***<\/p>\n
Born in Walthamstow in east London and raised by Caribbean parents, I\u2019m from a big family where all my extended relatives and cousins lived a stone\u2019s throw away. Until I met Vibbe, my now-wife, when I was 21, I had never even met somebody from Scandinavia<\/a>. I certainly never imagined living abroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n I never could have predicted the journey that would follow after our chance meeting \u2013 that 14 years later I would be living in Oslo<\/a> with her and our one-year-old son in our apartment that we own, perfecting my Norwegian, teaching in a school, and spending weekends cross-country skiing.<\/p>\n New FeatureIn ShortQuick Stories. Same trusted journalism.<\/p>\n There was immediate chemistry when we met in 2012, locking eyes in a bar in London. She was just visiting at the time from her home in Oslo, but that same year she moved to London to do her degree in performing arts, and we made it official. But after a year, she got homesick and moved back to Norway<\/a>. I was heartbroken, but we were young at the time and so we left it there.<\/p>\n I always felt like I wanted to work with people. I started teaching in my twenties and went back into education to get my degree and qualified as a children\u2019s social worker, later working for Waltham Forest Children\u2019s Services.<\/p>\n Around the summer of 2018, I was single and living in a flat in Holloway with one of my best friends. After some messaging with Vibbe, we realised we still had feelings for each other and she invited me to come and visit her in Oslo. I booked a flight and when I met her in arrivals \u2013 I hate to be clich\u00e9 \u2013 but it really was love at first sight (again).<\/p>\n Before going, I had very little knowledge about Norway<\/a>. I was expecting a lot of snow and mountains, but as soon as I got to Oslo Central Station, I saw that the city was multicultural, clean and very cosmopolitan. I loved how quiet and civilised it felt. I felt safe. Straight away we started discussing me moving there so we could be together.<\/p>\n We knew there was a long road ahead with a lot of challenges. Because I didn\u2019t speak the language, the likelihood of me getting a job before I relocated was low, so I saved up and I did language courses in the meantime. I applied for a working visa in 2018, but it took years to get processed.<\/p>\n It was finally approved, the aim was for me to be in Oslo by the summer of 2020, but that\u2019s when Covid happened. By that point we had already done long-distance for two years, so when a small window came up to travel, it was then or never. I put everything I owned into four suitcases, took my savings and flew to Oslo.<\/p>\n I moved straight into Vibbe\u2019s apartment, which we now both own. Back in Holloway I was paying \u00a31,400 for a small, worn-down flat. Here, we have an extremely modern and spacious two-bedroom apartment in the neighbourhood Kiellands Plass, which is a popular place for young families. It\u2019s really central and only a 20-minute walk to the main station. I love being able to walk pretty much anywhere in the city.<\/p>\n My wife owned the apartment, so at the beginning, I paid her around \u00a31,000 a month towards utilities, which I did for around three years until I found my feet. A year before my son was born, I bought the other half from my wife, which felt important to me.<\/p>\n Despite applying for countless jobs in teaching I had no luck, and ended up working as a mechanic for a year, even though I had no experience. It was outside of Oslo, so I would get up at 5am, travel there and fix buses all day. The working language there was English, and I realised my Norwegian wasn\u2019t improving which was key to me securing a teaching job. So I started working at a nursery and, funnily enough, having conversations with Norwegian four-year-olds really improved my language skills. <\/p>\n In London, prior to moving, I had been earning \u00a345,000 as a social worker. As a mechanic, I was earning maybe \u00a335,000, and at the primary school I was earning around \u00a330,000.<\/p>\n Eventually I went into a special educational needs role, but it wasn\u2019t until I ended up going to another international school to teach physical education for two years while also working in the evening as a football coach in another city, that I really started finding my feet. Through sheer immersion and doing part-time Norwegian courses, the language started to click. I eventually was offered my current full-time job at an international school as a Year 1 classroom teacher, and my salary is just under \u00a360,000.<\/p>\n Vibbe and I got married in April 2024 in the oldest church in Oslo. It was the first time that a lot of my family and friends had visited, and when we came out of the church it started to snow \u2013 it was so beautiful. Our son was born a year later in May.<\/p>\n I never imagined myself raising a family in London. Even though the city is so great in so many ways, I like the quiet life and I found London too loud, too busy, even hostile at times. I\u2019ve always wanted kids, and the first time I visited Oslo I immediately knew it was a good place to raise a family. I saw so many young families, as well as a lot of young men on paternity leave<\/a>. You would see groups of men walking their babies in prams through the park \u2013 which I don\u2019t think you would ever see in the UK.<\/p>\n Childcare here is really amazing, especially when it comes to paternity and maternity leave. My wife has now had 10 months off, at 80 per cent of her full pay, to look after the baby, while I\u2019ll have four months at 80 per cent pay. The government very much encourages parents to take leave. You can do fifty-fifty, or as in our case, my wife is taking longer. When my son was born, I got two weeks of automatic paid leave \u2013 which is common \u2013 and I will actually start my paternity next week. My employers heavily encouraged this; they said use this time to be with your family and raise your child.<\/p>\n Healthcare isn\u2019t free here. A GP visit will cost \u00a320 and if you need a prescription, it might be \u00a338. Some would criticise that, but since I\u2019ve moved here I\u2019ve had great experiences. It\u2019s so quick to get an appointment, and the cleanliness and professionalism is worth it.<\/p>\n Food here is more expensive than the UK, and that\u2019s one area that I have struggled with the most. I\u2019m a foodie. I like to eat out and takeaways, but here it\u2019s far less affordable. We don\u2019t do weekly shops and we tend to just buy when we need it \u2013 but groceries for dinner could set you back \u00a350. <\/p>\n I\u2019m fortunate that my wife has a big network of friends here, so I\u2019ve met a lot of my Norwegian friends through her. My own network has definitely been more international. It can be hard to integrate, meet and network with Norwegians, even when you work with them. Norwegians can come across a little bit more reserved \u2013 approachable but less conversational. Football has been quite a good bridge for me, and it helps that I\u2019m a very sociable person.<\/p>\n A lot of Norwegians have cabins, so we spend a lot of time at Vibbe\u2019s family cabin in a place called Sjusj\u00f8en, which is about 25 minutes away from Lillehammer, which is where they have the Winter Olympics. We\u2019ll ski, swim, hike, and have barbecues. I was pleasantly surprised by the food. My favourite dish is ribbe, a roasted pork belly with crackling. They also have pinnekj\u00f8tt, a delicious lamb dish where they cure ribs overnight in salt.<\/p>\n The weather is tough. Before moving, I imagined it would be cold and dark, but I didn\u2019t imagine winters would feel this long. In a good summer it will get up to 16\u00b0C, but the winters can be as cold as -25\u00b0C. Today has been -3\u00b0C, and that was pleasant.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SEI_290081777-e1774883335476.jpg\")
\u2018After two years long distance, I put everything I owned into four suitcases, took my savings, and flew to Oslo,\u2019 says Ty<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SEI_290081757.jpg\")
\u2018I never expected to be living in Oslo with my wife and our one-year-old son in our apartment that we own, perfecting my Norwegian, teaching in a school, and spending weekends cross-country skiing,\u2019 says Ty<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/SEI_290081771-e1774883692299.jpg\")
\u2018Childcare here is really amazing, especially when it comes to paternity and maternity leave,\u2019 says Ty<\/p>\n