Winging it in Asia

Fed up with the winter weather at home, Norwegians Merethe Leirvik and Ole Dalen headed to Asia for three months to recharge, reset and fly

When your boyfriend is passionate about paragliding, like mine is, it may take you places you only imagined going. Ole Dalen is a Nova team pilot, and is often backpacking around the world with his paraglider. Ole also has the world’s best girlfriend, me, who happens to be a photographer as well as a pilot. This time the two of us went on a three-month long trip to Asia.

Leaving northern Norway in the beginning of November is never wrong. The cold and dark place we call home is not so fun at that time of the year, so we planned to return when the sun made a re-entry in our neck of the woods.

We wanted our getaway to start in Japan. We love this country for so many reasons, and one of them is paragliding. Plus, I really...