A new adventure began today in Longyearbyen, the world’s northernmost town and our gateway to the High Arctic. Under cloudy skies, we made our way to the MS Spitsbergen, where the familiar sight of the blue jackets and welcoming crew reminded us we were in for a special journey.

After settling into our cabins, we gathered for the mandatory safety drill and then joined our Expedition Leader and Hotel Manager for the welcome briefing in the Explorer Lounge. The tone was set for the journey ahead: an expedition that would take us south through the Arctic—from the wild beauty of Svalbard to the isolated mystique of Jan Mayen, the icy fjords of East Greenland, and eventually to Iceland’s rugged coast.

In the evening, half of us picked up our expedition boots and signature blue jackets, while the rest will do so tomorrow. The ship slipped quietly out of Isfjorden, and with it began our next chapter of discovery and exploration.