Open Roads | Issue #3 | Spring 2026

openroads J O U R N A L®

the call to adventure s p r i n g 2 0 2 6 — i s s u e t h re e

TELLURIDE, COLORADO MAY 21–25, 2026 ADVENTURERS, DREAMERS AND CHANGEMAKERS: JOIN US FOR AN INSPIRING FESTIVAL WEEKEND OF DOCUMENTARY FILMS, GROUNDBREAKING IDEAS AND JAW-DROPPING ADVENTURES. MORE INFORMATION AND PASSES AT MOUNTAINFILM.ORG

FILM STILLS FROM FESTIVAL FILMS

CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE

the call to adventure Open Roads is a community of creative adventure lovers who are ready to unplug from distractions, experience joy in nature, and build uplifting human connections.

Our goal with this Journal is not to encourage everyone toward bold and daring outdoor adventures (although we love this and can certainly help you get there), but to remind you that adventure comes in all forms; it simply needs to challenge you, to make you feel vibrant, and to leave you fulfilled.

As Howard Thurman wisely put it: “Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.

Because what the world needs is more people who have come alive.”

Thanks to our subscribers and the generous support of a few inspired foundations, we proudly distribute the Open Roads Journal at no cost to schools and youth organizations across the country. We believe this will inspire the next generation to be stewards of our natural world and compassionate leaders ready to embrace adventure as a way of life.

ESTABLISHED 2001

SUBSCRIBE TO THE JOURNAL openroadsjournal.com

OPEN ROADS ACADEMY openroads.org

contents ISSUE III

Girl of Blue Green Waters 6 A Celebration of Maya Tilousi-Lyttle Photography by Pete McBride

Meet the inspiring conservationist Maya TilousiLyttle, through the lens of world-renown documentary photographer Pete McBride, on their quest to protect and celebrate the treasured lands that surround the vast Grand Canyon region.

From Monuments and Mesas to Peace In Water 26 Photographs by Christa Funk

Dive into the peace and power of Oahu’s North Shore with the beloved surf photographer Christa Funk, who reminds us that so often the calm we seek just might lie in the thrill of adventures we love.

Shred the Partiarchy 50 Photographs by Chantal Pinzi

Soar around the world to meet a spectacular group of revolutionary women whose act of rebellion can be as simple as stepping outside, and onto the decks of their skateboards.

Portraits of Human Nature 68 A Profile of Quamae Hall

Open Roads is proud to reflect on the evolution of one of our own, Quamae Hall, as he emerges into his identity as a wildly talented and deeply joyful outdoor creative, with an eye focused on revealing the beauty of humans in nature.

Where the Cold Carried Us 90 Photographs and Reflections from the 2025 Expedition Crew

Join a 300km adventure across the Arctic with 180 skilled sled dogs, a few experts and an unlikely crew of everyday folks who were selected to be part of the 2025 Fjallraven Polar expedition—including Sam Hartman, Art Director of Open Roads Journal.

“Dancing Roots” a Film by Nikki Hausherr Starring the story of Joshua White Premiering at Telluride Mountainfilm 2026

Editors’ Story We live in a time when it is easier than ever to have our personal mindscape infiltrated by invasive narratives and notions that simply do not serve us.

We believe that our role at Open Roads Journal is to be storytellers of joy, to close the human nature gap, and to seed reminders of the magic that exists well within reach, if we just step outside and spend adventurous time together. As we explore the stories presented in the third issue of the Open Roads Journal, we hope you feel a spark light up inside you that pushes you to get outside, and to believe that the flow of good and resilient forces of nature can and will carry us to a better world for all.

In this issue, we start on land with the stunning photography of the world-renowned creative, Pete McBride, who brings us the story of young Maya Tilousi-Lyttle and her conservation journey alongside a powerful coalition that resulted in protecting nearly one million acres of her homeland surrounding the Grand Canyon. From there we take a literal deep dive into the massive waters of Oahu’s Pipeline through the epic images of surf photographer Christa Funk, who shows us the ocean’s power while reminding us that perhaps its mightiest strength is the way it heals us. We then leap across oceans, landing in India, where Chantal Pinzi gives us a glimpse into the lives of a united group of women skateboarders whose commitment to their sport is also a movement of prideful resistance against limiting social norms.

