Yep, I made that word up. Travelexica. There are plenty of words from across the world that don’t exist in English, and perhaps don’t even properly translate. When I converted my van, I even mad up it’s name: -

Kofifernweh

I came up with this name by taking two words and slamming them together. Kofi is Icelandic and it means ‘cabin.’ The reason this word was chosen is because my van was to become my cabin, but with a twist. Cue the next word, fernweh. This is German and it means wanderlust, or the desire to travel. It actually translates literally to far-sickness. The German word is quite fitting because my van is Mercedes, and he Icelandic word because Iceland is my favourite place on earth and one of my first destinations in my Due North adventure. Slam these two words together and the meaning becomes ‘the cabin with the desire to travel.’

Over the course of may years as a travel photographer I’ve come across lots of words from languages around the world that piqued my interest. Here they are: -

þetta Reddast

Pronounced ‘Thetta Reddasht,’ this is an unexpected philosophy Icelanders live by. To me personally, the meaning is strong and real. I first heard it said by my friend in the Westfjords when I was photographing orphaned arctic foxes at a sanctuary and my camera stopped working because of a moisture incursion. He said, “þetta Reddast.” I said, “what?”

Essentially it means that everything is going to be work out ok in the end. My camera dilemma was solved and I was able to shoot the foxes and, importantly, I was able to shoot a helicopter excursion the following day. If everything hadn’t turned out ok, I wouldn’t have the fox photos or the helicopter photos. I feel so strongly about this one that I had it tattooed on my left forearm.

Resfeber

We’re over in Sweden for this one. You know the tangled, trepidatious feeling of nerves, fear and excitement you get before a big trip? That’s what this means. We’ve all felt this before a journey, if not every journey. When we’re on an airline website and we hit the button to box the flight and we get hit with the bolt of energy and the internal smile, it’s resfeber.

Hygge

It literally translates from its Danish origin as “fun,” but there’s actually an entire movement derived from this noun. The non-literals translation dates back to hugge (from the Old Norse hugr), meaning “hug.” This represents warmth and comfort. It’s the feeling of lighting up a polar night with a candle, relaxing in thick, wool socks by a warm fire, consoling ones-self with a warm cocoa. This isn’t just a word. This is a way of being.

Trouvaille

We’re over in France for this one. Trouvaille is the chance presenting us with something lovely. It’s finding a great coffee in the middle fo nowhere, or meeting a soulmate at the most unexpected time. I like to use the analogy of luck here, where luck is something we create ourselves. Luck is what happens when preparation meets opporunity. As such, if we are best prepared and come across the right opportunity, we stand a greater chance of being lucky. There’s actually another French word that fits quite nicely with this one:

Dérive

It means to drift unplanned, being guided by the landscape and the journey itself. The idea of not having a plan but instead just acting in the moment is quite romantic. I suppose it’s the most serendipitous thing we could do. Having a plan when travelling is a rock-solid idea, however it’s the most unexpected things we find along the way that often become among the best experiences. I relate this in photography to effort versus reward. It’s often the photos we put the least amount of effort into creating that perform the best.

Coddiwomple

This is a ridiculous sounding old English word, but one that carries such strength and relatability to so many. To coddiwomple is to travel purposefully towards a vague destination. It’s us traveling with conviction and determination but not having an exact end goal in mind.

Sisu

This Finnish word is defined as a gritty determination with the odds stacked against you. It’s determination. It’s resilience. It’s sticking with something that’s difficult. I’ve fought the urge to quit many times, and I’m so glad I did. Sisu is a form of strength that we don’t all have, but that we should all find the courage to use.

Uff da

Sensory overload! This Norwegian term is one of surprise, exhaustion, astonishment, dismay, it’s a placeholder term to use in any highly-charged, emotive state.

And there we have it! My travelexicon (which I made up - translation: travel dictionary)

Much love
Dave