Northtrotter /nɔːθtrɒtə/
noun
a person who travels widely in the north & beyond
wordplay on globetrotter
Hi! I’m Mel and I’m the Northtrotter.
I’ve spent the past eight years gallivanting all around the globe, but I’ve always found my way back to my beloved north. Nowadays, I find myself spending most of my time in the north, while still going astray to faraway places once in a while. I hope you’ll enjoy this personal blog where I write about all the ups and downs of being on the road, tell stories from my life as an archaeologist, and share guides to off-beat places just waiting to be discovered!
I was born in 1995 in a small town in East Jutland, Denmark, and I spent many childhood summers travelling with my family around Europe, especially in England where my mum is from. This sparked my interest for exploring the world, and I remember already counting countries and reading geographical books at a very young age.
In 2012, my dad and I went on a two-week journey through the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and Malaysia. It was a fantastic trip that opened my eyes to how different and exciting other cultures can be to discover. It was during this trip that I realized how big my passion for travelling really was. I decided then that I would take a year off after high school to see the world. So that was what I did. I finished high school, worked for a while in a supermarket and then set off to explore our glorious globe.
It all started when I was 19, in March 2015. I packed a tent, a sleeping bag, a few items of clothing and a whole lot of excitement into my backpack, and headed out on my first journey, travelling through Northern Europe for two months. I spent three weeks travelling around the Faroe Islands and watched my first total solar eclipse; I experienced snowstorms and northern lights in Iceland; I got my first taste of the Arctic in Svalbard; I hiked on the Lofoten Islands in Norway; I spent a night at a Sami farm in Sweden and I finished it all off with a few days in Helsinki, Finland, and even took a spontaneous day trip to Tallin, Estonia. That journey was my best experience to date; I don’t think anything could ever come close. Because that was the first time I experienced full freedom and independence, and I was completely hooked on solo travel afterwards!
That first journey made me hungry for more, so I decided to work and travel for another year. I spent a month travelling around the east coast of Australia; visiting the cities of Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane; spotting wildlife on Phillip Island and Kangaroo Island; hiking in the Blue Mountains; snorkeling in the Great Barrier Reef at the Whitsunday Islands; and attending a fun birthday party for (my then-favourite clothing brand) Black Milk in Brisbane!
Back in Denmark, I worked for a few more months, and then set off on my longest journey to date: three and a half months through Asia. I watched my second total solar eclipse in Indonesia; went to Malaysian Borneo to climb Mount Kinabalu; celebrated my 21st birthday amongst cherry blossoms in Tokyo with friends from back home; experienced the Japanese Arctic on Hokkaido and explored lots of mainland Japan; climbed volcanoes on Jeju Island in South Korea, hung out in the capital city of Seoul and got a glimpse of North Korea at the DMZ; I explored the city states of Hong Kong and Macao; and I spent two weeks roaming around Mongolia’s deserts and mountains. Then I met up with a travel buddy to explore a bit of Central Asia; we roadtripped through Tajikistan’s Pamir Highway; took a very spontaneous trip into a remote part of Afghanistan; and fell in love with the mountains and lakes of Kyrgyzstan.
Those were two amazing gap years where I had many life-enriching experiences. I loved every second of it, and I felt like I never wanted that lifestyle to end. But as society had always told me, I had to go back to school. I had to get an education. And I actually really wanted to, although I wasn’t quite ready to quit travelling.
In August 2016, I moved to Copenhagen and started studying my dream course, prehistoric archaeology at the University of Copenhagen. I lived and studied in the city for two years and although I loved the courses and the friends I made there, I was constantly dreaming myself away to new destinations around the world.
Studying full-time and working three part-time jobs didn’t stop me from going on adventures and exploring new places. While living in Copenhagen, I took several trips around the world; I visited the Faroe Islands five times; spent eighteen days gallivanting around Iran; went on short trips to Romania, Albania, Norway, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belarus, Germany, Wales, England, North Macedonia, Croatia, Slovenia; spent two weeks roadtripping through the United States and watched my third total solar eclipse; explored Toronto and Montréal on long stopovers; spent six days exploring Azerbaijan and had a long stopover in Moscow on the way over; roadtripped through Greece on a study trip; spent a month working and travelling in Peru; and took several trips to Sweden which was just a bridge away.
