Another dream came true! I got to work in the Arctic, in Svalbard. This island had had me curious for quite a few years. I came close to getting there in 2020, but we all know how that era turned out.
Last year, after my 5th season in Antarctica, I was googling jobs in Svalbard, found one, applied, video interviewed, got the offer and accepted.
The hotel I was cooking in is around 100km out of the capital, Longyearbyen. It can be reached by ski mobile at the start of the season, before the melt, or by boat when its warmer. My trip out was by boat.
Stunning scenery, masses of wildlife, interesting food options, beautiful views from every window... So grateful and thankful for an amazing experience!
Saw the global seed vault up close and personal, did a cruise right up to the north of the archipelago, visited the Russian settlements of Pyramiden and Barentsburg, saw around 14 polar bears... I mean, it really is a very very special place.
One thing to take away is the threat of polar bears is very real. We never stepped out of the hotel without a stun gun that had 3 stun rounds and one flare, and for further afield, which was only just going outside of the immediate buildings, we took a loaded .308. You see people all over town carrying rifle, theres signs in shops to remember to leave your rifle outside the establishment etc. The number one rule regarding polar bears remains though - first step is to retreat.
And from AI - Svalbard is a Norwegian archipelago in the high Arctic, about halfway between mainland Norway and the North Pole. First used by European whalers in the 1600s, it later became a hub for coal mining in the 19th and 20th centuries. The Svalbard Treaty of 1920 recognized Norwegian sovereignty but gave citizens of signatory countries equal rights to engage in economic activity there—why Russia still maintains a mining settlement at Barentsburg today. Longyearbyen, the main town, evolved from a coal-mining base into a small international community focused on science, tourism, and Arctic logistics.
What makes Svalbard unique is its extremes: 24-hour daylight in summer, months of polar night in winter, and a population of just 2,500 from over 50 nationalities. Beyond coal, its economy now leans on Arctic research, adventure tourism, and environmental monitoring. It’s home to the Global Seed Vault, built to safeguard the world’s crop diversity, and its fragile ecosystems face the fastest rates of warming on Earth. With glaciers, reindeer, and the ever-present polar bear, Svalbard stands at the intersection of history, science, and survival in the far north.
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