Anna Zuckerman-Vdovenko

Adventuring to the North Pole by icebreaker, a trip I eventually repeated 12 more times. It wasn’t just the arrival at the pole which meant the most to me, but the process of getting there while having that sense of place on the planet. To survey the beauty of the turquoise pack ice together with guests and crew built lifelong friendships that I cherish to this day.

It may sound quite trite, but the study of Ernest Shackleton has made the most impact on my life directly. I’ve had the great joy of travelling in his footsteps from the far side of Antarctica where he had his hut, to the Weddell Sea, Elephant Island, and South Georgia several times. I took his way of handling challenges seriously, made him a focal point in my first book (Antarctica: A Voyage to Adventure), and try to be mindful of the lessons he taught by example.

My dream destination would be to travel once again through the Northeast Passage, but this time aboard the new, modern, most powerful nuclear icebreaker in the world, Arctica. I would also like to see Kamchatka, especially to visit the area the brown bears flock to each summer. Another fascinating journey would be to see Lake Baikal and to take the Trans-Siberian Railway from west to east. Lastly, I could be also very content to have the great adventure of becoming a grandparent someday, so I could partially repeat the great and tough expedition of parenthood.