But because I wasn’t completely happy living a stationary life in the city, I decided to move away for my fifth semester. I moved to Nuuk, the capital of Greenland, as an exchange student, and I absolutely loved it! I went vegan on the same day that I moved, just to give myself a little challenge, and I haven’t looked back since! In Nuuk, I lived in an apartment with four other exchange students, volunteered at the national museum, joined the local climbing club, got to know the Bahá’í community, watched the northern lights too often to count, explored every corner of Nuuk and the surrounding area, and spent two weeks travelling around the west coast; first up north to Ilulissat and its famous icefjord with three other exchange students, and then down south by myself to explore Norse remains, climb mountains and hike to the ice cap.
Life on Greenland was amazing, like a constant adventure, and I was sad to leave it behind five months later.
But life was still pretty great post–Nuuk. I spent the next semester writing my thesis while travelling in Iceland, Scotland and Ukraine, and I settled on the island of Nólsoy in the Faroe Islands for six weeks to get some writing peace. In the summer, I travelled to Russia for a five–week excavation of a Bronze Age midden in rural southern Siberia, before jetting off to Southern Europe for a month-long fast-paced trip through Italy, San Marino, France, Monaco, Spain, Spanish Morocco, Gibraltar and Portugal.
And then finally, for my seventh and last semester, I headed back to my beloved Greenland for an eleven-week internship in Tasiilaq on the east coast. This gave me the chance to explore a lesser known part of Greenland, and just as expected, I fell completely in love with it.
I finished my bachelor’s degree in January 2020 and moved to the Isle of Skye in Scotland immediately after. I spent two months there working as a waitress and bartender alongside my younger brother, while exploring Skye, Raasay and the Outer Hebrides on our days off.
Scotland was my last adventure before Covid-19 put a temporary stop to my travels. For four months, I was stuck at home in Denmark, but I made the most of it by rediscovering my home region on hikes, bike rides and kayak trips, and even had my first paid sponsored trips!
In July 2020, when cases were low all over Europe, I decided to continue my travel life, although only in my neighbouring countries. I took off on a five-week journey through Germany, visiting several islands and cities up north, attending the annual Stone Age gathering, and roadtripping through the southern and central part of the country with a few detours into Austria and Switzerland. I returned to Germany a month later to visit the island of Helgoland, and then spent an entire month hiking and climbing mountains on Vágar in the Faroe Islands.
In November 2020, I moved once again, this time to the Danish island of Lolland where I worked on archaeological excavations for eight months during the second Covid lockdown. I thrived surprisingly well doing an 8-16 job while living with a local family with three dogs, and having the weekends off to explore Lolland and the surrounding islands, a region of Denmark I’d never been to before.
But eventually, the travel bug caught up with me, and as Europe began to open up for travel during the summer of 2021, I left my job to embark on a six-month journey through Europe and the Caucasus. I spent a few weeks camping and hiking on the Faroe Islands, witnessed a volcanic eruption in Iceland, attended the annual Stone Age gathering in northern Germany, went island hopping in Denmark, roadtripped through Austria and Liechtenstein with my family, backpacked through Georgia and Armenia and worked at an archaeological project in Serbia. For the last three months, I had planned to travel through large parts of eastern Europe, but a few things got in the way. Another wave of Covid washed in over Europe, and I got a bit stuck in Berlin with my new boyfriend who I met while in Georgia and endured a long distance relationship with for fourteen months. So instead of exploring a bunch of new countries, I got to know Berlin pretty well and also travelled around Germany a bit. In November, I took a two-week break from Berlin to visit my best friend in Norway, and in December, I flew to England to say a final farewell to two dear family members who had passed over.
In January 2022, I returned to Lolland for another year of excavations and dog cuddles, but this time, there were no Covid restrictions anymore so I spent most of my weekends away, visiting my (then-)boyfriend, family and friends, and spent the holidays abroad. I returned to Serbia for two more weeks at the archaeological project, spent my Easter holiday in Belgium, and spent an extended weekend hiking in Saxon Switzerland. For the summer, I took two months off to travel around Germany, Central Europe and the Faroe Islands and to work on an archaeological excavation in Slovakia, and in the autumn, I travelled to Switzerland for a week-long roadtrip with my mum.
