How did we end up with an idea of opening our own guest house, Omoide House??
If I think back, one of the life changing events has occurred in Bergen when we met a German couple at the very first guest house we stayed.
The guest house was like a normal house with 3 rooms and can accommodate just three teams maximum. The owner stays at separate house.
When we were staying, only two teams including us were going to stay. Jay was quite nervous about having strangers in the same house. In fact, I was too. What if we end up with some maniacs??
When we returned from Fjord sightseeing, we were tired and didn’t feel like eating outside. So we decided to buy something from supermarket and eat at home. When we returned to the guest house, there was an about mid-age couple sitting at the dining table with a big map in front of them.
We exchanged greetings! 
They were a German couple traveling with their car from Germany all the way to the Northern Norway. They were in the middle of deciding where to go next looking at the map.
Unlike us who had everyday planned out such as which country we will go, what transportation we use, where we stay, etc. this couple was deciding their destinations as they travel. They even decide where to stay in the evening that day.
Very spontaneous! Something Jay and I can never do. At least not yet.
When the couple went out for a walk and returned, Jay and I were drinking beer after we had dinner. The couple asked whether they can join us for a drink. They brought their own wine from Germany and they shared it with us. We drank together and talked for hours. Jay wasn’t talking much because the conversation was in English but he was enjoying the situation a lot.
They were living in a completely different world than us. When we told them we were traveling 3 countries in less than a week, they really felt bad for us. 😆 They wouldn’t be able to imagine how hard it is to take a week vacation in Japan. 😉
The way they travel with local wines in the trunk of their car and picking up spontaneous events on the road looks like a dream to us. A dream that seems so far from the real world we are currently living in, but a dream that we would like to experience one day.
Those several hours, having conversation with the couple at a guest house in Norway opened our eyes to a whole new world. I think Jay was more impacted by the event. He really enjoyed the idea of meeting strangers at a foreign country and having indirect experiences of their lives. Completed changed his view of guest houses! 😀
I think this event was one of the major experiences that led to our plan for our very own guest house, Omoide House.
We first started with 2 bottles but they ended up bringing 2 more bottles from their car. 😆
These are the 4 bottles we drank! 😀
We had a very early flight the next day to go to Sweden. We were lucky that we made to Sweden. 😆
If the couple read this blog and find out we decided to open our own guest house, they will be very surprised! And they will come to our Omoide House! Hopefully! We received their email address but we haven’t contacted them yet. But, Jay and I wish that one day we have a chance to invite them to our guest house, Omoide House. Drinks will be on us this time! 😎
Okami 🙄