Spend the week with me during a research stay in Svalbard
Postcard 10th August ’25 | Longyearbyen
After a short summer break in Denmark, I am back in Svalbard. While I know that every time up here is a unique experience and I am truly grateful that I am able to visit this truly magical and special place for work – this time, I was leaving with a rather heavy heart. The past weeks had been intense, and leaving Sven, Molly, and our home behind so soon again, and – this time – for 2 months, had me struggling a bit.
But well, tears wiped away, Huskies cuddled, let’s soak it all up.
You guys have asked me for some more behind-the-scenes of “my life as a researcher” and so I have been playing a bit with something new: Motion picture 😊. It’s not perfect or cinematic or anything, but I hope you enjoy a first little edit that I filmed last Saturday. We are (romanticising) making coffee in my little “hybel” – the Norwegian name for a small furnished apartment, year in Longyearbyen. If you want to skip that, we have a little chat starting at 03:20, followed by some more shots from a little walk.
The friend I mentioned, Maria Philippa Rossi, is actually the author of a beautiful Norwegian children’s book about research in Svalbard, which was published earlier this year. And I was truly humbled when she asked me to help brush the English translation! Yes, an English version will be available in the fall, and I highly recommend the book, even for grown-up children. It is a unique combination of Maria’s personal narration as she meets different researchers in Svalbard and learns about their work.
About last week
Luckily, the missing equipment got delivered right to my door on Monday night and I could start with configuring and assembling the equipment.
So my days last week usually looked like: Waking up anything between 4:00 – 6:00 (midnight sun fun), some Pilates 😊, morning coffee (same procedure every day 😉), work at the Forskningspark, breaks at the Huskies-Café or Café Fruhne, evening walks, Netflix-croquet-chill, praying for sleep (and hiding from the midnight sun). My “Whoop” band (started to track my sleep and recovery) is NOT impressed with me...
Arctic Fox!
Yesterday, I took my camera on a morning walk around the water and “industrial” area of Longyearbyen - and I got rewarded with the encounter of an Arctic Fox!
Even caught the cutie on video as she was harassed by Arctic Tern (I was hiding from them close to a dry-dock boat).
Next…
Further people have been arriving by now and fingers crossed, mine and their equipment will get deployed on Tuesday.
What details would you like to learn more about? How did you like the video? Please be honest!
Hug,
I LOVED the video!! 😍😍 immersed me in the postcard even more and made me feel like I'm there alongside you on the adventure 🥰 Really enjoyed the sounds of activities without any voiceover or background music, found them oddly calming.
I'm guessing you can't really film in your workplace, though I'd be curious to see how that looks, and maybe more of the area, or even some of your crocheting 😁
And last but not least, it is very brave to share videos of yourself, kudos to that and I'm keen to see the next one! 🤩