Sheer beauty. No matter how complicated the previous day was, waking up seeing this through the kitchen window makes you feel extremely privileged. It makes you smile. Feel content with life. Until those other bothersome thoughts appear and you say:

“Hello old friend, I know you from before…”

That year in Qasigiannguit 2017-18 was on one hand, one of the most demanding in my life, on the other hand, it created a life long longing for experiencing this immense nature that is Greenland. Certainly one of the last places on earth, where there is space and a feeling of being in a place as it was around the creation of time. Not in the villages or towns, but on the icecap.

That is one major reason why I am again returning to Greenland and the icecap.

Originally the idea was to cross from west to east, from ice edge to ice edge together with Max Willner. And a help guide from Ousland Explorers, since neither Jeff nor I wanted to take any chances. I spent a week preparing with Max in Grövelsjön and enjoyed every second of my time with him. He had so much joy, ambition and love of life. Unfortunately it didn’t happen, due to him getting an internship at Wall Street. This was meant to happen mid-March this year. Jeff Willner, Max´s dad, suggested Meg Hines, a tough adventurer from the U.K, who I knew from Defender X. Another great opportunity to experience the icecap together with, now the Nansen route, going from East to West, set to happen in August. Along the way, this ambitious and life loving lady caught a bug in Borneo, which forced her to drop out. I have had many discussions with the Polar Legend Lars Ebbesen, who runs Ousland Explorers, and we agreed he would find a guide-to-be in learning, and he did, he found a very nice and relaxed guy, Anders Gulbrandsen. I have talked to Anders frequently the last month and he is perfect. He is a full on outdoor person, a skier, loves the Arctic and having crossed the icecap the previous year and is very eager to go again, having fallen in love with the icecap and its beauty and challenges. His joy has been a great inspiration to me.

Obviously I look forward to a great adventure waiting. So many interesting challenges. Glacier areas, crevasses, strong winds, rough ice, extremely hard work and the daily chores. But I also see this time coming up as a chance to do some kind of a life reset. All this social media, internet, news flashes and being online such a big part of my life, is draining. It is hard not to, due to my work. So I hope that this time of very little tech online, more than some satellite calls, writing and filming, will reset me and I will find a balance afterwards.

That is the plan!