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Some of the bests and worsts from the trip:

bests
1. Camping in Norway. Usually I'm ultra safety-conscious and so never camp without a friend, but this summer, I decided to camp some on my own in Norway. It was some of my favorite time on the trip; I saw incredible scenery and met terrific people. Also, it was good to realize I can venture outside on my own and enjoy it!

2. Preikestolen. I'd never been to southern Norway before, and in the end, it was mostly a wash, except for this hike. The hike started by winding steeply through the woods. It continued through a couple of marshes (flat, thank heavens!) then straight up a long pile of huge rocks. By the time I got to the rocks, it was pouring. It rained steadily for the rest of the hike, which was steep and slick with some sheer drop offs. I was thrilled to make it to the top, although, when I looked over, there were some seventy-somethings who had also made it up (which deflated my pride in this accomplishment sightly.)

3. Meeting the Americans and Brits in Latvia. I had a terrific time with a few American and British friends in Latvia. We slept in all sorts of unusual places: the roof of a school, a gym floor, an abandoned library, a cabin, tents, a city hostel outside which a man sang john denver songs loudly all night...it was a super fun group; I was really thankful to end my trip with them.

4. Skjolden. I made it back to Skjolden for a few days on the trip. It was, as usual, incredible. I feel so at home there and love everything about that little town: the hikes, the views, the single shop in town, the community center, the people. It was far too short, but great to be back. This time, I also finally made it to Wittgenstein's house (after three attempts that included getting lost in a field and scaling a vertical rock wall over the fjord).

5. Seeing Sweden and Spain. We stopped into Spain for a few days and then went to Sweden for a week and a half. Both were good trips; I really enjoyed seeing new places (and eating some terrific food!)

worsts:
1. Trip Planning. I went with a friend who's from NYC and who really wanted to spend her time in cities. I was there studying glaciers (which are not exactly in cities). Great friend, bad idea. In the end, we had a good time, but trying to make plans that worked for both of us was pretty stressful.

2. Sleeping pad disasters. Something happened to my sleeping pad on the way to Norway, and it wouldn't deflate--so it was HUGE to carry around. Then, when I'd sleep on it, it would immediately deflate. Disaster. It was below freezing in Norway and your sleeping pad, even more than your sleeping bag, is vital to staying warm. I patched and patched this thing but couldn't get it to work. Finally I bought a new one. Well, it was in Norwegian, and when I got it out, I realized it was child sized! ah!! In the end, I returned the first and bought a second sleeping pad--and because I was buying it in Norway (one of the most expensive countries in the world), it cost more than my tent.

3. Mold. One of the places where we were staying in Latvia was covered with mold. All the girls (including myself) got sick. It was pretty awful to be super sick in 90-100 degree weather.

4. Knives and axes! We worked at a camp for a week in Latvia and some of the kids, this year, were quite difficult behavior-wise. It's supposed to be a high school/college camp for orphans and Latvian kids, but a bunch of younger kids from the orphanage showed up (younger like 8-11). I'm glad they could be at camp, but it was really really tough having them there--they were constantly beating each other up, breaking windows, running at people with knives, axes, metal plates, anything. I can't tell you how many times I was hit with one thing or another.

5. Hot hot heat! I went from below freezing in Norway to the 100s in Latvia. This maybe wasn't a worst, exactly, but it was so hot that your clothes were gross after like a minute of wearing them.