We moved to the Arctic Circle

The life we didn't see coming

Hello everyone!

It’s been a while. And honestly, it feels really good to be back. I’ve missed writing here. And I’m genuinely excited to open our new chapter together.

I think, deep down, I also need this. Writing has always helped me make sense of big life changes, and this one has been exactly that. Of all the possible scenario’s, it was really the last one I could have imagined…

We were supposed to be somewhere between India and Pakistan by now, still deep inside our dream of cycling west from Singapore. We believed in that dream completely, and were determined to make it all the way to Europe. But as the numbness in Bernardo’s hands kept getting worse every day, the dream began to slip away.

In Bangkok, a neurologist confirmed what we already feared: we had to stop.

We left our bikes in Thailand and flew back home, believing this was just a pause. As soon as the neuropathy faded, we would return and pick up where we left off.

For Bernardo, the months that followed were all about recovery. He tried everything: physiotherapy, medication, supplements, diets, meditation, and sometimes nothing at all, learning that focusing too much can actually have the opposite effect. In short, it was a struggle.

For me, the months just passed, without really getting anywhere. I was afraid that committing to something new would mean admitting this chapter was over. Should I go back to work? And if so, for how long, if we might leave again someday? I came home, but I didn’t really land. I just couldn’t commit.

When you dedicate yourself to a single goal for so long, it becomes more than just a line on a map. It becomes part of who you are. And when it suddenly ends, because of something outside your control, the loss feels almost personal. As long as this chapter didn’t feel closed, it was difficult for us to move on or begin something new.

But months passed. And slowly, waiting turned into acceptance. Into realising that this dream was not on pause, but it was ending.

We’ve learned to see Bangkok as a beautiful place to end. And I think we can simply be proud of getting that far…

Eight months have passed, and we’ve accepted things as they are. It was painful, but it also created space to let life unfold the way it did…

During that period, when we were not sure what the next step would be, Bernardo sent me a listing for a house.

In Norway.

“Ehh… nice,” I replied. “But what do you mean?”

The suggestion was quite unexpected, so I assumed he was joking.

I didn’t take it seriously, until Bernardo brought it up again and again. He seems to have a talent for indoctrination.

Bit by bit, the idea started to spark some excitement in me. Just the idea, that we could live in such a beautiful house, with a lot of outside space and potential for renovation. That was our dream, but with the exploding housing markets in the Netherlands and Portugal, a dream we couldn’t touch. And suddenly, in Norway, it was possible.

I started checking houses too. ‘Just to look’, you know…

And then…whoops.

I stumbled upon the house we now live in.

I still can’t quite believe it, but there’s no way around it:

We moved to the Arctic Circle.

Everything happened so fast. The day we saw the house online, we signed up for a viewing and booked flights for later that week. Before we had fully processed the idea, we were standing inside the house.

Suddenly, we had a million questions. How would it feel, just the two of us living there? So far from family and friends? Were we ready for harsh, unpredictable weather? Was it too far? Too remote? Too extreme? Did we really want this?

We tried to picture what life could look like, but that imagination never felt enough. The only way to find out, was to dive in.

So, we did.

We’re creating ‘home’ from that charming, white house. And I think we’ve crossed that line where a place stops feeling temporary. It feels like home now. It is our home. And for the foreseeable future, we don’t feel the need to imagine ourselves anywhere else.

Life can take such unexpected turns. We never imagined trading the tropical sun of Asia for a place where, in winter, the sun doesn’t rise at all. Sometimes, when you accept that your route has changed, life really surprises you.
This was definitely a good one :)

And, perhaps even more important: Bernardo is ‘in good hands’ in Norway. Being able to edit videos again, feels like a big milestone. It gives us hope that full recovery lies just ahead.

Which means we’re ready to share again!

Bernardo will be documenting our life on YouTube, and I’ll be writing here on Substack. It took us a while to get here, but we’re truly happy to be back.

I hope you’ll enjoy following along as we build this new life.

Thank you for being here!

Jule Noah