This site contains the travel experiences and photos of Gjerulf “Jerry” Noddeland.
Some time in late 2007 a friend of mine implanted in me the idea that travelling the world would be a smart thing to do while I still had the chance. The idea ripened, became a good idea, and eventually it became a plan.
I’d been working on contract as a deacon (diakon) in the Church of Norway since February 2006. Specifically I worked in Vardeneset parish in the diocese of Stavanger. In May 2007 I handed in my thesis and graduated as Candidatus Theologiæ from the School of Missions and Theology in Stavanger, after a year’s hiatus and full time work.
My original contract at Vardeneset was for one year, but it was extended three times. First for the duration of 2007, then for the first half of 2008, and finally for July-September 2008, after I’d turned down a permanent contract because I wanted to go travelling.
The plan was to keep travelling until I
a) got homesick
b) got tired of it or
c) ran out of money,
whichever came first.
In mid September 2009, after having been to Russia, Mongolia, China, Tibet, Nepal, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, I realised that a) and c) were just around the corner, so I booked a plane ticket, and headed back to Stavanger. After working intensively for four months, saving up money, I went to Bali in March 2010 to do my Scuba Diving Instructor Development Course, and then to Malaysia, to work as a dive instructor. October 2010 saw me returning to Norway, where I will stay until I’ve saved up enough money to keep paying my student loan for some time, while travelling around the world working as a scuba instructor.