How to Bring Your Fandom on Vacation

Hey guys.  So I've been back in the US of A for about a week now, and I'm very avidly wishing I wasn't.  Don't get me wrong, I love my friends and my home, but foreign country = no responsibilities, and I'm not really in the mood for responsibilities right now.  I miss the summers where you could go for a week without getting out of your pajamas.  RESPONSIBILITIES ARE NOT FUN.  AVOID THEM AT ALL COSTS.

But anyway.  Back to the trip.  We were in Norway, the country of Frozen and What Does the Fox Say, for a week and a half, and needless to say it was the most beautiful country I've ever been in.

One of about 2 thousand photos

But, as every fangirl knows, fandoms do not present themselves only when it is convenient.  Where you go, the feels follow.  You will be thinking about Hazel and Gus and Katniss and Peeta and Gale and Tris and Four and Gwendolyn and Gideon and everyone else. So, without further ado, here is:

How to Bring Your Fandom on Vacation


1. Know every place has a meaning.  For example, we flew to Norway through Amsterdam, so obviously the only thing I could think was, "Hazel and Gus were in this airport.  Gus rode his first airplane to this airport.  Hazel and Gus fell in love in this city.  I CAN FEEL THEM."

2. Say hello to the characters you meet.  I mean, we were in Norway.  Norway.  The country of Elsa and Anna and Kristoff and Sven and Olaf and Hans.  So naturally I said hi to Kristoff's family.  I mean, they were everywhere.  Norway is a rocky, mossy place.

3. Be alert.  Let me reenact a scene for you:

Mom: Look, blueberries!
Me: Excuse me, that could be nightlock.
Sister: ?

4. Pretend you are in the story. Norway has a million bajillion tunnels because there are a bunch of mountains in the way of the roads.  So, after driving through a 7 mile long tunnel and finally coming out to see a town, I triumphantly announced, "We have reached the Capitol!"

5. Continue to add new fandoms to your collection.  I was reading Saphirblau while I was in Norway.  It's a German book, but if you want to read the series translated into English, it's called Saphire Blue and the first one is called Ruby Red.  So of course while we are driving through the countryside admiring the view, all I am thinking about is what is going to happen to Gwendolyn and Gideon's relationship.

6. Make connections.  I found sugar cubes in our rental house, so obviously the first thing I did was reenact the following scene for my friends on Snapchat:

Image courtesy of this website

7. Be the character.  It's not enough to simply think about your favorite characters; you have to become your favorite characters.  Here are some examples:

"The sky's awake, so I'm awake!" It never really gets dark in Norway, so my bad if it was 1 am and I wasn't sleeping.

We took a train up a mountain and hiked down, and I spent a solid five minutes standing by the train door and staring out the window thinking, "I could totally jump off this...  Maybe."

*Finds snow* Do you wanna build a snowmaaaan?

8. Wonder.  Like so:

What if this was an arena?  What would I do?  How would I survive?  Oh wait, I wouldn't survive.

9. Be inspired.  If you are hiking or running or doing other strenuous activity, pull from Tris's strength and push yourself.  (See what I did there?  Pull and push?  No? Okay.)

So these may or may not have come from my own experiences.  Cough cough.

The fandom life is a beautiful thing.  When it's not busy shredding your soul.

Just sayin'.