Some of the best radio & podcast conversations start exactly where you don’t expect them to…like poolside in Florida—in bathing suits, no makeup, and not a business card in sight.
That’s how I met Kari Berit—in what I call a “Random Run-In.”
Kari and her hubby were on two lounge chairs in the sun at a hotel pool in Florida. The only other slice of sun not being blocked by our mutual hotel building was hitting a lounge chair right next to them. This cold, pale New Yorker wanted that only other sunny spot, but I didn’t want to be a too-close lounger (kinda the same as a too-close talker), so I asked if they minded. They did not mind.
When I realized they were Norwegian (switching back and forth between Norwegian and English was a tip-off), I had to bring up the Norwegian word I’ve been having fun talking about for a few weeks on the radio and ask them how to pronounce it correctly.
Friluftsliv!
See, this year I decided that instead of complaining about the NY winter, I’d try to embrace the cold like the Norwegians do. LOL …well kinda.
Friluftsliv (pronounced: free-loofts-liv) is a Norwegian philosophy that means “open-air life”—the belief that spending time outdoors in nature, year-round, is essential for physical health, mental well-being, and happiness.
Of course, it seemed a little bizarre that I was bragging about my newfound attempt to love cold weather while sitting poolside on an 80-degree day in Florida—but hey, no guilt. The Norwegians were there too. And we got to talking—in English—about why they were in Florida and what they do in Norway.
(I was there with my other half, Dave, to visit his son for Thanksgiving. They were there to settle the estate after the sad passing of an elderly parent.)
Fast forward to Wellness Wednesday of The Debbie Nigro Show and my ongoing segment called “Keeping The Live In Alive!” …
I asked Kari to join me on the show to talk about her fascinating journey—from Minnesota radio gal to homestead living in Norway, where she now helps people create deeply personal bucket-list trips through her company, KB Norway Tours. Whether it’s exploring stunning fjords, avoiding tourist traps, or standing on the actual land where your ancestors once lived, Kari creates travel experiences that are meaningful, soulful, and unforgettable.
We also dove into friluftsliv. Translation? Get outside. Breathe real air. Live better. (I’m still working on the pronunciation—but I love the philosophy.)
But Kari isn’t just about dreamy travel. She’s also a powerful voice in the world of caregiving. As the author of The Unexpected Caregiver, she shared real-talk wisdom on what so many families face—but rarely prepare for—caring for aging parents. Her message is reassuring, practical, and refreshing: it’s okay not to know what you’re doing. None of us were trained for this role—and you don’t have to feel guilty, alone, or overwhelmed while figuring it out.
This conversation had it all: laughter, life lessons, Norwegian fun facts (yes, they really let babies nap outside in the cold), and honest talk about family dynamics, responsibility, and staying sane while caring for the people you love.
If you’re curious about Norway, navigating caregiving, or just love a good “random run-in” story—you’ll love this one.
Listen to the full conversation of this warm podcast about livin the cold life.
Learn more about Kari’s travel work at kbnorwaytours.com
Caregiving resources at unexpectedcaregiver.com
Sometimes strangers aren’t strangers for long—and sometimes a random run-in turns into a conversation worth sharing. If you’d rather read than listen the transcript of the audio is below.
AUDIO TRANSCRIPT:
And now, back to the Debbie Nigro Show.
0:00:29
(Speaker 1)
I started dancing to the music. I need some new moves, man. I really just do. I watched Dancing with the Stars, and I’ve tried it in the living room. It’s just so dangerous. Hi, everybody. I’m Debbie Nigro.
0:00:38
(Speaker 1)
It’s Wellness Wednesday, and I’ve got a great guest I want to introduce you to right now. It all started with a conversation that I had randomly at a pool in Florida at a hotel that my next guest and I were staying. I called it a ‘random run-in” , and I opened the conversation after I figured out that these two were speaking Norwegian, and they told me they weren’t, then I asked them about Frysløvslev, which I’ve been talking about for like two weeks because I’m trying to practice the Norwegian love for the outdoors, and I know this word makes me smile, and I never knew if I was pronouncing it right, and then they told me it’s Frysløvslev, and I was like, okay, and then it led to more conversation. So you’re about to meet my next guest, She’s terrific. Her name is Kari Berit and she’s from Minnesota, ended up moving to Norway after reconnecting with, I believe it’s her college sweetheart. We’ll talk about that in a second.
0:01:35
(Speaker 1)
And she’s doing some very cool things. First of all, she was a radio gal like me, did about 200 shows on the subject of caregiving, has a book out that’s terrific about that. And then also in the spirit of You know, Bucket List Trips, she does something very cool for anybody who’s got Norwegian roots and would like to go see how it works over there in Norway. She does personalized dream trips to Norway if you’ve never been there, if you’re you know, just going for the adventure. And I know from what I read, and she can tell me this, that they live on a homestead.
