You’ve cruised to the Caribbean, around the Greek Islands, down the Danube River in Europe, and maybe you’ve even made it to Antarctica – what’s left for you in the cruising world? Why not head north, waaaay north; high above the Arctic Circle lays Wrangel Island. It might just be the last new place on […]
He raises his nose in the air and sniffs at the air, trying to get our scent, but the wind isn’t cooperating with him. He knows we are there, but what we are is a mystery. Just as I’ve never seen a polar bear before, this polar bear has most likely never seen a human […]
Everything just felt wrong. I didn’t know how to carry the lens, hold it or even lock it into place! It felt as if I had grown a third arm or 11th finger; everything was awkward, and everything seemed to take longer and be so much more difficult. Over the last nine years of doing […]
I pulled on my gumboots, bundled up in my layers of coats and rain gear ready for a messy trek through the forest. Rodney, our expedition leader, announced today was the day we would do a long tundra hike. I had been waiting for this moment to get out and really stretch my legs on […]
I zipped my jacket trying to stave off the chill in the air blowing off the Bering Sea. It was a dismal gray day. I sat on a plastic chair on the beach next to rusty scrap metal, yet in front of me was a plate of food placed carefully on the impeccable white lace […]
The Russian Far East is a place few people ever see…even for Russians. So it’s not surprising that it’s a bit neglected. Its history is one of exploration, doomed voyages, military positioning, and harsh conditions. It was either feast or famine in this area of the world. In the Cold War era from 1945 to […]
Meghan’s face comes alive as we approach the bird cliffs. She’s calling out bird species for the rest of the people in the zodiac and rattling off the extremely subtle differences between the rare birds of the Arctic. She finds different species in various little crevices with her binoculars as if it’s a Where’s Waldo […]
I stepped on board the Spirit of Enderby, a Russian arctic expedition cruise ship holding a maximum of 50 passengers and 25 crew, it had an industrial feel to it. No poolside bars, welcome drinks, or elegant entryways; instead there were loading cranes and zodiac rafts stacked up on top of each other on the […]
We gathered around Richard listening intently to his instructions about the Anadyr Russia immigration process, “Russians don’t smile much, so you shouldn’t either. When you go through immigration, just try to be solemn and not too loud and fit into their culture the best you can.” I thought about my past travels to Russia and […]
I feel giddy like a 7-year-old at Christmas. I look out over the barren tundra, a new environment for me, and think about how it makes me feel free and hopeful. The clouds break, and a crack of blue sky appears as if the game of hide and seek is over, and it can finally […]
