The best year of my life, was the year I spent working at Walt Disney World in 1995/96. I landed in Orlando on september 10th as an innocent 21 year old, not quite knowing what to expect and ready for new adventures… I was fortunate enough to be one of six Norwegians to be part of the Fellowship Ambassador Program at EPCOT, a year that gave me many different experiences and also provided me with knowledge I still use to this day. Being around so many people from all over the world, gave me a new outlook on life and forever changed my view and respect for diversity. I worked at the Norway Pavilion, had internships and represented both Norway and Walt Disney World at several events. I was able to visit the parks whenever I wanted and there was fireworks every night at closing. Basically, it was the perfect place to be!!

Like all dreams, it came to an end… For me it was a brutal end! I went back to Norway and wanted nothing more than to return to Florida. I felt like I had left a big piece of my heart behind and would try my best to find a way to return. I applied for the Green Card Lottery a few times after returning to Norway, but was never the lucky winner… As the years went by, I had several different jobs within the service/travel industry at home. However, I always had this longing to return to Disney and could never settle down like I wanted to. Whenever my life was tough, I would dream away once more and Walt Disney World became my escape.

As part of a downward spiral, I experienced what most people would call a mid-life crisis. At age 37 I was a conductor with the Norwegian Railroad and had been for a few years. I had a good job and I was good at it, but I wasn’t feeling so good… July 2012 was the summer that changed my life completely and was the start of a long healing process. It took me a couple of years and involved therapy, frustration, regret for dreams that was never realized. But most importantly, I was able to find the strength and courage within myself to get back up! As a result, I went back to university in August last year to finish a degree that had been 20 years in the making. And having gone to therapy every week for six months last year, I was able to change something important in my head: escape from problems is never a good solution, because the problems will always be there when you return…

So what about that escape? Instead of living in broken dreams of the past, I try to utilize my experience from the past into something good here and now. Life needs to be lived in the present, where all opportunities are open to those who look for them. Walt Disney World is still the symbol of the single best year in my life and always will be. But I have learned how to deal with my problems and I no longer need to escape when life is difficult!