vol #39: cabbage soup, the case against travel & postcards
sent from sasha and liv's iphone with love
Sash & Liv (gorgeous girlfriends) are now retired & travelling forever I guess.
For the last few weeks we’ve been living out of a car and a tent in Norway. In retirement, Sash can be found taking full advantage of the shared wardrobe (2x backpacks), appreciating instant coffee and missing her friends. Liv can be found driving on the wrong side of the road, being a sore loser in cribbage & also missing her friends.
the most gorgeous girlfriends! make my heart sing!
this is the online bit
Sleuthing For Travel Gems On Reddit
Australians are pests in the Northern Hemisphere in its summer. People in Scandi want to swat away our obnoxious accents and bright clothing when we order choccy caps in cafes. In rural Norway we are at the very least endearing pests, like a little toad that you might mistake for a frog. We’re a novelty, especially when we scout our destinations from the depths of Reddit. There are so many blogs on each destination’s top 10 and it feels like they are all copy pasted. Get digging in forums for some real talk on what’s hot & not. Last week we hiked out to spend the night at a stunzo beach on the west coast called Vetvika. And all the Norwegians on the trail were like, you’re from Australia? how the heck did you know about this? That’s a secret I’ll never tell xoxo
what the hellllll
The Case Against Travel, New Yorker
Here’s a fairly aggressive New Yorker article that argues as its title suggests. It quotes someone more enlightened than us euro summerers saying that “travel is a fool’s paradise” - you are a fool for travelling without intention. And you’re a fool even if you’ve dodged the tourist traps. There’s something for everyone in this read. For those enduring winter back home, a zinger for 2am at a house party: “only extreme poverty of the imagination justifies having to move around to feel”. And for those travelling now/soon, some brain fodder. For us, it’s got us thinking a bit more about our travel motivations, and been a reassurance if we skip a destination “must do” that didn’t pique our interest.
In Norway we’ve been doing a lot of the same things we do at home. Lounging, hiking, finding happy hours, holding hands, reading and swimming.
Travel is the ultimate luxury. but it can also be remarkably ordinary. It could be a change of pace, or perspective. Or literally just something to shake it the hell up.
This one’s online AND in real life. Worlds collide vibes. The arrival of bombshell Georgie on our road trip brought a wealth of knowledge from a seasoned traveller.
Georgie showed us how we too could could churn out postcards on the cheap without the admin, after Liv spent $35 on stamps. In the MyPostcard app you can create postcards using your own photos. You can freak the fonts and colours on your love letter home then you pay $5, some magic happens and said love shall receive a physical postcard! Snail mail hacked for the modern woman. Here’s one we were going to send to Joss but she’s currently moving countries.
high art!!!!
this is the irl bit
Cabbage Soup
Charlie Bucket vibes but it is comforting and so thrifty. Cossie living crisis & also there are limited veggies in Scandy that you want to fork out for. No Mediterranean eating here! Soup can be so many different things. Hot, cold, smooth, chunky, beefy, salty, silky, tangy, skinty clear or buttery thicc. And even the bready garnishes are varied - toast soldiers, cardboard crackers, pre-made croutons, or if you’re really about self-care, then chips are heaven. In our case (with this geographic region that struggles growing tomatoes), it often is cabbagy.
Our recipe, for max punch from min use of our portable stove gas cylinder (serves 3 hungry people):
In a pot put 1 to 2 stock cubes (can use blob of vegemite if in a pinch), heavy glug of olive oil/butter, big hit of chilli flakes & mixed herbs, 2 tablespoons dried fried onions/shallots, cup of boiled water & turn on the heat.
Cut 4-6 small potatoes in teeny bits, 2 carrots & add to pot & cover with more boiled water & continue till it’s all bubbling
Then when the root veg is cooked, add a rinsed tin of whatever beans you wish (chickpeas are a fave) and 1/2 a cabbage that you’ve shredded up, so it cooks quick.
cabbage soup stans
Fleece Jumpers
That shit doesn’t get wet. Scandinavia is much soggier than we’d imagined. Not even gore-tex shoes can save our socks from sogging. But you take a fleece out the washing machine and it’s already DRY. And if it is wet it’s still warm. We’re so off cotton rn. Thats certified soggy. COLD COTTON KILLS. But our upper bodies say toasty. In fleecey we trust.
check out the fleece!
Play To Your Strengths
Joss said to me (Liv) once that queer relos rock because there are no set gender roles, you literally just do what you’re good at. However in life sometimes you get punked by your brain telling you that you need to be good at so many things. About six months ago I was stuck on the thought that I needed to be ambidextrous, and then I realised ‘wtf relax you actually don’t’. Obvs spending 24/7 together, we have come to figure out shit that each other just excels at. E.g. Sasha mallets a tent peg so well (hot) and Liv can make cabbage soup with her eyes shut (still kinda hot). Try new stuff ofc and be okay with not being ‘good’ at things, but sometimes just shake what your mumma gave ya.
sooooo beautiful wth! i love nature! i love love!
have the best day ever ™️