0:02:09
(Speaker 1)
And I’m like, oh, she is way cooler than me. Hello, Kari Berit Welcome to my show.
0:02:14
(Speaker 2)
Hello, Debbie. It’s so fun to be here.
0:02:17
(Speaker 1)
Well, I didn’t know you were so cool. I mean, you were obviously laying low because you were laying in the sun with your other half. And I told everybody earlier in the show that I came out just to get a little sun because I’m a New Yorker who’s dying for some warmth. Right.
0:02:28
(Speaker 2)
And you and your other half had the only piece of sun on the lounge chairs.
0:02:33
(Speaker 1)
I know.
0:02:33
(Speaker 2)
And it all started with me. Did we share?
0:02:36
(Speaker 1)
Did we share? Well, you did. You did share. Because I said, listen, do you mind if I have a slice of sun right next? Is this too close for comfort?
0:02:43
(Speaker 6)
Because, you know, like a close talker when someone’s too much of a close talker, I don’t want to be a close sitter.
0:02:48
(Speaker 2)
Right.
0:02:50
(Speaker 1)
That’s funny. Thanks. And you’re so wonderful, you know, meeting with your guard down like we did, right?
0:02:56
(Speaker 2)
Two girls at a pool, you know, no makeup, bathing suits, who cares was great.
0:03:01
(Speaker 1)
Exactly. The point was not to share who you are, but to enjoy the moment, which we did. And then when you finally got to talking, you know, you’re another smart girl and doing dynamic stuff. And I’m like, great. So where are you now? You’re in Minnesota.
0:03:14
(Speaker 1)
I know you’re going back to Norway.
0:03:16
(Speaker 6)
Where are you today?
0:03:17
(Speaker 2)
Yeah, no. No, we’re still in Florida. We’re still moving out and clearing out my father -in -law’s house. He died in April.
0:03:25
(Speaker 1)
Right. And so, yeah, we are on that part of our life. Okay, well, I didn’t know if you wanted that part of your life public, so I didn’t bring that up. But yes, they were down there for settling an estate and getting rid of stuff. And, you know, I think we talked a little bit about the Swedish death cleaning show that I watched on the plane. If we didn’t, let me tell you now what I’ve been doing since I left you.
0:03:45
(Speaker 1)
I’ve been trying to get rid of all the clutter in my life that’s been like decades of stupid stuff that why do I still have it?
0:03:52
(Speaker 2)
And as a result, got myself some nice sciatica today. we can’t lift that kind of stuff that big and I just want to warn you that this what you’re doing causes sciatica. Okay I will forewarn. Luckily I’ve let my husband do most of the heavy lifting. John has done the heavy lifting and we’ve hired help.
0:04:11
(Speaker 1)
I love to clean. So I’ve been doing cleaning. Good for you. Good for you. Hey, I want to talk about your life in Norway and how you transitioned from being a US gal to creating a life there.
0:04:25
(Speaker 2)
I did read you live on a homestead. So describe what that means. When I reconnected with John, my college sweetheart, you were right on that, and we decided to marry. And the main reason we decided to marry was because that was the easiest way to get me over to Norway, because Norway doesn’t have open borders. So I married him. He was already a permanent resident.
0:04:49
(Speaker 2)
Then I could ride on his coattails. And we lived just outside of Oslo, the capital city, but John always wanted land, but he taught in Oslo.
0:05:02
(Speaker 1)
So we drew a circle around kind of the pain of how far he would commute via train, but still how far he would commute. And we found this homestead farm 140 years old and had a building falling, kind of falling down, and the house was okay, but they had redone the bathroom and the kitchen. Okay, good start.
0:05:28
(Speaker 6)
Yeah, good start, right?
0:05:29
(Speaker 2)
Yeah, you work around it. Exactly. So we decided to buy this property two hours north of Oslo, and we did not know that John and I met at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota.
0:05:44
(Speaker 4)
We did not know that the family name of the farm, the homestead that we took over, is
0:05:50
(Speaker 1)
Northfield. Isn’t that fun? Yeah, it’s fun.
0:05:54
(Speaker 16)
You speak fluent, is it, they call it Norwegian or is there another name for your language?
0:05:58
(Speaker 1)
Fluent Norwegian. It is Norwegian.
0:06:00
(Speaker 3)
Did you know how to speak Norwegian before you got up there?
0:06:02
(Speaker 2)
I don’t think so. Oh, yes.
