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I Am A Polar Bear

Travel, adventure & wellness with plenty of snow

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Tag: qualifications

...and then I got my Explore Award! | iamapolarbear.com

… and then I got my Explore Award!

July 15, 2021

If you haven’t read Monday’s post on how I fared with my Discover Award, go and read that now. Then come back here and see how the Explore Award went. I said last time that Antz wanted me to do a bow rescue, to hang upside down under a closed cockpit kayak and that I … More … and then I got my Explore Award!

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I went kayaking and got my Discover Award! | iamapolarbear.com

I went kayaking and got my Discover Award!

July 12, 2021

I’ve done a little bit of kayaking before and while I’m not overburdened with talent at it, I’d decided kayaking suits me far better than sailing did. So much so that I decided back in 2017 to get my One Star Award. I got as far as booking it and then the group that actually … More I went kayaking and got my Discover Award!

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Inspiring kids: introduction to fencing | iamapolarbear.com

Inspiring kids: introduction to fencing

March 18, 2019

One of the big things in my life is Girlguiding. I’ve been a volunteer for eleven and a half years now. Well, no, I’ve been an adult leader for eleven and a half years now. I was an occasional unit helper while I was away at university and I was a Young Leader for a … More Inspiring kids: introduction to fencing

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Archery GB Instructor Award

I’m a qualified archery instructor!

January 11, 2018

A little under a year and a half ago, I became a qualified archery instructor. It’s still the most exciting thing that has ever happened to me and the qualification I’m most proud of. I did it through Girlguiding, who ran an adults-only camp at Foxlease, their Training and Activity Centre in the New Forest. … More I’m a qualified archery instructor!

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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

  • Zedwell Capsule Hotel review: what's it like to sleep in a coffin?
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  • Chocolate Wars: British vs Finnish chocolate
  • Which is the best public swimming pool in Reykjavik?
  • Which is the best geothermal lagoon to visit in Iceland while the Blue Lagoon is closed?
While I’m doing Iceland’s spectacular blue water, I’m also going to do Iceland’s orange majesty - the time I hiked out to Meradalir to see the second Reykjanes eruption back in 2022. It’s still one of my favourite things I’ve ever done. Seeing a real life volcano is incredible - I think the highly intelligent thing I said on my first glimpse was “it’s so red and hot!” and I’d love to see another but it hasn’t worked out since (and if it never does, at least I saw this one!) ♨️ Which is the best geothermal lagoon / pool / tourist-oriented experience in Iceland? As a student I visited Chateau de Chillon and somehow managed to believe that Lord Byron wrote a famous poem about his time as a prisoner - well, he was “mad, bad and dangerous to know”. Of course he’d spent time in a Swiss dungeon. But of course, he hadn’t. He’d visited a castle while on holiday, written a poem about an actual prisoner and turned the place into one of Switzerland’s biggest tourist attractions. And I do mean big - there are 48 rooms detailing its history from Savoy to today via Bern and Lausanne, as a defensive structure, a luxury lakeside residence and yes, a tourist attraction. I was at the station in Lausanne, thinking about the old days when I lived here with my “triplets” 20 years ago and then five minutes later, one of them messaged me. This selfie, by the way, is one I took to send to her down by the lake, hence the awkward wave. Because it’s 2026, I’m calling this Switzerland in analogue instead of on film. This is the result of taking my film camera with me and actually getting through a full roll (last year, I managed 24 photos between May and December and carried that thing around far more often than I actually used it). It’s a mixed bag in which you only get to see the better ones. The blog from Thursday also features the film photos, plus a few of the nearly-terrible ones, in case there aren’t enough brown grainy pictures right here. #analogue #analog #35mmfilm This one was on the blog almost before I got back to Switzerland but it’s time it went on Instagram too. I went snowshoeing! It was in the dark, following a trail of lanterns through a snowstorm and finished up in a mountain restaurant with traditional fondue or rösti before taking the cogwheel train back down to the lake. I love cathedrals and I especially love Gothic cathedrals, so Lausanne’s was the first thing to do when I arrived. I went there as a student and didn’t appreciate it. I thought the couple of photos I took then were a bit dark but it turns out Lausanne’s 13th century cathedral really is a bit dark. It’s very beautiful and has some amazing stained glass (including some hiding right up high in the crossing!) and my only complaint is that it’s far too hot. Cathedrals tend to be cool, cold places, especially when there's a snowstorm raging outside but this one has big heating vents keeping the place at approximately sauna temperature. It took a while to decide where in Switzerland I was going to go but it was really the Hotel Swiss Chocolate in Lausanne that swayed me to Lac Leman. 🍫 This was on the blog yesterday but it gets an Instagram post too - I went to a Swiss chocolate factory and did a chocolate workshop! The actual chocolate work was very easy but I really enjoyed the little lesson on tempering chocolate while our creations set enough to take them home.

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 with a third and fourth being (not to much) written simultaneously right now.

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