, was desolate. It was mid-morning on July 17th, right smack dab in the middle of Norway’s “fellesferie” – a solid three-week period in July when most of the Norwegian population and roughly half of the workforce is on joint summer break. JJ and I didn’t mind – it was a welcome respite from the chaos of our previous two days of travel – and we happily boarded the mostly-empty train. After a transfer to a double decker bus and a four-hour ride south, we arrived in Kristiansand. One more local bus ride and a short walk, and we arrived.