0:06:05
(Speaker 15)
I have been speaking Norwegian and teaching Norwegian language to adults for 30 years.
0:06:11
(Speaker 1)
I ran a language program up in northern Minnesota. Wow. Okay, so you meet at college and you already got the language going.
0:06:18
(Speaker 2)
Why was he in the United States for college?
0:06:20
(Speaker 6)
What was he taking?
0:06:22
(Speaker 2)
No, he also was American. Oh, he was American. Yeah, he started going to Norway when he was an 11 -year -old boy and his mom needed someplace to place her two sons safely while she did the URail thing. So he went to a Norwegian summer camp, and that family and his family became very good friends. And so he also spoke Norwegian, and we both majored, one of our majors at St. Olaf, we each majored in Norwegian.
0:06:52
(Speaker 1)
So we had that in our past, and I have Norwegian language culture in my past. He’s totally English. You know what I loved about our meeting, and I’m Italian, you’re Norwegian, and we still, the sense of humor was, you know, it was fine. We translated the sense of humor and the whole thing.
0:07:08
(Speaker 2)
The story that he told about the parents leaving the babies in the baby carriages outside their, like when they go for a coffee, like it’s a normal thing that they park the baby carriage outside where they’re going to go out and leave the kid on the street. Tell me that’s true again. Absolutely true.
0:07:27
(Speaker 14)
There’s another story too where people will come over if they’re doing a, you know, Fulbright or a study abroad and they have a baby and there’s not a lot of heat in bedrooms because Norwegians really feel that you need to sleep cold and under a down comforter called a diner.
0:07:43
(Speaker 2)
And so if you sleep cold. And I remember like this American couple calling their landlord and saying, you know, we got no heat.
0:07:50
(Speaker 1)
We don’t have heat in our baby’s room. And he’s like, great. That’s funny. That’s funny.
0:07:57
(Speaker 13)
Well, the concept, and tell me if I’m pronouncing this right again, that I’m trying to practice here in your honor as, you know, honor of the Norwegians.
0:08:05
(Speaker 2)
Free -loof -sleeve, is that what John told me?
0:08:07
(Speaker 12)
Free -loof -sleeve?
0:08:08
(Speaker 11)
You’re pretty good.
0:08:09
(Speaker 2)
Free -loof -sleeve. Free -loof -sleeve.
0:08:11
(Speaker 1)
And it’s just free air life.
0:08:12
(Speaker 2)
In other words, being outside. Yeah, I like it.
0:08:16
(Speaker 1)
You’re doing a good job. Now you need to come on a trip with me. Listen, I want to talk about those trips. I love what you’re doing.
0:08:23
(Speaker 2)
I think everybody who’s got history outside of the United States who comes from somewhere, which is mostly everybody, has the desire to explore their roots in some form of travel, but like most people don’t have a clue as to how that would go. So explain how you do it in Norway for people who might have Norwegian roots. Yep, so I send out, sometimes I send out mailings to and mostly I’ve just done Minnesota because I’ve only been doing this business officially for two years. I’ve been leading tours for 30 years, but I started my own business where I help people who really want to come over and see the parts of Norway that they want to see. Yes, sometimes they want to see the traditional parts of Norway. There’s a trip called Norway in a nutshell that’s very popular and for a good reason.
0:09:13
(Speaker 2)
But I do that with a little tweak, with a Kari Barrett tweak, so that you’re not caught up in all the tourists that come. It’s very popular. I also took a family of 12. They wanted to see their farm roots and where their farmstead, where their people actually came from. I’ve done that with several groups and it’s powerful when they’re standing in the land, even though their relatives aren’t there anymore. And sometimes the houses aren’t even there anymore, the farms aren’t there.
0:09:44
(Speaker 1)
But it’s an amazing feeling to be standing. on the land where your history comes from. Absolutely. I looked on your website, kbnorwaytours . com, and we’ll talk about the caregiving in a second, but kbnorwaytours . com, and I looked at all the different guest comments and what a wonderful trip.
0:10:03
(Speaker 1)
And the last thing I noticed is guests at Nordenga, our homestead, and what the comment was from Annika in North Dakota was, sleeping in the barn loft was the best, and I’m going to try and read this Norwegian. You tell me how I’m pronouncing it right.
0:10:16
(Speaker 10)
Mange tusen tak.
0:10:18
(Speaker 1)
How should I say that? Mange tusen takk. Mange tusen takk, right, to Kari Bennett and John for hosting us at Nordenga. It was such a lovely visit. You have a beautiful home and kind and beautiful hearts.
0:10:30
(Speaker 9)
Thanks for letting me sleep in the newly renovated barn so I could wake up to that amazing view.
