I have no hidden talents, I am merely passionately curious. – Einstein So much has changed in how we engage with each other, the world around us and how we learn. Especially now with everything online as we spent our week in Longyearbyen on numerous hosted zoom calls...

If you want to build a ship, then don’t drum up men to gather wood, give orders, and divide the work. Rather, teach them to yearn for the far and endless sea. – Saint Exupery How do you win a trip to Greece? Our 9km runs to the back side near Cap Fleur deLys and in...

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essentials of life and not when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. H.D. Thoreau It’s been said that the greatest creative challenge is the struggle to be the architect of one’s own...

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. – Margaret Mead We have been reflecting on the power of the word “community”. Both the community that we have created through Hearts in...

I can’t hear what you are saying, what you do speaks so loudly. – Ralph Waldo Emerson Having a link to the “outside world” to communicate has been the cornerstone of Hearts in the Ice. Last July, two days before Sunniva left Canada for Svalbard she received the 2nd...

Life here has been all about pattern disruption. The way we lived a year ago is worlds apart from the way we have lived here at Bamsebu for the past 9 months. There is no excess here. No excess distraction, no excess consumerism, no excess waste and no excess use of...

Saturday May 2nd we rode our Lynx snowmobiles for 6 hours from Bamsebu to the town of Longyearbyen for a quick resupply of food, equipment, several interviews and a few meetings. Ettra running free with her head held high inhaling the fresh air, her bushy tail...

Those who dwell among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. Rachel Carson, “The Sense of Wonder” In February we shared...

“The sky knows when its’ time to snow,
Don't need to teach a seed to grow.
It's just another ordinary miracle today” - Sarah McLachlan Right now we all seem to be living on our own “little islands”. Communication in the virtual sense being nearly the only way to...

“March Madness” happens every year in North America as the best college NCAA basketball teams in the league battle it out. The spring equinox month in 2020 has given brand new meaning to the words “March Madness”. It is unfathomable to grasp what is really happening...

The quest for certainty blocks the search for meaning. Uncertainty is the very condition to impel man to unfold his powers - Erich Fromm Wilderness is the great teacher. Our Arctic overwintering at Bamsebu has illuminated the depths of who we are; our strengths,...

Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom – Viktor Frankl From our tiny trappers cabin “Bamsebu” a storm is whipping around us with violent winds and snowdrifts...

She’s a Lady, whoa, whoa, whoa, she’s a lady…. Talking about her…she’s a lady! Sung by the legendary Tom Jones How to turn a 1930 trappers’ cabin built for beluga hunting into a female friendly place? Simply put, it isn’t easy. The trappers' cabin “Bamsebu” was built...

I am just going outside and I may be some time Captain Lawrence "Titus" Oates Oates was a member of the ill-fated Scott Expedition on the return journey from the South Pole who walked out of his tent… and into the white out! Remember what it was like to be a little...

What is it that is so special about Svalbard? This is a question no doubt many people have asked, including the host for “Minutt for Minutt” Kari Toft. That show was slow TV showcasing all of Svalbard where they filmed us here at Bamsebu on Feb 8th. Really what is it...

”Slow down you move too fast, you’ve got to make the morning last…. “ Simon and Garfunkel Finally, a day without a lot of wind. Time stands in complete peaceful, stillness at Bamsebu. It’s almost an eerie stillness when the hut is not shaking. It makes us pause long...

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes - Marcel Proulx One of our main goals here at Bamsebu is to “live the experience.” To be in it, fully immersed and live to tell about it. We can proclaim with 100% certainty -...

When the night has come, and the land is dark and the moon is the only light we’ll see. No, I won’t be afraid, oh I won’t be afraid, Just as long, as you stand, by me… Ben.E.King The last time we closed our eyes and tried to walk in total darkness was in Sept 2018 on...

Where do we actually find peace of mind? Open spaces in the Arctic and specifically right here at Bamsebu (77.55 latitude/15.06 longitude) are a geography of possibility. With the advent of technology and accelerated speeds at which we can literally “connect” with...

It’s a very real and true fact for us here at Bamsebu that we can find almost anything and everything we need right under our beds. For those that have lived in a van, any sort of tiny living or had their most coveted items nearby and underneath - you can relate to...

In the north are quivering arches of faint aurora, trembling now like awakening longings, but presently, as if at the touch of a magic wand, to storm as streams of light through the dark blue of heaven-never at peace, restless as the very soul of man - Fridtjof Nansen...

50 plus years of preparation? Maybe we can say it like that. Seems like everything we have done in our lives, up until now, has prepared us in one way or another for this life at the “edge”. All of our skills developed and experiences gained over time that is...

Its dark here at Bamsebu - our 20sq mtr trappers cabin. The little bit of light we do have we run outside to capture with our camera, our beings and our senses. Black Friday means something entirely different here as we are in the long polar night. A night where...

“How in the world can two women survive an overwintering alone together?” a question that a friend of Hilde’s asked her not that long ago. This might be perhaps a question many ask. And of course there are many stereotypes that enter the scene of this conversation....

We are less than two months into our Bamsebu overwintering, so it was just a matter of time before we had our first polar bear encounter. What a few days it has been. We have seen two polar bears in 12 hours! What elevates your heart rate, we ask? Is it running a...

What in the world is Citizen Science and why do we do it? In its richest form “Citizen Science” has the power to transform science and society. We live in a time where technology and information are abundant so it only makes sense to share information and collaborate...

Much of the suspenseful polar literature we have read around explorers that have endured long periods of darkness, survival and despair points to the necessity of routine, celebration and rituals. We officially lost the sun as it dipped below the horizon line on Sat...

Vulnerability is something we have all experienced in our lives. Some more than others. Vulnerability can show up in in the absence of many of our basic needs - often things we all take for granted. Things like food, shelter, and warmth - all crucial for survival. In...

Bearing witness to a change of seasons is a most beautiful thing. You don’t hide from it. You observe, you experience it and you work to understand its many movements. Harsh weather and winters' blanket are sneaking up on us. Here at Bamsebu in the Van Keulen fjord...

October is mating month for the Svalbard Reindeer and our sightings have been absolutely phenomenal. The strong bulls can defend a harem of more than 10 cows. They are not shy at all and have no predators so perhaps it was not a strange encounter when a large male...