Sending mail from Ny Alesund - the world's northernmost Post Office! One of our last stops brought us to Ny Alesund: the world’s northernmost community. Boasting a permanent population between 30-35 people (and up to 120 in the summer months), visiting Ny Alesund was strikingly different from the rest of our cruise. The first time in two weeks that we’d walked off the ship rather than taking a zodiac to shore, the guides enjoyed a moment of supreme amusement as multiple people showed up at the gangway wearing their lifejackets over their parkas. Molly and I rebelled against our penguin suits and exited the ship wearing down jackets (a decision we later regretted, by the way. Always, always wear your penguin suit. It’s cold out there).
Originally founded in 1917 as a mining community, Ny Alesund now operates as a research base and houses fifteen permanent research stations. The point of visiting Ny Alesund was not for its scientific aspect, however, it was for its history. As previously mentioned, Svalbard is surprisingly historical. After being given a walking tour of the community, Sven, the ship’s historian, led us to a giant metal mast. Explaining that the mast was the mooring station for the Norge – the first airship to fly over the North Pole in 1926, Sven filled our heads with stories of northern adventure and the perils they likely faced. Pulling my scarf over my face and shivering from the wind, I could only imagine what it must have been like to survive the harsh conditions with nothing more than woolen sweaters and long socks to keep me warm.
Following our tour, the passengers of the Sea Spirit were set loose to wander the town (while steering clear of the insides of buildings). Despite our free reign, most of us battled the wind and made our way back to the post office – the northernmost post office in the world. Having bought my postcards in Longyearbyen and written them during our day at sea, I skipped the frenzy in the gift shop and postmarked my written souvenirs before sending them off.
Though I ultimately arrived back home long before any of my postcards did, knowing that several pieces of my Arctic journey were still circling the globe made me extremely happy. The happiness in sending my postcards, however, was greatly surpassed the day I opened my mailbox to find that two of them (addressed to my husband and not to myself) had made their way back into my eager hands. I begrudgingly handed them off to Forrest, who read my words with a smile before giving them back to me. “Take them to work and hang them up,” he told me. “They’re from your happy place, not mine.”
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Excellent travel advice and service
This is my second experience working with Adventure Life. I’m sold. Jess Heuermann is an experienced traveler and provides a lot of useful information when planning a trip. These are the questions I like to ask at the outset - What’s it like to go here, there, what would you suggest, what do people report, can we add any additional side trips? Jess took the time to answer my questions and seek additional information to share with me. Petchie Colina is outstanding in helping with travel logistics and final preparations. Adventure Life has excellent guides and offers private guides and small group adventures. We enjoyed the opportunity to talk with the guides and drivers to learn more about their countries, cultures and histories. A highlight was having the guides pick local restaurants where we could share meals together. Highly recommend.
Claire Cordon
2 days ago
Our six-day tour in Iceland went smoothly with one exception. We had asked for two rooms each night. Somehow we were booked with one room with three beds. It could not be fixed at the first hotel in Reykjavik because the hotel was fully booked. Once informed of the problem, however, Adventure Life rebooked for two rooms for the remainder of the trip. As an 85-year-old traveler, I appreciated that one could participate at different physical levels at many of the stops. Iceland is a great place to visit but on the expensive side.
Mary Warren
3 days ago
Jess was very easy going and answered all our questions. It’s not easy dealing with 6 people at once but she did an outstanding job!
Diane Foster
5 days ago
Kassandra and the Adventure Life team have been incredible! Kassandra was very knowledgeable and attentive to our asks while making sure we kept within our budget. This was our first experience with a travel agent and we were blown away by the booking/initial exploration service. We will use Adventure Life again.