NEWTON at the Top of the World: What Svalbard Taught Us

Earlier this month (July 2026), I returned from a trip to the literal top of the world with two of my former NU students (now very close friends). Two of us said it was the best week of our lives, while the 3rd said it was 1st or 2nd and it was too early to decide (he had been deep in the Amazonian rainforest for a couple of weeks earlier in the year.)

Our destination:  Svalbard… or Spitsbergen if that’s easier. 

It’s the northernmost permanently  inhabited settlement on planet Earth. If you superimposed it onto the Southern Hemisphere, it would be dead center in Antarctica. It is the size of Slovakia and is home to just 2000 residents. It is also home to walruses, arctic foxes, reindeer, many species of birds, huskies, whales, and… polar bears. 

There are no trees nor any bushes. Greenery is rare and is limited to a few flowering grasses, and fields of lichen and mosses. Geology is everpresent. Svalbard is some of the oldest land on Earth. The landscape is alien in many places and can vary radically in just a couple hundred meters. Coming over a ridge while mountain climbing presents you with something which seems to be another planet entirely. 

It is barren. 

It is quiet. 

It is sublime. 

Rather than staying in an accommodation in town, we camped. I gave the men the option of both and their reaction was: Are you kidding? We’re camping. 

Upon exiting the tent, our views were: 10km across the Ice Fjord - glacier, mountain, glacier, mountain, glacier mountain; 4km across the Advent Fjord - Hiorthfjellet Mountain; behind us on a mountain, we could see with our naked eyes Svalbard Satellite Station and the Global Seed Vault. This never got old. Not in a week. 

Among the once-in-a-lifetime experiences we shared were:

• Walking (actually being pulled by) retired sled dogs (huskies) to the Global Seed Vault (elevation 200m) and back. Just the three of us and the two huskies (who also acted as our protection against polar bears.)
• Speed-boating across the Ice Fjord to see first hand walrus beaches and two ancient glaciers
• Completing the Arctic Challenge - a 4km ocean kayak across Advent Fjord before climbing Hiorthfjellet (see photo from summit) then climbing back down and doing another 4km kayaking trip home. (We actually sprinted the entire return trip.) 11 hours in total
• Joining the Naked Arctic Bathing Club
• 24 hours of bright sunlight every day. 3am was as bright as 3pm. 

On the return trip, I asked what the worst part was and I got this reply: How can there be a worst part when there were no bad parts?  That about explains it all.

So, why were we there?

This was my idea from several years ago. I travelled through Africa in 2001 with just a travel book. There was no social media nor influencers; there was hardly any internet. I am not a “sit on the beach” type of person. My life philosophy is about experiencing as much as possible and the more raw, the better. It takes a special type of person to follow me on these adventures.

For one, I am a huge overthinking introvert. These trips are about living a full life and also about keeping me young. There aren’t many 53 year olds who can manage the Arctic Challenge. Overall, the one thing all these adventures has made me is this:

Resilient. 

Very resilient.

My co-adventurers are also athletic overthinking introverts. They also were star students in my applied critical thinking for leadership courses. They are both brilliant. Me in Africa was the total opposite of my comfort zone. Deciding to fly to the top of the planet and camp where polar bears roam was a huge leap of faith for them.

Leadership in a real life

Mastering this trip meant mastering: planning, communication, responsibility, empathy (I’ll be honest - I was the slowest of the three coming down the mountain and at one point I turned around and saw one of them standing 10m behind me and I shouted “You are just standing behind me like the Angel of Death.” to which he replied “No, I am just here to guard you in case you fall.”) as well as  teamwork (vital on this trip), and mental and physical endurance. 

It also meant sleeping with two other people in a small space (introvert Hell.) Thank God, we are all members of the same overthinking, introverted, empathetic tribe. 

They both got huge levels up in resilience, including a couple of boss-levels. 

Guys are future leaders for sure.

This adventure toughened them up a bit as well as opened their eyes. Svalbard is at the center of the climate crisis. NEWTON University has a brilliant Ing (Master’s) degree program in Economics and Sustainable Management where, of course, sustainable development is a core component. They have both agreed to join upon completion of their bachelor’s (this year.)

The plan now is to return next year with more people.

It is an extremely profound experience.

No classroom can fully teach resilience, responsibility, teamwork, or trust. They have to be lived. Sometimes that means standing on top of a mountain after an eleven-hour day. Sometimes it means discovering that you are capable of far more than you believed.

That is ultimately what education should be about. Home to the University Centre in Svalbard (UNIS), the archipelago serves as a living laboratory for research into climate change and sustainable development, making it highly relevant to NEWTON University's focus on Economics and Sustainable Management. Hopefully, we can find a way to cooperate in some ways so that in the future, when we return (me, the guys, and other brave adventurous members of the tribe,) we can participate in activities at UNIS to enhance the education value related to Sustainable Management, a core component of our ESM Master’s (Ing.) degree program.

For three ordinary people from NEWTON University, one extraordinary week at the top of the world is an experience we hope to share with many others.

I’ll be there, but this time, Stepan and Damon will be the leaders. They proved themselves in the fjords and on the slopes and will be two great leaders.