0:10:33
(Speaker 2)
So this is your, you host people as well on your homestead? Yes. Wow. Not always, but yes we do. Right now, I say that hesitantly because right now our place is totally being remodeled on the exterior of the house.
0:10:53
(Speaker 1)
And so it’s kind of crazy there. So everything is now in that barn that where Anika stayed. Everything’s like hanging out there. Yeah, guess what? I use the same line when people come to visit about the inside of my house. I go, oh, listen, everything’s totally being remodeled.
0:11:07
(Speaker 1)
Just in case they don’t think bad of me. OK, so this is wonderful. And we’ve covered that part of it. And I know this is something people might find really intriguing in this part of the world where I’m broadcasting from, which is the New York, Connecticut area. And then, of course, the podcast of our conversation will go way beyond. So this is a great piece of information.
0:11:27
(Speaker 1)
And you’re wonderful warm woman and if anybody is going to Norway I think you’ll get along with Kari real quick. Now let’s talk about the caregiving thing. I want to move you because I don’t want to blow nuts covering this. I can relate and many can relate about what happens when you are now caring for people that, you know, used to be able to care for themselves, okay? And it could be parents, it could be siblings, it could be…
0:11:50
(Speaker 1)
It’s a lot, right?
0:11:51
(Speaker 2)
And what you were talking about, that most people… don’t recognize until they’re in it is that it’s difficult to be a caregiver taking care of somebody who’s not well. So you built a business around this and wrote a book about it. You want to go ahead and talk about it? I did. Many years ago when I graduated from a master’s degree I didn’t know what I was going to do so I worked in senior housing and I learned a lot about how adult children felt about placing their parents in senior housing and how the parents felt and it was a tough situation. I sort of took that all those lessons and started speaking and teaching about taking care specifically of your aging parents.
0:12:34
(Speaker 2)
Right. Because the dynamics that come up are so unique and challenging and I think the biggest message I tell people is that it is okay that you don’t know what you’re doing because we’re not taught how to give care to our aging parents. They are the ones that raised us. Now all of a sudden it feels like it can be flipped the roles. And I stress that our parents are still our parents. They still get to make decisions.
0:13:04
(Speaker 2)
Now this is if they’re aging normally, but if they’re aging with a disease that causes dementia, like Alzheimer’s, that’s a different story.
0:13:12
(Speaker 1)
Then you have to maybe have a little firmer hand in the situation and how they’re going to be cared for. But there’s just a lot of emotional stress that goes on when giving care to an aging family. We expect that our family members are going to change and everybody’s going to rally around and we’re all going to agree, and that never happens.
0:13:32
(Speaker 8)
No, no, no, never happens.
0:13:34
(Speaker 1)
Family issues are the best. Right? Yeah. Kari Berit the book, I’m just going to give out the name, The Unexpected Care. The Unexpected Caregiver. Yeah, because nobody expects to be one.
0:13:40
(Speaker 1)
How to Keep Mom and Dad Active, Safe, Independent, and Yourself SANE, which stands for Supported, Appreciated, Not Guilty, and Energized. And, you know, there’s a lot that you talk about here that’s happening with, you know, a mom accidentally falls, right, and is taken to the hospital. I heard three cases last week of just that alone.
0:13:59
(Speaker 7)
Maybe a dad has dementia.
0:14:01
(Speaker 1)
Three more cases.
0:14:02
(Speaker 6)
And then, you know, your own family.
0:14:05
(Speaker 3)
And you say, you know, family caregiving is not for the fainthearted, but your book can help address the elephant in the living room issues, you know, when the brothers and sisters don’t want to help or blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
0:14:15
(Speaker 1)
Anyway, that website is unexpectedcaregiver . com. You’ve been enjoying my guest, who’s going to go now back to Norway and leave me, but I’m coming over there, Kari Berit . I can’t wait. I can’t wait.
0:14:26
(Speaker 3)
I think me and Dave would have a good time in Norway with you guys.
0:14:29
(Speaker 5)
And I appreciate meeting you and having you on the show.
0:14:32
(Speaker 1)
And I think you lend some real good value as a guest with both things that you represent, the unexpected caregiver and your travel touring business, KB Norway Tours. If anybody’s got heritage they want to go find out about in Norway or want to take a trip for the first time.
0:14:46
(Speaker 4)
Have a great rest of your day, Kari.
0:14:49
(Speaker 3)
Thank you, Debbie.
0:14:50
(Speaker 1)
Bye -bye. Bye -bye. I wish I could say that in Norwegian. Bye -bye. Bye -bye. Whatever you said.
0:14:56
Good. I say it back. More to come.
