Welcome to Episode 116 of my “Travel Tales From Beyond The Brochure” podcast.
Last year, off the back of my 100th country visit to Norway, I spent three nights in Svalbard, one of the most northern archipelagos in the world. Though I wasn’t there for long, I felt it was an interesting place to do a podcast about, covering history, wildlife, culture, and of course the ethical aspect of travelling to somewhere like that in the first place.
Not a spoiler: I did not see a polar bear.
Topics discussed in this episode are:
Parts One and Two: Housekeeping and Introduction
Part Three: Overview
- So remote even the Vikings didn’t go there
- Whale-hunting, fur-trapping, Wild West Mining Towns, and how they became Norwegian
- Svalbard v Spitsbergen
- How it’s different from Norway
- Population un-Density
Part Four: Wildlife & Environment
- This is the land of the Polar Bear
- Birds, but not in winter
- Longyearbyen feels very small from above
- There are no trees, only scree
Part Five: Things To Do In Longyearbyen
- The Airport is surprisingly insta-ready
- The Seed Vault
- Museums
- The world’s most northerly brewery (and why it only dates from 2015)
- You don’t come here to die
- What do you mean ‘Shoes are Banned’?!
- The Midnight Sun and the Northern Lights
Part Six: Ethical Travel
- The notable effects of Climate Change
- Cruise Ships and the dichotomy of tourism v environment
- How locals view tourists
- What some businesses are doing for sustainability
- Eating local means eating whale and seal
- The transient nature of the population
- Visit Svalbard’s tips for ethical tourism
Part Seven: What I did when I was there
- A local orientation tour
- Hiking Sarkofagen
- Local Beer
- Sailing along Billefjorden
- Accommodation in Longyearbyen
- Did I visit ethically?
Part Eight: Final Thoughts
You can listen via the feed above, or via Spotify, or on your podcast app of choice. Let me know if it isn’t, by the way, and I’ll see what I can do. In addition, a PDF transcript of this episode is available.
As always, if you have anything to say about the topic, or indeed about my podcasting in general, leave a comment or let me know. I now have a newsletter you can subscribe to, containing extra content, and it’s where I’ll be mentioning future podcast episodes if you want to make your own contribution.
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There is one contribution in this pod, from Julie, who blogs at I Am A Polar Bear. Fitting name, really.
