THE LONG RETURN
The Long Return is a collection of essays, field notes, and reflections written from Norway and beyond.
More than a century and a half after my great-great-grandfather left Norway for America, I now find myself building a life in the country he once left behind.
In 2026, several timelines meet. It has been ten years since my first visit to Norway and five years since I left full-time life in the U.S.
Part field journal and part personal practice, this site explores what it means to live between two landscapes. I write about place, migration, music, nature, loss, and the process of building a life across them.
Notes from a life between landscapes.
“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” ― Mary Oliver
I was born in La Crosse, Wisconsin, and grew up in Retreat, a small farming community along the Mississippi River near where Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa meet.
My childhood followed the rhythms of the land. Summers meant work in tobacco fields and long days outside. I spent my time fishing, picking berries, camping, riding horses, building fires and forts, and getting lost in books and maps.
I was a first-generation college student and earned a degree in Human Ecology from the University of Wisconsin. For nearly two decades, I worked in public education in Madison.
I also spent time on the Mississippi Gulf Coast supporting recovery efforts after Hurricane Katrina. It was there I saw how people lean on one another when everything feels uncertain, and how rebuilding happens slowly through ordinary work and human connection.
In 2020, the pandemic and political unrest disrupted many of the assumptions I had about stability and direction. Like many people, I slowed down and took stock.
In 2021 I resigned from a 20-year career, sold my car, downsized my life by 90%, and set out on a new path.
Today I live in a small village on Norway’s west coast, between Bergen and Stavanger, while I await a decision on my residency application. I work remotely, write, and spend time in nature, embracing friluftsliv as both a daily practice and a way of seeing the world.
I am learning the language, forging new connections, and finding my footing in a landscape that feels both familiar and new.
Marla Goes North is a record of that process.
 Tobacco: The Family Crop | De Soto, WI |  Rebuilding houses | Biloxi, Mississippi |  De Soto, WI |
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 2008 Jimmy & Rosalynn Carter Work Project | Mississippi, USA |  Feral farm girl | De Soto, WI |