After doing fieldwork in Ny Ålesund (and analysing the data at home), I had finished my masters. I had a great time in Kongsfjord, but now it was time for a next step. But which? I was bitten by the Polar bug and didn’t know how to get back…

Fortunately, I had an offer from Oceanwide Expeditions to become a guide for one trip on one of their expedition cruise ships. This meant that I got the chance to see a bit more of Spitsbergen in what would probably be my last season in the high Arctic. After a bit an emotional trip through Ny Ålesund, where I had a look at all those special places with memories, I boarded the MV Professor Multanovskiy assuming I would never get back here.

The next year I had a new offer, now for several trips on the Professor Molchanov, and the rest is history… Now, 15 years later I still get back each year. Both to Spitsbergen as to Ny Ålesund, still for Oceanwide Expeditions, coming back to all those places and making much more special memories. The Molchanov en Multanovskiy have been exchanged for the Ortelius, Noorderlicht and Plancius, but much is still the same.