Life on Lolland was sweet and uncomplicated, and I loved every single second of it. It gave me lots of valuable excavation experience, friendships for life and a feeling of home I’d only felt in my childhood village and Nuuk beforehand. But eventually, I had to move on and go back to university…
In January 2023, I moved back to Scotland, more precisely to Aberdeen, to study my dream master’s degree in Archaeology of the North at the University of Aberdeen. A new and exciting chapter in my life has begun, and I’m excited to see where this adventure will take me!
“Stuff your eyes with wonder, live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world. It’s more fantastic than any dream made or paid for in factories.”
– Ray Bradbury
35 COMMENTS
Ihor
7 months agoHi Melissa! 🙂
I was looking for additional information about hiking around Nuuk and your website came up on the search engine. What a huge surprise it has been for me! You are the first female I have met (online/offline) that enjoys exploring the North. Nothing against warmer climates and places like Spain and Italy, but the Northern countries have something magical and mysterious about them. Something that not everybody are able to cherish and appreciate nowadays.
It is such a good feeling to know that somewhere in the world you have a soulmate that shares your passion 😉
Mel
6 months ago AUTHORHi Ihor! Haha that’s crazy that I’m the only north enthusiast woman you’ve met! There are a few of us out there, I swear 😀
Ihor
6 months agoWell, most of them must be from the Northern countries 🙂 And to tell you the truth, I had two female tour guides in the Faroe Islands. Both of them have traveled extensively, but none of them went up north to Greenland or Svalbard. Thus, in this regard you are quite unique 😉
Mel
6 months ago AUTHORYeah probably! I guess it’s quite rare to find people who are interested in the high North – that’s sad for them, though. They’re truly missing out!
Jo
6 months agoHi Mel, you were in Novi Becej couple years ago? Did you happen to know about the great Kika mammoth that was discovered a few years ago (maybe 10 years ago) close to Novi Becej in the town of Kikinda ? I’m not sure how many thousands of years the bone remains are thought to be in age (about 3,000 years ?) The bones were unearthed and are massive and were still together when they were found. https://www.kikinda-turizam.rs/2021/05/08/mamut-kika/ You sound like an INFJ personality type? This area in Vojvodina was the Pannonian sea at some stage. Have a great day! Jo.
Mel
6 months ago AUTHORHi Jo! I have heard of the mammoth and even visited the museum in Kikinda – I have a blog post about my visit as well! Vojvodina is a very interesting area and I hope to go back there someday!
Regarding my personality, I am far from an INFJ, haha! But to give you an idea, I’m an Aries in every single way. My personality is Aries, basically!
Meg
7 months agoHello, very much enjoyed reading your article. I am a student of anthropology myself and paired it with another bachelors in Scandinavian studies. Your life journey has been a great one and loved seeing the photos. Very curious on how you navigated living in so many countries, but assume student visas were a part of that.
Thank you for sharing. I hope you are/have enjoyed your studies in Scotland.
Mel
7 months ago AUTHORHi Meg!
Thank you, great to see someone here in a similar field 😀
I’ve been very lucky regarding student visas and have never needed one. I have both a Danish and British passport, so my studies in both Greenland and Scotland were very uncomplicated 🙂 plus there’s the added bonus of the Danish government paying me a student’s grant every month regardless of where I choose to study – our educational system is truly the best thing about Denmark! 😀
Meg
7 months agoWonderful! How blessed you are to be able to experience such wonderful places with no complications. Denmark sounds like a great place to be a citizen of.
