Travel
I love to travel the world, see new places and meet new people. This is my travel log, where I want to tell short stories of all my trips with photos. Hope you enjoy it.
This is obviously not all travels I have made, but a collection of those I’d like to mention and of which I recollect and have photos from. Enjoy!
2000
Grand Canaria – New Years
Stayed in the city Puerto Rico. Didn’t even have a digital camera back then, so I don’t have any photos scanned yet. Here is a view of the main city.
2001
Mallorca – September
Stayed at Can Picaforte Palace.
Here is a photo from the beach. Remember it was pretty long and the water was amazing hot. Perfect!
I used to be a handsome young man… Here I am at night in Mallorca.
2003
Oslo – MSDN Live with Steve Ballmer
Back in 2003 me and two very good friends, Stian Haugen and Geir Wiksen, was running our own software company for three years. During this time, we had a road trip from Kristiansand to Oslo to attend the MSDN Live event where no other than Steve Ballmer launched Windows Server 2003.
All good road trips starts in the car… Notice the Wunderbaums 
Had a hard time locating a parking, notice the no-parking sign on the steet we parked… we figured we might be lucky, and thus was my very first parking ticket in Oslo a reality. You never, ever get away from a parking ticket in Oslo.
Before the conference at Oslo Plaza, we checked out the scenery in Oslo, here infront of the Parlament.
This was the first time I saw Steve Ballmer, and a few years later I was fortunate to meet and greet with Steve Ballmer during a visit he had many years later.
It was a great MSDN Live, with Tim Huckaby, Andreas Eide and I think Clemens Vasters was there as well. The stand-area was crowded back then 
2004
Paris – June
First time to Paris and what a lovely city. Did all the standard tourist attractions, leaving Kristiansand with a view of Sørlandsparken.
There are no direct flights to Paris from Kristiansand, so here is an impressive photo of the fields in Netherlands.
Charles DeGaul airport had an accident some years ago, it happened not long before so I was lucky to get this photo of the damages to the airport terminal.
Notre-Dame is a work of art, incredible construction that is decorated with beautiful scultures and carvings.
Here are some photos from the view you have when you walk up the stairs of Notre-Dame.
What is a tower without a big bell?
On the map, the distance between Notre-Dame and The Louvre doesn’t appear to be very far… but it’s a longer walk than you’d expect. Everything is big in Paris, very different from Amsterdam. Here is the front entrance of Musée du Louvre.
And here is the back entrance, with the famous glass-enterance down to the museums.
The Louvre is amazing big, you should plan to spend a full day doing nothing else. This photo shows the crowded life of people inside.
There are some truly amazing paintings in this museum, here is a photo of Mona Lisa.
Some of them are just mind blowingly huge and have so many details. Notice the young alter boy on the right who is admiring the sword. You understand the size of this when you see it compared to the people infront of it.
Before traveling to Paris, I promised my friend Stian Haugen that I’d take a photo at the Jules Verne restaurant at the foot of the Eiffel-tower. Here I am.
Walked up the stairs to the first level on the tower. Here are two photos that shows the view from either side.
Next stop was Arc de Triomphe and Champs-Élysées.
Went to Disney World outside the city the next day, there ain’t much to say about it other than don’t bother visiting Disney World unless you have kids.
Had to visit the famous Mouliun Rouge.
Coming back to the hotel one day, the Gay Pride Parade was traveling up the boulevard of the hotel. It was incredible to see how many people where in the parade and the joy and love
Stavanger – July
Road-trip with my dads Honda Accord Type-R. What an amazing car, I had a great time driving it from Vennesla to Stavanger.
There are some great nature while driving to Stavanger, and it’s a beautify city, although it’s not very big.
Here is just a random street in Stavanger, this is how I remember most parts of Stavanger as being.
Walked to the top of the city center, where this construction is. No idea what it is.
Been back in Stavanger many times after this one, mostly one-day trips doing talks at the Norwegian .NET User Group and MSDN Live events.
Cyrpus – September
Flying down to Cyprus…
Stayed at Melpo Antia, a rather crappy hotel, noisy and dirty. Wouldn’t expect more from the price of it all.
Drove around the island on scooter and captured this photo on the beach one of the days. It’s one of my favorite photos of all time.
Relaxing on the beach in Aya Napa.
