Polar bears attack quickly and without warning

Before we went to Svalbard, I was told stories about people being attacked and eaten by polarbears. Because of this, I surely had a lot of respect for the wilderness up there. I found some important information about one of the world´s largest predators in a Svalbardpamphlet:

"There are between 2000 and 3000 polar bears in the Svalbard area. The average adult bear weighs between 200 and 800 kg. Humans are foreign elements in the kingdom of the polar bear. The bear is extremely powerful and it can perceive us as potential prey. Even young animals, weighing less than 100 kg, can be very aggressive and dangerous.



Be well prepared!
* Always be alert. Be aware of your surroundings, and keep to open areas.
* If you see a polar bear, retreat calmly and slowly. Never follow it!
* Most polar bears visits occur when camp has been established. If you are in a group, sit facing different directions so that you have a good view of the surroundings.
* Avoid placing campsites along the coast. The water and ice edges are natural places for polar bears to search for food.
* Use trip-wires with flares around the camp.
* Place food well away from the tent, but within view from the tent opening.
* Never prepare warm food in the tent. Polar bears are attracted to food odours.
* Be correctly armed at all times. Appropriate self-defence weapons against polar bears are big game hunting rifles and in addition a flare gun.
* Familiarise yourself with the use of these weapons before moving into the field. "



We didn´t see any live polarbears. That´s fine with me, although it would have been fantastic to see one on looong distance. I was quite alert - looking around myself every now and then to make sure that there was not a polar bear sneaking up from behind...

Putting the teams together

When we were skiing back down from one of the mountains on Svalbard, I found a note dropped on the snow. Curiously I picked it up. It didn´t take me long until I realized that it was a plan for how the team of dogs would be put together for a specific trip at 10 o´clock on a certain day. I really enjoyed reading the names of the dogs and how they were paired together. Maybe this is most fun for us Northeners since the names are in Scandinavian language:



Team 1:
Gaisa & Porthus
Båtsmann & Lilo
Balder & Loke

Team 2:
Amy & Glitter
Venus & Skrollan
Matias & Kristoffer

Team 3:
Chili & Pepper
Neptun & Frigg
Kauto & Buck

Team 4:
Birk & Svarten
Sol & Cartman
Roy & Ronja



Team 5:
Fröya & Aisa
Nemo & Felice
Fry

Team 6:
Modesty & Blaze
Curry & Merkur
Keino & Embla

Don´t you just love the "Modesty & Blaze-team"?

The art of personal branding

Some celebrities are good at personal branding. Some are superficial and because of that not as interesting.

Svalbard

I just returned from the snow and the midnightsun of Svalbard, only 1000 km from the Northpole. Will tell you more in a while.

Sense it

Today you can read my article about branding through attracting peoples´ senses in different ways. Visit driftig.nu. The article is in Swedish.

Reloading

Different persons need different kinds of energy to be their best. Besides good people and fun challenges, I need fresh air, free horizons and the magic of nature. Without getting that refill every now and then, I would shrink into a tiny little raisin. Last weekend I got a great energy-boost. We hiked in the woods and by the lakes south of Stockholm. The weather was perfect, the salmondinner and wine by the lake in the sunset was magnificent. Sleeping in a tent with friends smalltalking outside is also nice.



Breakfast by an open fire, doing the dishes in cold lakewater, walking through fields of blue, yellow and white flowers... Time for reflection, discussions and laughter. I am reloaded.

Grasp the moment

I passed by a park filled with cherryblossom trees on my way home from a meeting this morning. I was amazed by the beauty and the magic as I stopped under the pink flower-sky. It was like a fairy-tale.

A mom with a heavy camera had styled her little daughter in pink clothes - hair-ribbons, cardigan, skirt, rubberboots... Everything was pink. She even had a pink icecream-cone in her hand. Strawberryflavour. It was all set for a perfect pink picture of a perfect pink girl and a perfect pink flower-background. Perfect consistency. This was cute for the moment and the purpose, but it would not have been a great way to style a grown up person. There was no flaw in the picture. A flaw can make a picture more interesting.



Regardless of branding - make sure to grasp a moment under the cherry-blossom trees.