Ten Years

And a lifetime to go ✨

Ten years ago today, I woke up in Norway.

In a red wooden artists’ house, on an archipelago called the Lofoten Islands.

That day began like all the other days I’d spent on Lofoten so far. With a view of water outside my window, and mountains on the horizon. With long, quiet hours at my desk, working on the book I had tasked myself with writing that spring. And a few trips to the kitchen, for coffee and chats with the fellow travelers I was sharing the house with.

But someone new arrived at the artists’ house that morning — someone who would make the day be remembered for being very much not like any other day.

Here’s how I wrote about my first conversation with Jose in the journal I was keeping in Norway:

Ten years have somehow passed since that fateful day on Lofoten. Ten years in which Jose and I became a team of two, and then two became four.

When Jose and I talked about how to mark this milestone, all I knew is that I wanted to wake up again in Norway today. And so we did — in the city of Bergen, in a hotel overlooking the harbor.

Our room doesn’t have a view of the water, but I know it’s out there, and beyond the water, there are mountains. I’ve got a desk (though I don’t think I’ll spend much time there), and plenty of coffee. As for my fellow travelers, they’re the greatest gift of all.

No matter what the rest of the day holds, I’m so happy it started here.

In the place where life first surprised us; where the world opened up, as expansive as the sea; where there’s a mountain for every horizon.