It’s May

It’s May, and it’s raining in Bergen. Again.

I’m really fed up with the rain now. And I suppose you can’t really be, if you’re going to live here.

Lucas is turning 18. He’s had a terrible year at school and has applied for an apprenticeship in Sogn, three hours from Bergen. There’s just one month left now. Exams and the final stretch remain.

My name is Øyvind, I’m 49, and I may be facing my last year as a single dad with a son at home.

Lucas and I spend a lot of time together. He hasn’t found his place among his classmates, so we do things on weekends and go to stand-up shows. I print out the parental consent form, and off we go.

This year has taught him how important friends are. If someone asks him to join in, he drops me straight away.

And that’s good. That’s exactly how it should be.

But it also means something is beginning to change for me. For a long time, everyday life has revolved around the two of us. Now, the thought of doing something new is starting to take shape.

The change will be financial too. We’ve had a lodger paying NOK 8,000 a month for a room. Lucas contributes around NOK 4,500. When our living situation changes, I’ll need to make the numbers add up differently.

I need to rethink things anyway. Habits need reshaping, and finances need another look.

I own 33 percent of the company I work for, which gives me some influence over my own salary. I’m increasing it now to cover some of the income that will disappear.

That wouldn’t have been so easy a few years ago. Since 2019, I’ve worked hard to build the company, and money was very tight for a long time. But in recent years, we’ve found our footing. We’re now recognised as a high-growth company — a “gazelle” company in Norway.

A lot of work has gone into that. Even so, I feel that my own situation is crying out for change.

The company is now looking for strategic partners: larger companies with greater purchasing power that can help us move forward. I wonder whether that might also open up new possibilities for me.

What happens when Lucas moves out, and I no longer need to be in the same place every day?

I don’t quite know yet. But somewhere between the rain, the final school stretch and the calculations, a thought is beginning to take hold:

Can I create a freer everyday life? Travel more, work on the road and try living somewhere else?

Digital nomad. For now, it’s just a thought.

But that’s where it begins.