Krystel and I (Team Not Safe/Not Sorry) work the night shift in the Emergency Department. Our sleep schedules, even under the best of circumstances, are fucked. Add to that a 6 hour time difference and a place where the sun dips below the horizon for only a few hours every night and what you have is a sleep deprived maniac (me) walking around taking pictures late, late at night and early, early in the morning. If I'd have slept like a normal person I probably would have come home with maybe 500 photos rather than the 1,700 I did. One of my fondest memories is of standing on the beach in Hornvik, the Denmark Strait in front of me and a literal wall of storm clouds hovering about a mile off shore. It was terrifying enough that we made sure the storm shelter was unlocked. The storm stayed at sea and the rest of the night was spent shooing away arctic fox trying to steal our food, eating junk food, and soaking in our last night sleeping just below the Arctic Circle.
I've always loved the REM song 'Breathe', especially the line where he sings "I have seen things that you will never see'. Though my life has at times felt like a slow motion car crash I've been blessed with the opportunity to travel to some of the most beautiful places on the planet.
