21–30 of 92 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
People always talk about the winters, but the thing that really messes with you is the summers, if you're light-sensitive then that's a really long period of not getting any proper sleep.
This is why virtually all Nordic households have blackout curtains.
It looks like an interesting place to visit (in the summer), but I don't think I'd want to live there. I watched a pretty terrible horror movie that was filmed there. Don't remember the name.
I find these extreme enviroments fascinating, in this case polar days and nights (months long each). May I introduce you to Cecilia Blomdahl [1] who documents her life on Svalbard. [1]: https://www.tiktok.com/@sejsejlija?lang=en
Same person, but on YouTube for those staying away from Tiktok https://youtube.com/c/CeciliaBlomdahl
Basically the same info in a more digestible format: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Svalbard I find the ex-Soviet colonies particularly fascinating. One, Barentsburg, is still operating, and living there as a coal miner sounds absolutely hellish. Soviet era tech and safety standards, extreme climate, nearly entirely male population, living off cabbage and canned food -- it's like the gulag, only at least you get paid…
Wow, this is hardcore. Wikipedia says that Russian Pomors reached there around the same time vikings did. (Pomors are Russians who historically lived far North.)
https://twitter.com/elamje/status/1575524944506605573?s=20&t...
Interesting – I was just looking into visiting/living in Svalbard for a couple of months for the unique experience of it. Unfortunately, I could only find one apartment building [1] and the price for an apartment was $6,000 USD. I've read that most of the apartments are owned by companies, and you have to work for the company to have access to the apartment. Does anyone know of any other alternatives for a short stay…
Have you looked up hotels/hostels e.g. on Booking.com? Last time I checked this fall there were enough reasonably priced options. As an aside, IME the expectation that you can show up and rent an actual apartment for a month or two is just not met (locals don't like that and/or law explicitly forbids) in many places around the world, not just Svalbard. Being able to do it for $6000 or at all is seems fair. In Seoul,…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you looked up hotels/hostels e.g. on Booking.com? Last time I checked this fall there were enough reasonably priced options. As an aside, IME the expectation that you can show up and rent an actual apartment for a month or two is just not met (locals don't like that and/or law explicitly forbids) in many places around the world, not just Svalbard. Being able to do it for $6000 or at all is seems fair. In Seoul,…
So an isolated, remote, thinly populated location like Longyearbyen with almost zero tourism doesn't have many short-term apartment rentals. Fine, that makes sense. But what's the story with Seoul? It's among the densest and most connected cities in the world with plenty of tourism and business visitors. Why is finding a real short-term apartment so difficult? Can you explain more about the legal or cultural problem…
Basically the same info in a more digestible format: https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Svalbard I find the ex-Soviet colonies particularly fascinating. One, Barentsburg, is still operating, and living there as a coal miner sounds absolutely hellish. Soviet era tech and safety standards, extreme climate, nearly entirely male population, living off cabbage and canned food -- it's like the gulag, only at least you get paid…
One thing I didn't see in here that is absolutely relevant to life (but perhaps considered a foregone conclusion by the Norwegian government) is the concept of midnight sun and polar night, where the sun is periodically either above or below the horizon for 24 hours a day for months on end. It's a real mind-bender and can be very tough on the spirit in the winter. Quoting the 'time in Svalbard' Wikipedia article: > A…
Tromsø is great! I went there on vacation when I aspired to go to Svalbard and then discovered that that's rather difficult and expensive. So I went to Tromsø instead.
Tromsø is definitely thoroughly Arctic and life as a tourist there is still reasonably convenient and enjoyable. You can also take a ferry along the coast in either direction (either a short-distance commuter-oriented boat or a long-distance tourist-oriented cruise ferry). There's quite a bit to do in the vicinity!