Hello! Thank you for letting me take a small break this Monday so I could regroup after a very eventful weekend. But now, Wanderlust Wednesdays are back ready to explore more places I’ve been itching to visit!
So, this may sound a little strange, especially with everyone hopping on cheap flights stopping over to Iceland (I did!), but I’ve always wondered about that northern land way up there covered in ice, ironically called Greenland. Like, honestly, who has ever been there?! Obviously, this piqued my interest in the past and I soon discovered…actually lots of people visit Greenland and for good reason.
Over the years I started digging into some travel research on this foreign land (not a country technically?) and I decided–yup Greenland is definitely on my travel bucket-list. This always gets me a few confused stares. Do you know anyone who has been to Greenland? I don’t! It’s a place I’ve always wondered about up north–maybe it has something to do with childhood dreams of Santa and his reindeer? Who knows–all I know now is that I definitely want to go!
Greenland is not an independent country technically, something I only just found out. It is an “autonomous administrative division” of Denmark. Thus it is the largest island on earth since Australia is considered a continent, and even though it is considered geographically part of North America it is more politically tied to Europe. It is also the least densely populated country in the world with three quarters of it covered in a permanent sheet of ice. Huh–some fun facts I never knew about Greenland and hopefully now you do too!
Why would I want to a go to a remote, barely populated sheet of ice? Well, my reasons include: the land of the midnight sun, dog sledding, the Ilulissat Icefjord–aUNESCO World Heritage Site, a very high likelihood of seeing the northern lights (September to April), the largest National Park in the world, and a plethora of arctic species including polar bears–big bucket list item for me!
Okay, and don’t laugh at me for this one because I know living in Greenland is profoundly different than living on Nantucket, but after living on this island I am fascinated with remote cultures and how other islanders around the world live–I would be remiss to not include trying to learn about the Greenland people and their culture.
You can travel to Greenland by plan via Iceland or Denmark.
The midnight sun in Greenland! ^ You would have to choose between experiencing the midnight sun and the northern lights since they occur during different seasons–or just go again! #travelgenius
I’d love to see a polar bear in the wild–definitely would be a dream come true!
How about you? Have you ever been to Greenland? What other places are on your bucket list?!
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