Norway: Friluftsliv and the Country That Went Outdoors and Never Came Back
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Friluftsliv — open-air life — is a Norwegian concept and practice that describes an entire philosophy of relating to the natural world. It is not outdoor recreation in the sense of equipment, performance, or achievement. It is simply the idea that being outside, in nature, at any scale — a walk in the woods, sitting by a river, watching the weather change — is good for you and worth doing regularly, year-round, in all weather. Norwegians take their children outside in temperatures that would cause other nationalities to call social services. There is no bad weather, only bad clothing.
Norway has coastline totalling 83,000 kilometres, including fjords — glacially carved inlets where ocean water extends deep into mountain landscapes — that are among the most dramatic scenery on earth. The Nærøyfjord and Geirangerfjord are UNESCO World Heritage sites. The experience of sailing, kayaking, or simply standing at the edge of a Norwegian fjord — surrounded by vertical walls of granite dropping into water hundreds of metres deep — produces a specific category of awe that the Norwegians call naturally occurring and everyone else calls extraordinary.
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund — accumulated from North Sea oil revenues beginning in the 1990s — is the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, worth over a trillion dollars. Norway decided to save the oil money for future generations rather than spend it all at once. The fund is invested globally and managed to grow perpetually. Every Norwegian citizen is, on paper, a millionaire.
