I stayed on a stranger’s boat to go shrimping in the fjords of Norway

• Gabriel Escobar backpacked through 13 countries in Europe after graduating college.
• The 22-year-old decided what to do in Europe based on suggestions from people on the internet.
• His wildest “side quest” was a shrimp adventure with strangers in Norway.

This essay as stated is based on a conversation with Gabriel Escobara 22-year-old actor and social media content creator. It has been edited for length and clarity.

This summer, I traveled to 13 countries in Europe. Eight were planned and five were not.

I graduated from college in May. I didn’t know where I wanted to go, what job I wanted, or where I wanted to live, so I thought I’d go see a bunch of places. That sparked the whole backpack idea.

I bought a flight to Copenhagen and scheduled my return flight for three months later – the maximum time I could stay in the Schengen area without a visa.

Three days before the flight, I was sitting in a cafe. I took out a piece of paper, scribbled a random map of Europe on the back, and made a rough calendar.

This is how I figured out the first month of travel.

Shrimp on a stranger’s boat in the fjords of Norway

On this trip, I want to do something different and create a community of people I can ask for recommendations.

So for every place I went, I would post on Instagram and TikTok asking people for advice on where to go.

Since the beginning, crowdsourcing my itinerary has given me so many new ideas. It also led to the coolest things I did on my trip that I would never have known about otherwise.

One of my craziest adventures – which I now call “side missions” on social media – happened during my last few days in Oslo.

I received a direct message from a shrimp company, Færder Sjømat, asking if I wanted to join them on a shrimp boat.

And I responded, saying, “Hey, I’d love to do that.”

The night before the shrimp trip, I slept below deck on the boat in a small bed. And at 3:30 am, while it was still dark, I started.

We drove up the fjord for about two hours to the fishing spot, then by 6am set sail on the trawler for the day.

Behind the boat, a large net scooped up shrimp as we sailed. The crew dragged the net up when it was full.

While waiting, I spent a lot of time talking to the father-daughter duo who ran the business, and they told me about their jobs and their lives.

After the net was drawn, they put me to work. I helped sort the 275 kilos of shrimp and separate them from the squid, minnows and whatever else was pulled.

The shrimp are cooked on board. Then we got a big bowl and sat at the front of the boat where we were presented with traditional Norwegian summer food – toast with mayonnaise, shrimp and lemon.

It was just me and the two of them on the small boat, so it felt very personal. This was a once in a lifetime moment and has become one of my favorite adventures.

Other side quests

Another wild one was when I went on tour with Stavangerkameratene, a Norwegian band, in the middle of Norway. I spent 24 hours with the band and hung out with them backstage.

All of my side quests turned out amazing, but there were times when even I felt a little nervous.

One time I was at a farm and this woman and her husband came up to me asking if I wanted to see their horses.

During that side quest, it occurred to me that riding in a car with two complete strangers might not be the best idea.

Some things they don’t tell you about solo travel

One thing people don’t tell you about solo travel is how lonely it can be. The loneliness was exhausting at times as I tried to find things to fill my schedule, especially since I had no one to spend time with.

Sometimes I would sit on the steps of a building in whatever city I was in because I didn’t want to go back to my hostel room with 10 strangers in it.

Another challenge is that when you travel alone, you are fully responsible for taking care of yourself. At some points during the trip, I felt sleep deprived, sick and hungry.

So my advice is: if you’re traveling alone, slow down and learn how to take care of yourself and your health on the road.