The concept of the North and to witness what is “on top of the world” is another reason why people visit the Arctic. Read about the intimacy of the landscape and what it evokes:
Transcription from interview with Jess [13-10-2016], unedited:
“I did want to come here to see what is at the top of the world. I had this fantasy that we would all be in darkness on the ship and the ship would sail in one direction and we would only sleep. Now that we’re here I have that mournful feeling, which is very wild and very alone, and it is also more intimate a landscape than I expected. It doesn’t feel heartless to me. It feels kind of tender. Like… I don’t feel barren in it. There is like a lot of life and energy here that is really special. Maybe I didn’t know that I would feel that way.”
Transcription from interview with Agnes [10-10-2016], unedited:
“The remoteness… It is a very complex feeling, I think for everyone. I can’t even value it. And the landscape is so different every time. Even when you see the same landscape in different lights and different angles, it is very different. This also goes for the feelings. But there is also an interesting feeling of being scared that it is kind of being short-lived. You know you see a glacier and someday it will be different. Somehow you are very happy to be so privileged to see it and somehow it is also sad it will not last in this way. We hear all these stories about the polar bears and… Again it is an interesting feeling to witness a kind of change. How things turn into something absolutely different.”