Out of instinct, humans naturally drift toward communities where they feel like they can belong.
On Aug. 5, 2017, McKenzie Price boarded a one-way flight from Chicago to Oslo, Norway. It was a flight she had booked quite a few times since high school, but this time was different. This time, she didn’t know when she’d come back. Whatever happened next was meant to be.
During previous visits, she’d left room in her suitcase to bring home purchases. Not this time. Instead, she filled the space with warm clothes in case she stayed through the winter. Even choosing the “one way” button over “round trip” felt strange.
McKenzie feels that moving to Norway was the first big decision she made on her own. Sure, she had gone to Ball State University, but that was only an hour or two from her hometown of Logansport, Indiana. Having just graduated, she was moving to Oslo to be with Espen Langseth Folkestad, her boyfriend of five years. Because he was still in school in Norway, this was their chance to finally end long distance. McKenzie didn’t know when, or even if, she’d be coming back.
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