Norway Navigation

Posted by Catherine Lemus on

Written by: Catherine Lemus

Major: Marketing

Location: Norway

One unavoidable aspect of travel that has caused me some pre-trip worries (and general frustration, even back home) was navigation.

This may sound silly because our generation is fully equipped with technology to give directions and even real-time traffic updates but nonetheless it has always something that has frustrated me.

Surprisingly, when I arrived to Oslo this concern quickly disappeared. Not only was I able to understand the Ruter app which give in-depth information about public transport routes, I found at times I didn’t even need the directions at all!

During the first few weeks in Oslo, when the honeymoon phase was in full swing, my friends and I were eager to explore every inch of the city to better understand our new home. The biggest challenge was the one person always had to be a designated navigator otherwise our group was sure to stray away from the path. For some reason, I volunteered to be navigator (what better way to improve than be forced to learn, right?) and the joke #FollowCat formed.

Since my friends were enjoying being able to follow someone who seemingly had it all under control, it became common to say that we would just “follow Cat” to our next adventure destination. It even became a hashtag that we started to use on Instagram as a joke among the group of us. I will also admit I have a tendency to be a planner so it was second-nature for me to search up cool places to visit and simply pitch them to my friends as group activities.

From the food-filled Mathallen to the waters in Aker Brygge and Huk beach, my friends would chat and joke away as I learned the city through navigating. It may sound like a chore but honestly I am so glad that I was given the responsibility of getting our friends to new places because it helped me to gain a better sense of direction while making fun memories!

Now that I have learned how to be better oriented in Norway, I have even been able to bring these skills to other trips.

Student tip: Searching up a city’s local transportation app has been incredibly useful when visiting a new place and helps me to save money and waste by using an app rather than buying transport cards.

I think the main reason why I have been able to improve my skills is that in the past I have been able to blindly travel to places based on memorizing a route. In Oslo, I have been intentionally learning my surroundings as it is cool and new which has helped me to understand how public transport works. Gaining confidence in my navigation skills has helped me to grow on this trip and feel that I can achieve anything I set my mind to!

Categories: Norway, Navigation, Blogging