NAMRASTAN

Are you a foodie like me? Paradise Cove Beach Cafe is famous for serving a pound of crispy calamari in a giant martini glass. Here's a video from INSIDER .

At the Cove Skatepark. Photo: Roscoe Ramone I've been to Los Angeles a couple of times. The first time I didn't get that much time to explore as I was there with the band I used to play in - however photo shoots helped us to see more of LA. And the last time I was in Cali I knew people who could show me a around. I feel like I've name dropped Sri (who lives in LA) plenty of times on this blog, I could have just called this post Sris guide , 'cause she took me to four of the places on this list. And truth be told, there are more than 7 cool & fun spots to hang out in Los Angeles, but I guess something stood out with these chosen ones. Anyway. Let's go! 1. MOHAWK BEND Mohawk Bend is a craft beer bar and restaurant located in Echo Park, featuring an impressive list of locally-sourced craft beers & healthy food. The place is fresh, modern and has a nice vibe going on. I was here with Sri and her band mates, and we just ordered and shared a bunch of th...

Low budget? Too much going on and you don't have time to travel? Or are you like me, constantly having post-travel blues? I'm not gonna lie and tell you I have the solution, I don't, but I do know a way to make you feel better, I'm taking about a "staycation". It's all about appreciating what you already have where you're living. And so I've made a list of how to pretend you're on vacation in your own country. Faking it till you make it. 1. GRAB YOUR CAMERA  When you have a camera and a goal to take cool pictures, you'll start noticing new things, details and even new places. Look around and be curious. I live in Oslo, Norway, and one day when I was just walking around with my phone, looking for something to photograph, I saw a mosque. I've seen it many times, thought about how beautiful it is, and then forgotten all about it. But now I have a picture, and it makes me happy everytime I look at it, because it feels like it was take...

This doesn't happen to me often, honestly, I'm not one of those travel bloggers who gets paid or sponsored for my trips, that would be crazy considering I just started this blog. However, once upon a time I did get free tickets from KLM to Amsterdam, and so I picked a date, booked a room via Airbnb, and suddenly this quirky traveller was walking alone in the streets of Amsterdam, the capital of the Netherlands. In this guide I'll take you to five of the best places I went to: 1. CAFÉ RUK & PLUK The Airbnb-dude I was staying at told me I should check out Ruk & Pluk , a unique popular café/bar where there's apparently always something to celebrate and where "worldly barmaids welcome you wholeheartedly". According to I amsterdam , a favorite hangout among Amsterdammers. I don't know if this is true, because I chose a time to visit the bar when there were no guests, except me. And my barmaid was just an old lady who was doing her own thing. Aft...

One of my favorite memory from my solo-trip to USA  is when I met SKAM-fans at a California pool party, where my Instagram-friend Sri had brought me. There was BBQ and people were drinking out of red cups, just like they do in those American college-movies. I spotted some cool girls by the pool, walked on over, and ended up having a little chat with them. I could see the stars in their eyes when I told them I was from Norway. Imagine my surprise when they suddenly started talking Norwegian, and they were pretty good at it too! Turns out, they had been watching SKAM . Now, I don't know If you even know about this television show, or if you still remember it (how could you forget?). It's been a while since the season finale. Maybe you know SKAM Austin , the American teen drama web television. Well, its based on the Norwegian web series, created by Julie Andem. It's a drama about the daily life of teenagers, and this drama was very popular amongst the youth. Not only i...

When I was planning a trip to Japan, I got some really good advice from friends who had travelled there before. These were just small things that made our trip so much easier. I want to pass them on, and I also have some advice of my own. So here it is: Japan for dummies - 5 practical Japan-tips, that I think you might appreciate. 1. PORTABLE WIFI If your addicted to Internet or GPS (Google maps helped us a lot - it suggests train routes etc. and is amazing), I suggest you rent a portable WIFI from the airport. Unfortantely I don't remember how much we paid, but it was reasonble and absolutely worth it. I travelled with a friend so we just shared one - BUT next time I'm gonna rent my own WIFI - 'cause sharing one kind of made us dependable on each other, and if you're a person like me who need space... Well, you know what to do.                My face when I don't get space, documented by my lovely friend Sverre (location: Akihabara, Tok...