Mel
7 months ago AUTHORIt is, I’m very thankful to be from Denmark and to have these opportunities 😀
Glenda Hills
2 years agoHello Melissa, I came across your blog as I was exploring information about the Faroe islands. My story isn’t quite as extensive as yours because I didn’t begin travelling until I turned 50 and realised that I just HAD to do and see the things that excite me. Let me work backwards: in 2018 my friend and I decided to celebrate our 70th birthdays by dogsledding for 3 days in Svalbard! On reflection THREE days was a tad excessive … 3 hours would have been more comfortable!!! Prior to this adventure I travelled to Norway and Iceland. I had been to these places (and Svalbard) previously in 2008. I simply had to photograph polar bears before I die to travelled to northern Alaska to do just that. The year before (2014) I simply had to photograph aurorae … again in northern Alaska. 2011 say me travelling to England, far n northern Scotland and the Outer Hebrides then Ireland. I hired a car and island-hopped wherever possible. In 2016 I drove completely around Australia, where I live, camping and staying in very basic accommodation. I have visited Vietnam but really only as a tourist. In 2001 I trekked in Nepal then flew to Japan to visit my daughter who was teaching English there for a year.
At the ripe old age of 74 I’m a travel junky and currently planning a 2023 journey to the Shetland Islands then Faroe Islands to photograph puffins.
I admire your zest for life and my only regret is; I should hav e started earlier … ohhh well, better late than never!!!
Enjoy your life.
Melissa Cherry Villumsen
2 years agoHi Glenda, thank you for your wonderful comment! I enjoyed reading your story, and I must say I admire your courage and sense of wanderlust! It’s great to hear that you discovered a love for travelling; after all, I believe it’s the best education a person can get – at any age. I hope all of your travel dreams will come true. Enjoy your trip to Scotland and the Faroes, two countries very close to my heart! xx
Abdul Aleem Siddiqui
2 years agoI’m 18 and this feels like a distant dream, I used to be interested in archeology but as an Indian, I don’t feel like I’d achieve much as it won’t give the relaxing vibes that Norway would give, did you find any Viking stuff over there? I like the relaxing life there, and I’m usually happy when alone, I like stuff to be peaceful so I dream of living there someday, Faroe Islands, I’m thinking of going to college there, I would love to explore more places in Europe. Reading your story gave me some nice chill vibes, keep blogging, I’ll definitely be reading everything. I love how you expressed yourself, the way you felt living at all these places. Thank you so much!
Melissa Cherry Villumsen
2 years agoHi Abdul! I’ve never excavated in Norway, but I’m sure it would be very cool. I live and work mostly in Denmark, and there it’s a fantastic job. I hope you won’t give up on your dream, because there’s always the opportunity to move to another country and work there!
Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m glad you’re enjoying my posts, and I’m so happy to know you’re coming along for the adventures! 😀
DC
3 years agoHi Melissa.
Love your sense of adventure and your general attitude to life. I came across your blog after searching google images for the Faroe Islands and saw your image (nice tattoo!). I’ve loved geography since I was a child (at school I would complete the jigsaw of a map of the world) so I share that love of places that you do, difference being is that while I dream it, you live it! Your attitude really is inspiring. You just get up and do it. I’ve a close friend Sofie in Denmark (Viby near Aarhus) so I will certainly be seeing your home place of Jutland. I’d known of the Faroes as a child but really became intrigued about the place after Sofie mentioned a friend of hers was going there. Your images look spectacular, and to keep going back there tells us how much you think of it.
The places you have been to are remarkable. They really are off the beaten track. The one that shocked me the most was eastern Greenland as I had no idea there was any kind of town/settlement there. I had assumed the population was concentrated on the west coast where there is more greenery. Thanks to google (again) I see as well as well as Tasiilaq there is Ittoqqortoormiit, a town of 345 people and described as “one of the most remote settlements on earth”. The Isle of Skye I haven’t been to, but this summer I will be flying over the west coast of Scotland with my brother in his microlight aircraft (we will be taking off from the north of Ireland where we are from). My sister is a huge Harry Potter fan (Im a grown ass man but I quite liked it too 😆 ) so I will be taking images of film locations such as the Glenfinnan viaduct and the small lake where Dumbledore was buried. The Scottish Highlands look spectacular in images so I cannot wait to see it up close. This is my very small step to emulating some of what you are doing. The excavation work you do sounds fascinating. Love the idea of seeing into the past.
All the best to you in your future adventures Melissa, i’ll be checking your blog to see what you are up to next!
Melissa Cherry Villumsen
3 years agoHi DC,
Thank you for your lovely comment – and I’m so sorry I’m replying so late. I’ve had my friend over and haven’t used my computer since the end of March 😛
I’m so happy that you discovered my blog, and to hear that you’re enjoying reading it!
