Why I choose to live on a remote island close to the North Pole | Svalbard

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Let me know what you think in the comments and subscribe for more videos from my life on Svalbard, an island close to the North Pole!

Guyyysss! I made merch!

Music from Epidemic Sound!

Svalbard Q&A videos:

Favourite hiking boots + puffer jacket is from:

Camera gear:
↠ Sony a7iii + Tamron lens
↠ Sony ZV-1 + Zhiyun Crane M2
↠ DJI Mavic 2 Pro + Smart Controller
↠ DJI Ronin SC

About Cecilia:
Cecilia Blomdahl is originally from Sweden and moved to Svalbard 5.5 years ago. She works as a photographer and videographer in Longyearbyen, and with her social media channels, check her out on tiktok and instagram. Here on youtube she posts videos about her daily life in her cabin with her boyfriend and her dog Grim, living just outside of Longyearbyen. They are currently building a cabin extension, which is set to be finished in June. Subscribe for videos about her daily life as well as adventures on an island close to the North Pole, with polar bears.

[jadebrook]

People always ask me why I moved to Alaska. I have very similar reasons. I also love how Alaska is a place where you can really be who you want without judgement. People appreciate art and the outdoors. I have friends that live in cabins without running water and yurts living alongside people with traditional homes. Also, children are still seen playing outdoors freely in the midnight sun.

[ashleycouncil]

You sit so comfortably in that beautiful scenery while I sit thousands of miles away desperately scanning behind you for polar bear danger. So impressed.

[kitty-kitten-]

I am Inuk (Inuit) from Northern Labrador, Canada and we love our Arctic char as well! So delicious. Great video as always 😁

[ChrisBanda]

While I know a simple life like this has it's challenges, I am extremely in awe. Such a picturesque scenery.

[Loriaborealis]

Svalbard looks like a piece of beautiful art!

[IzzyOnTheMove]

I'm surprised how people can ask WHY you would love life there. It would most likely be HOW COULD YOU NOT love it ❤️

[aneeshahassan]

I can so relate to you. We moved to our holiday home in the Snowy Mountains during the lockdowns. Though we lived in the Rocks, I find more at ease in the mountains. We do go back occasionally to our city home, catch up with family and friends but hiking, skiing or having lunch with our mountain friends in nature is more rewarding than wining and dining in busy city restaurants. Nature is healing and beautiful both to the mind and soul. Love your channel, such great content 🙏🏼

[MrSparks]

You know you're in the Arctic when it's 15C outside and it's a hot day. It's 17C here today October 31 in my home state of Utah. And it's not what we consider hot. So very different! Thank you Cecelia for sharing your beautiful surroundings.

[AltitudeAerialCornwall]

You literally live in the most picturesque place on Earth. It's so beautiful. Hope you're enjoying your time in Portugal with your parents.

[noelenehazell]

I didn't know you had lived in Australia previously, my home country :-) Svalbard is such a contrast to here, and so beautiful. Thanks for showing us how it is in summer - the drone footage is spectacular!!! Your 15 degree summer day is cooler than our winter days in Queensland haha.

I am making good use of our current Covid-19 lockdown by enjoying some of your videos, and planning for a future where we might be able to travel to some of these beautiful places once again.

[christinek]

Love following your journey! If you're going to do a series about why you live there, maybe you could also include, or start with, where your journey took you in life that led to living in Svalbard. Cannot believe the massive change in weather since your last video.

[wardarcade]

What makes those trappers' cabins all the more remarkable is the fact that every single board and wooden plank had to be IMPORTED since no trees grow in Svalbard!

[lilyrose]

Hi Cecelia! The mountains 🏔 remind me of the Grand Canyon and the Badlands here in the US. My husband and I drove across the country from Boston to the west coast in 1979 and went to all the major park systems here! We also went to Canada and Mexico! Seeing you today reminded me of that trip when I was very young! Thank you ☺️! Much love 💗 from Massachusetts!

[MiserableMidnight]

There isn’t much I’d like more than to visit Svalbard. Everything about it is absolutely captivating and beautiful to me. When you explain what this place makes you feel, I very much understand. I would like that kind of life.

[kevindeckert]

I am so glad you got meet my son Dan and Kika on UMA and share some adventures..amazing place...I started following you when when they said they might be coming your way..

[kathleenanne]

Cecilia, the drone footage in this video is magnificent! 🏔

[smurph]

Life on Svalbard looks amazing to me. To be surrounded by such beauty and to go on trips where you see few if any people... bliss 💗

[John-Nada]

I was wishing for more boating episodes. Grim is so well behaved off his leash staying nearby. Seeing Uma on your video blog is like seeing the characters from Star Trek on Bonanza. Those two really get around!

[jbrothers]

Svalbard is clearly a very special place - I commented on a previous video that it would be my personal Hell (I am winter averse... despite the fact that where I am in Canada the temperature will drop as low as -40c... also a personal Hell), but everyone is unique in their tastes. In case you ever question it, the beauty and adventure you celebrate definitely resonates in your videos. I think you would be quite content living in a rural area of Newfoundland... it's a place that can easily be a marriage of the things you like about living in Svalbard and what you liked about being on the mainland. I lived there for 7 years, and may very well return one day... despite its heavy winter snowfall.

I was wondering if the intention is to live in Svalbard well into retirement age? I was also wondering if the Norwegian government provides some sort of subsidy or allowance for living there, due to the costs of goods being so high? Canada provides tax deductions for people living in Northern regions such as Nunavut and Labrador, but the costs for goods and housing are so high in those regions that I am not sure the incentives fully compensate for those costs. How are people in the service industry in Svalbard able to afford living there?

[Rinarot]

Christopher said so many words! 😲 Yay for progress, I'm here for his transformation into a beautiful social butterfly. 💗