Having some food and cooling down from the heat of the sun.
Aya Napa is known for it’s parties, luckily this was a bit off-season so the partying was OK. Here is a night photo from the hotel.
2005
Amsterdam – July
Amsterdam is a great city, been there many times now. Traveled there for Tech-Ed conference. This time the trip went to Madame Tussaud, Amsterdam Zoo and an art exhibition.
(Photos will come later)
Turkey – October
Traveled at the end of the summer holidays season, unfortunlately the weather was a bit to cold. Turkish-bath, caves, dinner-shows far out in the wildlands and watched some of the nice views in the city of Alanya.
(Photos will come later)
2006
USA (Las Vegas) - March
My first time to the USA was to MIX06 conference in Las Vegas. What an amazing trip!
(Photos will come later)
USA (Houston) – May
Houston, Texas, is a very special place. It’s unlike anywhere I’ve been before. Long highways everywhere, car dealers everywhere. A wide spread city where you have to own a car.
(Photos will come later)
Bulgaria – May
Ah, summer and beaches! Was able to truly relax and let go of the busy life on this trip.
(Photos will come later)
Barcelona – November
First time in Barcelona, beautiful and energic city. Attended the Tech-Ed conference.
(Photos will come later)
2007
London – February
Traveled to London for a Software Design Review (SDR) with the Microsoft team that does communication frameworks and products (WCF, BizTalk, etc.). This was the first time to London and stayed at a very, very tiny hotel room. Madame Tussaud here as well.
(Photos will come later)
Seattle – March
Seattle is one of my favorite cities. It’s very similar to Oslo, Norway. It has the same climate, friendly people and clean steets. It’s like being in Oslo, only 10-15 years from now. Huge hotels and office buildings, and of course Microsoft campus out in the Redmond area. I was here for the MVP Summit. Got to hang out with my fellow Microsoft Regional Directors and the great MVPs.
(Photos will come later)
Oslo – March
I normally wouldn’t write about trips to the capital of Norway, but this was a very special one. Instead of taking the normal airplane, we rented a small airplane and flew ourselves to a meeting. One of my co-workers had the license and since we where 3 people traveling, it was nearly the same costs.
(Photos will come later)
2008
London – New Years
There is nothing like New Years in a big city, this time it was London. Unfortunlately there was just too many people and didn’t get to see much of the fireworks. Meet some friendly people at a bar and my little brother and his girlfriend also came on the same trip.
(Photos will come later)
New York – February
A very special place, New York City. Traveled here just for fun and got to meet up with my great friends Dave Bitton, Stephen Forte and his girlfriend. Central Park, Museum of Naturnal History, Wall Street, Pier 17, Central Square and lots more!
(Photos will come later)
Seattle – April
Yet another conference, the MVP Summit again. This time I was lucky to join the birthday party of the sister of a friend of mine, who works for Microsoft in Redmond. Played beer-pong in the basement, typical americans? Got to hang out with my good friends Jonas Follesø and Frode Kristensen.
(Photos will come later)
Paris – June
Second time in Paris, this time for an event with ACT. Stayed at a nice hotel and saw the famous artist Björk in the lobby
(Photos will come later)
2009
Seattle – March
Third time in Seattle and this time around we rented a car and my friend Lars Wilhelmsen came with us on a trip up to Vancouver, Canada. Star Bucks, Crispy Creme Doughnuts, shopping and partying.
(Photos will come later)
Rome – May
Romantic city with lots of places to visit and experience. Will write more later.
(Photos will come later)
Norway (Roadtrip) - July
Roadtrip around in Norway, amazing trip. Lots of beautiful nature and the trip went up to Møre og Romsdalen, where my family is from on my mother’s side. Fjords and mountains.
(Photos will come later)
2010
USA - March
Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco. Roadtrip, with a Camaro Super Sport!
(Photos will come later)
Scottland – July
Roadtrip around in Scottland. Amazing nature and scenery. Will go back here sometime later in life and explore even more of the castles and roads.
(Photos will come later)
That’s some of the trips I’ve done in my life so far, there are plenty more I have not mentioned. Today’s generation are fortunate enough to be able to travel much more than our parents and I hope my own kids one day will be able to travel even more than I did myself. Until next update on this travel log, stay safe and be good!