I truly love the Faroe Islands so much, and I’m glad my passion comes through on the blog. Greenland too, and especially the east. I hope your dreams of visiting places like these become reality too someday!
Your trip to Scotland sounds absolutely amazing! If you have time, I truly recommend Skye and the neighbouring island of Raasay (my favourite!). I hope you have a wonderful trip!
Thanks again, and all the best to you too xx
theworldofezzy
4 years agoWow I just looked at your website and this part about you, who would have thought we had England in common too! you are an interesting being and thank you for inspiring us to travel with you even with the current situation in the world! Ps: I like your website design.
Melissa Cherry Villumsen
4 years agoThank you so much for your wonderful comment 😀 I’m so glad I’m able to inspire! And glad you like my design, it’s brand new!
Victoria
5 years agoOmg what a life you lead! Wow! So inspirational, it’s really made me want to travel more too.
Melissa Cherry
5 years agoThank you Victoria ❤ I hope you get to follow your dreams too!
Adri
6 years agoHei Melissa 🙂
I did checked your blog last summer and it was very helpful and inspiring for my trip to FO 🙂
I ended up spending a night in Kóltur after reading your blog post because I really wanted to do what you did and have a stopover in Stóra Dímun, as the possibility to stay there overnight, was not possible because the guesthouse was fully booked. Even the stopover was not allowed, I had a wonderful time campin in Kóltur and feeling the solitude of the island and the company of the sheeps.
Thanks for your great “work” about the FO, I am sure I will be coming back and exploring those places I did not manage last summer 😀
Keep making your dreams come true!
Adri
Melissa Cherry
6 years agoHi Adri, thank you for your lovely comment! 😀 I always love to hear from readers that I’ve inspired, it makes it so much more worth it to put time into writing the blog posts!
It’s great that you got to spend a night on Koltur, it’s such a beautiful and unique island and actually one of my favourites in the country (mainly because it’s so quiet and the shape is so unique haha).
I hope you do come back to the Faroe Islands and see everything you want to see! It’s a beautiful place and I’ve never actually heard of anyone who didn’t want to come back 😉
Thank you once again, and let me know if I can be of anymore help! 😀
xx Melissa
Rivka
7 years agoCan I just ask how a 21 year old can afford all of this travel? If you have any insight on how to travel without funds, or how to acquire funds to travel, that would be really helpful for your readers who are also young.
Melissa Cherry
7 years agoHi Rivka. I have considered writing a post about how to fund your travels, but the truth is that I’m just very lucky to be living in a country like Denmark, where university is free and you even get paid by the government to study. That means that I was able to work for a few years, while living at home with my parents, and save up to travel. I didn’t need to save up for anything else. My advice is to save as much as possible, quit buying clothes, shoes and other items that you don’t need, and maybe live at home if that’s an option 🙂
fromdreamtoplan
8 years agoHi Melissa! Happy to have found your blog! I love the layout, the style, the content….everything!! I’m a travel lover too so following you will definitely be interesting! Looking forward t reading your posts! Happy travels XX
http://www.fromdreamtoplan.net/
Melissa Cherry
8 years agoHi Lisa! Thank you so much for your lovely comment, I’m glad you like my blog 😀 I’ve checked yours out and I love it – you’ve just gained a new follower! Happy travels to you too! xx
Saul Tarasoff
8 years agoHi Melissa,
I just wanted to follow up regarding the giveaway opportunity and Blog2App program to see if you are interested. If you have any further questions, please let me know.
Sincerely,
Saul Tarasoff
GPSmyCity.com
Saul Tarasoff
8 years agoHi Melissa,
This is Saul at GPSmyCity, a publisher of travel apps on iTunes App Store and Google Play. We have reviewed your blog and are interested in working with you for mutual benefits. We are interested in (1) sponsoring a giveaway on your blog and (2) converting some of your blog posts into mobile apps so they can be sold on iTunes App Store and Google Play. If you wish to learn more about these opportunities, please reply to my email at your earliest convenience. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Saul Tarasoff
GPSmyCity.com