Moving around is an essential part of growing older. Since I graduated high school I moved from Kristiansand to Oslo, from Oslo to Keoniana Street in Honolulu, and then from Keoniana to Kalakaua Avenue, where I currently recide. For the last 7 years I have shared my life, my dreams, my travels and my cravings on Lostmyhead.org, and finally I felt it was about time to move on to new turf. I’ve had my detours to faksimile.no and Fædrelandsvennen’s Sørlandsstil, but from now on you will find me permanently at the-wanderlust.com.

Merriam-Webster defines Wanderlust as a : strong longing for or impulse toward wandering. [German : wandern, to wander (from Middle High German) + Lust, desire (from Middle High German, from Old High German; see las- in Indo-European roots).]

Welcome and aloha!

So.. Since we talked last I got my new Canon 6D, revelled in the gloriousness of it for about a week, and then lost it. I’m not even going to go into the details of the event, but I’m still crying myself to sleep at night. I have also finished my final exam, which means that Christmas break is finally here! In 7 days I am returning to the snow-covered mountains of Norway to celebrate Christmas with the family, and New Year’s with friends, before I return to Hawaii for a new semester in early January.

On Sunday we tried out a new hike here in Hawaii, the Kahekili-Manamana loop trail in Kaaawa. High drops, a small waterfall, one of the most beautiful sceneries I have seen on Oahu so far, and plenty of climbing. I’m definitely going to repeat that hike next semester! Beautiful! 

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Finals week is here. Which means that I have spent most of my “free” time the last week at the library/Starbucks/newsroom/quiet place that serves coffee. Right now I am working with a 20 page paper on cognitive dissonance and How I Met Your Mother, and a 24-page-but-will-be-longer-paper on Facebook use amongst colleges students. Had to do primary research for the latter, which meant surveying my fellow students at HPU. Hypothesis: Facebook makes us more social. Conclusion: Hypothesis approved, but needs more research to be bulletproof.

So that’s what’s up. And oh, I nearly forgot: My new Canon 6D arrives in the mail tomorrow. EXCITED is an understatement.

Under semi-bad conditions (cloudy skies, and muddy slopes after a night of heavy rain) we decided to complete the Ka’au Crater Hike. This one has been on my list of “Hikes I need to do” since I got here, so fractured finger or not, I was going to complete it. We gathered up the troops and took two cabs and a car to the end of Waimoa Road in Palolo and fought pouring rain for the first 10 minutes of the hike (so glad we did not turn back!).

A small map if any of you want to do the hike yourselves!

The crew: Camilla, Sebastian, Aleks, Elise, Lisa, Gisle, Kim, Sondre, Nora, Matt & Rami. And Karoline & Hallvard who are not in the picture.

Ka’au crater consists of two parts. The first one is the climb to the crater where you pass by three beautiful waterfalls. This is where we got our first glimpse of the first one, after roughly 50 minutes of hiking on a small but fairly easy trail.

First waterfall up close. Beautiful one!

The guys decided it was time for a swim. The rest of us decided this was a good spot for a small snack & water break.

At the top of the second waterfall. To get here we had to climb a 90 degree angled slope with the help of roots and ropes. Totally made me feel like Indiana Jones.

Climbing the side of the third waterfall. This one is technically about 5 different waterfalls combined into one continuos stream of water that you follow upward for about 10 minutes.

And at the top of the third waterfall, after taking a trail to the right (follow the pink ribbons) you’ll find this: Ka’au Crater.

Happy face!

..and that means it was time to start climbing. This is the second part of the hike, where the trail takes you all the way around the crater. And while some people turn at the top of the third waterfall and go down the ridge line and back home, we were set on finishing the entire hike. We’re kind of stupid that way. Which is why I love this group. Our motto is basically “It’s always too early to turn back”.

Not turning back started with us climbing up to the first (and tallest) peak …

…where we took a well-needed lunch break.. Yes, there was mud involved. A lot of it. And there would be even more when we started to work our way around the crater. Downside of walking here right after a night of heavy rain.

The ridge line (and those white dots are my fellow hikers) and Waimanalo in the background. Gnarly!

Group picture with Honolulu in the distant background.

The view of Kailua (and Waimanalo to the right). Pretty sick. In a good way.

The ridge line continued on, and then it took a left turn after the second tower. All muddy slopes from there till we got to the lower part of the ridge again. Accidentally turned off on the wrong ridge line on the way back down to the trail end, and ended up wandering around in the forest before we finally ended up by this sustainability farm one valley over from the one we were supposed to be in.

Then we got chased by the owner of the property we had stepped onto, before he realized how lost we were and decided to drive us back to the main road. Which meant stuffing the 14 of us onto the back of his truck and giving us two bottles of Corona to share for the ride. Best Corona I have ever tasted in my entire life.

The next time we do this I will double check to see that we are on the right ridge line for sure.

It made for a good story though.

