There is so very much I love about being in the Faroes.

Internet is good and only found in a few places. It’s a different approach to life not to be able to find answers instantly. That means having to ask questions if information is absolutely essential. It also means a sabbath from the deluge of news that I’ve allowed to overwhelm my day when I’m at home.

A trip to an island.

Each morning is started with coffee at some local place. This morning we are enjoying our drinks outside by the harbor, and the local duck has decided to join us.

A trip to an island.

The Faroes consist of eighteen islands; traveling between them requires an excellent system of ferries, tunnels through mountains and under the fjord waters, and even some bridges. That means that sometimes travels actually have to planned in order not to have an extended stay in a remote place. So far. So good for us.

A trip to an island.

And the sheep! The sheep! The sheep!

I understand there are more sheep than people in the Faroes. Sometimes the sheep run up to greet us. More often, they run when we stop, thus messing with my carefully planned photo.

A trip to an island.

If I’ve learned anything on my travels, it is to be able to pivot and find joy when the unexpected happens.

My friend and I got an early-ish start so that we could drive far to the east. We found a coffee house that opened before the others, and I was trying to direct us through the narrow, twisty streets of Torshavn, and the most unexpected happened.

The solution involved the best of Faroese hospitality: an apprentice construction worker, a family of three, a mother in law, two police officers, two fire fighters, two neighbors, a representative of the Icelandic embassy, and a group of tourists.

When I travel, I like to try to get a true flavor of what it would be like to live in a place. This I did today.

When we got our car stuck while trying to turn around, a series of Faroese strangers helped us negotiate our challenge.

A young apprentice helped us call the police for help.

A neighboring family invited us into their home for coffee, tea, and morning buns.

As we rested, their mother in law watched out the window for the firefighters to come and figure out how to pull the car out of its overhanging position.

The firefighters took our payment with their visa card reader, and two hours later, we were on our way.

My heart is full with the generous kindness and hospitality that could have become a trip tragedy into a time for experiencing the fullness of being loved by neighbors, and strangers now are friends.

Good morning, God (even at 2 in the good morning)

This is your day.

I am your child.

Please. Show me your way.

After a walk in the rain to the airport from our hotel, we had a leisurely wait at Keflavik awaiting our flight to the Faroe Islands.

A short one hour flight became a bit longer after we circled and circled the Faroes looking for an opening in the fog so we could land.

After going through a tent to have a COVID test, (my third this week for travel), we were on our way in our Citroen.

The hospitality and ease at the airport was typical Faroese. Many words of welcome and smiles, with the car rental agent doing a very first ever—coming out to the car to make sure we understood everything, and then staying a while for a chat.

Curry soup and avocado sandwich outside on the harbor (we were asked to do a sort of quarantine awaiting our test results), we had an early night in our hotel overlooking the sea. It had been a long day of travel.

And the COVID test—an email in my inbox from Atlantic Airways:

English translation did follow.