This weekend I attended one of the most magical weddings I have ever had the honor of experiencing in Nibe, Denmark. I also got to stay at a magical place, and if you somehow find yourself at Nibe (not too far from Aalborg), you should definitely try to book a room at this manor called Waar Hovedgaard , a romantic Bed & Breakfast with plenty of charming features, placed in beautiful surroundings. Here's a little clip of the manor, built in the late 1500s, from the outside. We were greeted by a cute, fat dog, and even though I'm not a dog person, I absolutely fell in love with the dog. But then we were greeted by Lykke who runs the place (she grew up there), and then I fell in love with her too. Running that place is more of a hobby for her, but it's a hobby she's nailing! At Waar Hovedgaard they only have three double rooms, and Trine (one of my travel partners) and I were lucky enough to get "the yellow room" aka. the bridal suite, a room t...

Disclaimer: Dear friends whom I've travelled with. Please do not get offended.  I've travelled alone and I've travelled with different friends, and during this time I've found out that we're not supposed to travel with ALL of our friends. You might have great chemistry when you're just hanging out playing Playstation or whatever, but it's a whole new game when your spending time together almost 24/7, sometimes even in stressful situations. And if you've had a bad travel experience with a friend, this doesn't mean that you no longer can be friends, it just means that maybe you shouldn't travel together, ever again. Unless something changes. Once I travelled with a group of 7 girls. I learned that I'm not a group-travel-person, at least not with a group that is so big. Some of them thought that we had to do everything together. I especially remember us arguing about where to eat until I couldn't take it anymore and said "Hey! H...

Me, documented by @rafikivisuals (IG) in Oslo. Everyone should solo travelling at least once in their lifetime! My first big solo trip was to LA, California, USA, and I learned so much from that trip. I learned that I enjoy my own company, that I'm adventurous and that I like to talk to strangers, unless they seem shady (but sometimes I can end up talking with shady people too). Often when I'm travelling with someone, they always end up being that "map-reader". I just go along with it, and never learn the metro-system and stuff like that, but when I was travelling alone I found out that I'm a decent map-reader too, and I'm not as "clumsy" or "lost" as some people might think.  Sometimes certain people get annoyed over my impulsiveness and my "everything's gonna be alright"-attitude, but it turns out that these attributes lead to unexpected adventures. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for planning, but I believe...

I love it when music can inspire travel. So here are some music videos that show the world, and that will make you wanna travel. 1. M.I.A. - Matahdatah Scroll 01 "Broader Than A Border" This video was shot in Kolhapur city of Maharashtra , India, and in Ivory Coast in West Africa, and portrays different dance traditions. You'll see female dancers performing with swords and sticks, and an African dancer with a bad ass outfit and impressive footwork. 2. Solange - Losing You So this is actually one of my favorite songs and music videos of all time, and it takes place in Langa , which is a township and suburb of Cape Town, South Africa. I tried to learn the dance moves that starts about at 2:13 and lasts only a few seconds. 3. The Chemical Brothers - Go This video features women marching and making shapes, with the shopping mall Beaugrenelle , located in Paris, as a back drop. It's futuristic and retro at the same time, and makes me wanna explore more o...

Pakistan is beautiful. My Instagram-account was breaking the Internet when I was posting pictures from my last Pakistan-trip. But for some reason it doesn't seem like an attractive destination to travel to, even though it has a lot in common with India (which is a very popular destination). I've been to Pakistan a bunch of times since I have relatives there. Because of this I've gotten the opportunity to check out Sialkot, Quetta, Islamabad, Sahiwal and more. But visiting your family is quite different from visiting a country. My ancestors are from Kashmir, and I'm extremely attracted to the northern parts of Pakistan. Unfortunately, none of my relatives live there. There are so many places I want to see, that I haven't, YET. Like Gilgit, Swat, Hunza etc. The positive side of visiting familiy in Pakistan, thus not travelling as a "tourist", is that I get to experience the  real  thing. The negative side is that I don't get to do all the touristy...