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Dad dreams of the midnight sun, while the rest of the gang wants cocktails by the pool.
I’m someone who gets butterflies just thinking about the bright nights in northern Norway.
You know that feeling when it’s 11:30 p.m., yet the sun is still up, hanging like a big, stubborn orange ball in the sky? The midnight sun, the silence, the fjords, the mountains, and the smell of seaweed and peat. The sky that never gets completely dark. It’s pure magic.
But then I have a family.
They look at me with a gentle, almost pitying gaze and say, “Dad, we want to go to Cyprus this summer.”
Just thinking about temperatures over 90°F and a sun that beats down harder than a Bergen seagull makes me sweat. The others, on the other hand? They picture white beaches, turquoise water, and ice-cold drinks with little umbrellas. Maybe they’ll find a little taverna with Greek salad and souvlaki late into the evening. The kids see a pool with a water slide. My wife sees herself reading a book under an umbrella without having to keep a sweater on hand.
And me? I see myself melting like an ice cube on asphalt, longing for a wool hat and a midnight stroll under the midnight sun.
Still, love is compromise, isn’t it? (Or at least that’s what I tell myself while booking plane tickets south.)
So now it’s decided. This July, it’s Cyprus. We’ll sweat through heat waves, eat our fill of meze, and lounge on beaches with unpronounceable names. Maybe we’ll even dance a little sirtaki if someone gets me drunk enough on ouzo. I’ll try not to check the weather forecast for Tromsø every day.
But deep down? There sits the new Norwegian, who still remembers what it feels like to stand on a mountaintop at one in the morning and watch the sun dance low over the horizon without disappearing. I whisper softly, “Maybe next year?”
For my family, the best part of vacation is being together. It doesn’t matter if it’s under the midnight sun of Northern Norway or the midday sun of Cyprus. If I have to choose between being with them on a sweaty beach or being alone in a cold mountain wilderness, well, then I’ll take the beach. Every time.
But I’ve already planted the seed of an “extension” to Lofoten in August. One can always hope!
Have a great summer, wherever the sun shines for you!