One Year in Norway: Teaching, Traveling, and Finding Perspective with Don Jenkins

Zero To Travel Podcast

Jason Moore

Society & Culture, Business, Entrepreneurship, Places & Travel

4.6 • 866 Ratings

🗓️ 9 December 2025

⏱️ 66 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

What happens when you step out of your life for a year to live, work, and connect in a completely different culture? Don Jenkins is a 27-year high-school teacher from Washington state who spent a full academic year in Norway through the Fulbright Roving Scholar Program. Based in Oslo but constantly on the move, he traveled the country visiting schools and giving workshops on American history and government, reaching thousands of students along the way. This episode explores Don’s journey as a cultural ambassador, educator, and traveler. We talk about the surprising differences between Norwegian and American school systems, how living abroad shifts your view of home, and what it takes to build connection across cultures - whether you’re in a classroom, a sauna, or a sawed-off tuk tuk. Whether or not you’re a teacher, Don’s experience is full of lessons on curiosity, communication, and how to embrace the unfamiliar. From practical travel tips to deeper reflections on history, education, and societal values, this episode is a reminder of how much growth comes from stepping outside your bubble. What’s one lesson you’ve picked up while traveling that changed how you see your home? I'd love to hear about your experience, and I hope you’ll share by sending me an audio message. Tune In To Learn: Why Don took a sabbatical to teach abroad in Norway for a year How his “roving teacher” job works and the logistics of living in Oslo while visiting 30+ schools Surprising insights about Norwegian classrooms, school culture, and community values How to implement cultural lessons at home, even if you’re not a teacher What it means to be a “mini ambassador” and have real conversations about your home country Budget-friendly tips for traveling in Norway, including food hacks and local apps The role of curiosity in building connections while traveling Why honest history matters, and what happens when we don’t teach the full story How being away from family for so long can be hard and insight on managing travel fears And so much more Resources: Sign up for our FREE newsletter Don on Instagram American-Scandinavian Foundation Fulbright Roving Scholars Too Good To Go App Want More? Cracking the Cultural Code, Ethical Travel To Indigenous Areas, & Life in Norway With Lorelou Desjardins Hidden Norway: 7 Off The Beaten Path Gems You’ll Love, Popular Norwegian Concepts Worth Stealing, Trekking In Bhutan, & Living At The Crossroads of Magic & Science w/ Torunn Tronsvang from Up Norway Walking the World: A Deeper Exploration of Culture and Community with Chris Arnade Thanks To Our Sponsors Holafly - Get 10% off your annual Holafly eSIM with code “ZEROTOTRAVEL” Planet Visionaries - Listen to the podcast on Apple and Spotify Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	That's one thing I've maybe noticed about maybe American culture is that there's a lot of focus on the individual and maybe in Norway.
0:09.2	And you've been here longer than I have.
0:10.8	So maybe you have disagree or agree with it or maybe you have different insight.
0:14.8	But I think there's more value put on like how can we help everybody.
0:19.7	Like with health care care with college being largely
0:23.2	paid for now there's a trade off you know there's taxes are probably higher but i think norwegian
0:28.6	culture sees the value in having those things available for all the residents and i don't really
0:34.9	see much homelessness either here so that's kind of one of the
0:38.3	big things that I've noticed as far as culture and maybe some differences between America and
0:43.3	Norway. That is today's guest, Don Jenkins, sweetheart of a guy. We got to do this interview in
0:49.6	person after trading some emails. He actually emailed me several years ago.
0:55.0	And he was talking about how he has been a social studies teacher at that time for almost
1:01.3	25 years.
1:02.1	Now it's been 30 years.
1:03.3	And he has been traveling mostly for free in the summers for almost two decades.
1:09.5	And there are a lot of opportunities as a teacher to travel. And
1:14.6	we touched on so many topics in this conversation because he was in Norway. I don't want to
1:21.6	spoil too much of the interview, but he was here for a year. And he got to travel around to
1:27.4	different schools and work with different students
1:29.6	from all over the country. And just from that experience, we had a wide-ranging conversation
1:37.5	pulling out topics like the importance of studying history when you're visiting a place
1:42.9	and understanding that context.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jason Moore, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jason Moore and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.