May 18 - Aboard the National Geographic Explorer

Written and posted on 11/18/18

We excitedly boarded the National Geographic Explorer, greeted by the hotel manager Patrik Svaerdmyr. We met up with naturalist Edward Shaw who we'd met in Washington DC during orientation and who would look out for us over the course of the expedition. It was lovely to see a familiar face amidst the hustle and excitement. We set sail around 4:30pm and the first few hours on board were busy: 

• moving into our cabin on the staff deck
• getting a tour of the ship with Edward
• checking that our rented gear - waterproof pants and boots - fit
• lifeboat drill
• meeting staff and crew
  
• orientation briefing
  
• our first decadent dinner
  
• trying to take it all in!

In between the busy, I headed out on the deck to take in the views.

After dinner, we grabbed our coats, gloves and hats and headed outside to for our first hours of marveling at the wonders of the Arctic.

Sitting in the quiet of the library, a glacier up ahead, port side, I was already mesmerized by the light. It was partly sunny and the water is clear with little pieces of ice floating atop. I watched little birds dance on the water.

I spent a couple of hours on deck. At 10:30pm, it was 38 degrees, and it was hard to pull myself away and inside. The light...the light is dreamy, creamy, luminous and soft.

I met Jasper Doest, the Nat Geo photographer on board, on the deck around 10pm. While I was looking though my view finder, he asked me a few questions that went straight from my ears to my brain to my heart. What are you trying capture? What's the story you want to tell? It was my first day in the Arctic, and I was already overwhelmed with what was around me. How do I put this all into words and images?

I can say this - the landscape was dynamic and ever changing with the constant of movement - the water was moving, we on the ship were moving, the clouds were moving, birds flew around us. The sun burst through clouds and she speckled rays of light across the ice, the mountains, the snow, the water. I'd turn my body 45 degrees and see something entirely new and wondrous. And it was my first night under the Midnight Sun.

The story of this night?

Be curious. Be patient. Stay. Stay quietly.

Be amazed.

I headed to bed almost at midnight. Here's a view from our port hole right before I tucked myself in.

Finally, here's a little video of my first night in the Arctic.

Svalbard May 18 from Jen Chavez-Miller on Vimeo.