While watching Frozen Planet, over a bottle of wine, one night in January 2017, I had a brilliant (and by brilliant I mean a great wine-buzz) idea. I was going to travel to the arctic! I didn’t know how or where but I was determined. And if you know me, once an idea hits…

With Greenland as my final choice, the research began. I spent days and nights looking at sights on how to make this crazy idea happen. Turns out, it took way more planning and coordinating than I could have ever imagined. By time I was done with just planning the air portion, I had more detailed notes on this one trip than I did for a whole semester of world geography in high school. But I was set on it. I was going to the arctic.

Was I nervous? More nervous than I had ever been in my life. But I can tell you this, my trip to Greenland was otherworldly. This destination is truly remarkable and should be added to everyone’s bucket-list. With no major road systems in place, dog-sledding, snowmobiling and boating (if you can get past the frozen waters), are your means of transportation. The food that you are served is the food that is available that month. I watched a boat turn back around for the third month in a row, with much of their food supply, due to the packed ice in the harbor. No boats in, no boats out.

One of my favorite memories of Greenland was the evening my roommates (from Germany and Switzerland) and I got to spend with a native Greenlandic lady, Maya, and her four year old son. She invited us into her home, cooked us a wonderful, fresh meal with local ingredients and shared many stories of growing up in Greenland. Getting to connect with a culture like this is one you can’t put a price tag on.

I hope that this short story of Greenland has planted a seed of curiosity to explore a place never on your radar. Think deeper… travel deeper.