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I Am A Polar Bear

Travel, adventure & wellness with plenty of snow

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Author: Julie

Travel, outdoors & adventure blogger who loves Iceland, camping and swimming.

Year Abroad: Pilatus Golden Round Trip | iamapolarbear.com

The Pilatus Golden Round Trip

February 18, 2021

Of all the stuff I did on my year abroad in Switzerland all those years ago, the Pilatus Golden Round Trip was probably my favourite. It’s Switzerland in microcosm, the best of the entire country all in one beautiful day. You start out in Luzern, which I’m obstinately spelling the German way, even though in … More The Pilatus Golden Round Trip

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How to plan your own camp at home | iamapolarbear.com

How to plan your own camp at home

February 15, 2021

I had so much fun planning my Sparkle & Ice 2021 At Home that I’ve decided everyone should do their own at-home camp weekend at least once during these dire times when we can’t go and camp for real. Take a weekend out of your real life, when you don’t have to worry about responsibilities … More How to plan your own camp at home

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Sparkle & Ice 2021: the at-home version | iamapolarbear.com

Sparkle & Ice 2021: the at-home version

February 11, 2021

I’ve done Sparkle & Ice every year since it began. There was muddy 2017, volunteering 2018, icy 2019 and stormy 2020 and now we’ve got at-home 2021. Just because Sparkle & Ice 2021 isn’t happening doesn’t mean I’m going to miss it. Last year, Girlguiding did an online version of Wellies & Wristbands because that’s … More Sparkle & Ice 2021: the at-home version

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My Norwegian language resources | iamapolarbear.com

My Norwegian Learning Resources

February 8, 2021

I thought I’d do a post about my Norwegian learning resources. I’ve been doing it on and off since about the end of 2016 but it’s only in Lockdown Three that I’ve really started taking it seriously. It’s been what, a month, and I’ve been introduced to three tenses already that I’d never even seen in … More My Norwegian Learning Resources

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Snowmobiling on a glacier | iamapolarbear.com

Snowmobiling on a volcano

February 4, 2021

Deleting old posts that have never been read and are not doing their job has a definite upside: I get to write them again but better! And so to my adventure snowmobiling on a volcano! This must have been about 2013 and I’d finally given in to the allure of driving a scary tough machine … More Snowmobiling on a volcano

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Borgarnes: my favourite town in Iceland | iamapolarbear.com

Borgarnes: my favourite town in Iceland

February 1, 2021

Your average tourist to Iceland will be completely oblivious to Borgarnes, even the ones who pass through it – and maybe stop at its roadhouse – on their long day trip to Snæfellsnes. But Borgarnes is a strong contender for my favourite place in Iceland. It’s a small town on the west coast, the service … More Borgarnes: my favourite town in Iceland

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Lava caving: crawling under an eruption | iamapolarbear.com

Lava caving: crawling under an eruption

January 28, 2021

After Monday’s post about enjoying caving, let’s have a lava caving story. In the UK, if you’re going to crawl around in a hole in the ground, it’ll be a limestone one formed by water action. It’ll have a certain smell, similar to petrichor, you might find fossils and it’ll probably have a mixture of … More Lava caving: crawling under an eruption

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You might enjoy caving if... | iamapolarbear.com

You might enjoy caving if…

January 25, 2021

Come and meet the love of my life. I don’t talk about caving much here (apart from our 2004 trip to Ireland the other week) because I don’t do much of it these days but it absolutely captured my heart back in my student days and I wish I could do more of it. Well, … More You might enjoy caving if…

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A Single Map: Walking the North Dorset Trailway | iamapolarbear.com

A Single Map episode 5: walking the trailway

January 21, 2021

I definitely didn’t plan to do three A Single Maps in a row but then again, why not? We’re in lockdown, we can’t go anywhere and it’s a beautiful time to appreciate what’s on your doorstep and get some exercise in the fresh air. Today I’m on the trailway! There are plenty of these trailways … More A Single Map episode 5: walking the trailway

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A Single Map 4: Just a wood | iamapolarbear.com

A Single Map episode 4: “Just a wood”:

January 18, 2021

Today I’m going to investigate a wood! I know, this is the second A Single Map post in a row, although I didn’t mention it beyond the title last time. Actually, I went to Tarrant Rushton Airfield twice (well, three times – we went again on Friday!). I didn’t mind. We went in November which … More A Single Map episode 4: “Just a wood”:

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Who am I?
I'm Julie, a travel, adventure and wellness blogger. I love Iceland, I love jumping into hot water and I do love a bit of snow.

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Most popular posts

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Day one of the great West Bohemian Spa Triangle train adventure! If I’m putting it on Instagram, I feel like I have to have something to say, so I have to do some writing. This time tomorrow, I’ll either be in a passport control queue or searching for a bus stop and then first thing on Tuesday, I’ll be getting on a train and going off on an adventure! My itinerary says six trains in six days, which isn’t so bad and the bits in between should be nice. 🇳🇴 I just finished my Norwegian course and I won’t be sad to get my Wednesday evenings back! I’ve been learning Norwegian on and off, by myself, for the best part of a decade so I wasn’t sure if beginners module 1 was the best place to start. But a real human native-speaker teacher is invaluable and I’ve acquired a very unexpected vocabulary from it. Postcards from London the weekend before last. I am an onion: last weekend I was swimming a mile in the Olympic pool and then climbing Tower Bridge, then I spent Wednesday teaching my Rangers to break codes, Wednesday having a Norwegian lesson, Thursday doing Brownie Promises and on Saturday I was at the opera (when I say that out loud, I over-emphasise every syllable: op-air-AAAAAH!). I tell myself I’m an Elsa (I’m actually more of an Anna) but sometimes, like when it’s -15° and I didn’t bother to put the furry leggings on under my lined trousers and I have a 15-minute scurry back to the bus before hypothermia gets me, the cold does bother me anyway. It’s not that 2026 has been so bad but it seems to have been busy and harder than normal. One of my Brownies gave me the cold from hell and that dragged on for *thirty-five days*, culminating in pulled back muscles and such incredible pain for ten days that at one point I was stranded upside down like a turtle who can’t physically turn over. I’ve also done three weeks with someone else’s Brownies as well as my own and my Rangers and I’ve got one more week of a Norwegian course that’s taken out my Wednesday evenings since late January, which feels like just one too many nights on. And work hasn’t helped - certain bits of research have been either difficult or hellish in certain countries but my boss and I have agreed a timeline for the current stuff that seems realistic to me and acceptable to him! A few pictures from Suomenlinna on a very cold February day.

About Julie

I'm a blogger, adventurer, lover of hot water, amateur paddler and polar bear who wilts in hot weather. Time (by day, I'm a researcher) and funds keep me within Europe and I make regular trips up to the north, especially to Iceland. I like the occasional adventure across Europe by train and I'm starting to make use of my weekends for 48-hour adventures. This isn't my only creative outlet - I've written two travelogues (one on a winter adventure across the Arctic Circle and one on exploring volcanoes during a warm summer road trip around Iceland) plus a little book of Icelandic pools and I have a fourth book in progress right now.

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