My neighbor back home in Oslo used to invite us up for guitar sessions on the balcony (and Star Wars marathons on Sundays) in the early spring, summer and fall, where we would have mini concerts for the entire building while drinking whiskey (or in my case; trying and failing at it) and trying to get a tan. Now he’s made this beautiful cover of Swedish House Mafia’s Don’t you worry child, and it’s so good I had to share it with you.

Enjoy!

I don’t smoke, but I believe in doing everything in character, and everyone smoked cigarettes in the 50s.

I always love a good theme party, and my absolute favorites are anything involving dressing up in vintage clothing and drinking martinis. For my roommates boyfriend’s birthday our apartment was turned into a 60s set, complete with canapés, martinis & whiskey, The Supremes and handsome guys in nice suits. Sometimes I wish we could all dress like this all the time. Everyone looks so sophisticated and nice.

Want to see more pictures? Here’s some from last year’s 60s themes party at Isabelle’s.

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Reading_Anna Karenina, by Leo Tolstoy
Listening to_Billie Holiday – I’ll Be Seeing You // First Aid Kit – When I Grow Up // Beyonce – I Was Here
Watching_Arrow (best guilty pleasure this semester)
Working on_a couple of research papers, an article and my make-up (for tonight’s Mad Men-themed birthday party)
Eating_canapés and popcorn. Nice combination for sure.
Drinking_a dry martini (and coffee, always coffee).
Should be_doing nothing else right now.
Will be_dancing, singing and smiling at the Deadbeat-concert later.
Looking forward to_flying home (to Norway) for Christmas, snow and gingerbread cookies.

After weeks of work and school and more work I finally got a day off! Today is Thanksgiving too, to add to the holiday spirits. I spent the morning in sweats reading news (I know, it’s weird), eating chocolate for breakfast and stalking people on Facebook.

While the rest of Hawaii (and the US) got ready for turkey dinners and family fun, my roommate and I decided to trek over to the cinema to watch a holiday movie instead. Gingerbread Latte, more chocolate, XL-sized pop corn and 2 hours of Rise of the Guardians (that movie about bad ass tattoo-ed Santa, the Sandman, Tooth Fairy, Easter Bunny and Jack Frost). I’m going to watch that movie again come December and Christmas time, best new family movie I’ve seen in a long while.

But before December comes it’s time for Black Friday online shopping. Get your credit cards ready and prepare for empty accounts everyone.

PANTS forever21 TOP brandy melville SHIRT 5preview HAT american apparel SHOES converse all stars

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1. Bought pink bandages to make my hand look better. I figured that if I have to wear the bandage all the time, I should wear it in style. 2. Milkshake for breakfast at my favorite breakfast place: Cream Pot. 3. Pineapple and jacuzzi = nothing feels better after a long day at school (usually 9-12 hours a day). 4. Wearing my fancy flower-printed pants from Forever21. 5. Christmas coffee has finally arrived at Starbucks, which means Gingerbread Latte and statistics. 6. My favorite gift this semester, a ring from House of Harlow.

Follow me on instagram @mbjorgum

Two weeks ago I joined some fellow nature lovers and braved the trail of one of Oahu’s most spectacular hikes: Olomana, also known as the 3 peaks. In the picture above you can see the second and third peak, from the tip of the first peak. The hike took us roughly 4 hours all together, with a small lunch break on peak 1 and a delay when I accidentally set of a small rock slide and cut/fractured my finger (totally my fault, Olomana is perfectly safe if you follow the trail). More on that later.

To get to the hike (if you ever travel to Oahu and love hiking): Follow the Pali Highway from Honolulu towards Kailua, till you get to Maunawili. Take a right off onto Loop Road and park before the bridge. If you want to you can take the bus: 57 from Ala Moana takes you all the way. Google map Loop Road and you’re good to go.

Continue up the road until you get to the trail head on the left side of the road. You can’t miss it. And then the climbing starts. The trip up to the first peak is by far the longest, and you’ll want to bring enough water for this part. Cardio is not my thing, so I was near death during this first part. Yeah, I’m not proud of it.

I gave the tree half of my water bottle (brought two). Regretted it on the way back when I ran out of water in the scorching hot sun. Hopefully brought me loads of good karma though.

Peak 3 in the distance.

Happy hikers.

One small rock climbing bit before you get to the top of peak 1. No sweat.

Hillside is pretty steep from peak 1 to peak 3. Wouldn’t recommend falling off the trail.

Accidentally set off a small rock slide that cut and fractured my finger while trying to take a short cut/detour on our way to peak 1. Note to self: stay on the trail. Managed to finish the entire hike on pure adrenaline though. Totally worth it.

Gutta på tur. Heading back (peak 1 and 2 in the background) with the guys. Behind Theis and Hallvard you’ll see Magne getting ready to climb down the trail again. The third peak is all about rock climbing, and it’s actually a lot easier to get up than down. I’m a fairly good climber, so I didn’t have too many problems with this one (even with an injured hand), but if you’re not an experienced hiker, peak 1 and 2 might be just enough excitement for you. That being said: the climb up and back from peak 3 was pretty awesome.

Olomana, I’ll be seeing you again!