Next, we become a bit self-reflective about the journey of one of Open Roads’ first creative guides— remembering his path from finding nature in the corners of urban Michigan to documenting the human experience on countless grand adventures in the deep wilderness. Finally, we celebrate the group of daring everyday outdoor enthusiasts chosen to join the 2025 Fjallraven Polar expedition, proving that camaraderie, grit, humor, and a bit of luck are perhaps the most important tools for accomplishing our most ambitious goals.

Thank you for taking another adventure with us, for meeting the incredible people who agreed to share their stories through the pages of our journal, and for doing your part to make sure the call to adventure is heard.

The Editors

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openroads J O U R N A L®

Editor and Creative Director Trevor Hall Publishers Vicki Kennedy Jaunt Media Collective Art Director Sam Hartman Design Consultant Kitty Nicholason Publishers Circle Jenn Gross Pam Boll John Heffernan Tillie Walton Dr. Joanne Marien Judy Wise Pixie Mudge Larry Hall & Flinn Dallis Penny Rhodes Jade Rhodes Head of Programs & Partnerships Roger Bristowe Creative Patrons Circle Cara Casey Kathy Eldon Amy Eldon-Turteltaub Jon Turteltaub Bill Rossi Nick Rhodes Grant Kirsh Patti Hausherr Marshall Whiting Amy Paige Artemis Joukowsky Bonnie Strauss Dan & Peggy Hoover Deric Redmond Jason Goldberg Jon Gault Jeff Goldman Jon Rubin Nancy Rubin Warner Paige & Judy Hall Cover Photograph Courtesy of Christa Funk Open Roads Journal® 1223 Wilshire Boulevard / 351 Santa Monica, California 90403 To contact or for sponsorship opportunities, email: trevor@openroads.org Phone number: 312-320-5909 Copyright ©2026 All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior written permission.

Committed to environmental preservation, we use PrintReleaf to calculate paper usage and plant trees in certified forests globally.

Opening the outdoors to all since 2001

Girl of Blue Green Waters A Celebration of Maya Tilousi-Lyttle Photography by Pete McBride

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HERE ARE CERTAIN people who you meet that instantly project a warmth and kindness you can feel, and a brilliance of soul that is wildly uplifting. That is what comes through when you first meet Maya TilousiLyttle, a radiant young woman from the Havasupai Tribe—the people of the blue green waters— and from the Hopi Tribe. What is equally unique about Maya is that she comes from a family, and a community, of conservation leaders that have proven astonishingly successful.

Maya is the daughter of former Havasupai councilwoman, Carletta Tilousi, who herself has worked for decades to protect the greater Grand Canyon region from uranium mining. Carletta was born and raised in the Grand Canyon, and Maya

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grew up between Cave Creek and Supai Village, where she remembers easy walks to the magical Havasu Falls. Carletta is now the coordinator for the Grand Canyon Tribal Leaders Coalition, which is a unified group of 13 tribes who came together to establish the coalition of tribal leaders. It was this galvanized group that traveled to Washington, D.C. and successfully spoke as one voice to protect the sacred lands of their origin.

On August 8, 2023, Maya spoke from the podium at Red Butte (Wii Gidwissa) with power and grace, welcoming the political delegates just moments before their signing of the proclamation that declared the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni— Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument. This proclamation conserves

was compelled to make a film about her. Today, they are sharing this story through a short documentary film. “Monumental Moment.”

In Pete’s own words: “Seeing her grow up into such an inspirational young woman and voice for native tribes and the Canyon, is truly remarkable.”

Ahead are images of Maya as she grew into the dynamic and inspiring leader she is today, of Carletta and other tribal leaders, along with a sample of Pete’s sweeping images of the land that surrounds the Grand Canyon—in total a tribute to two dedicated conservationists, and the generations that paved the way for their time to shine.

Maya is currently a student at Arizona State University, studying international relations, while retaining a deeply held understanding that there is still work to be done.

Among his many awards, Pete was recently presented with the prestigious and well-earned 2025 Ansel Adams Award for Excellence in Conservation Photography, given by the Sierra Club.

Tilousi-Lyttle

and protects nearly one million acres of the greater Grand Canyon landscape, an area that holds sacred value to at least 13 native tribes.

Years before that moment, when Maya was just nine years old, she began a friendship with the celebrated photographer, writer, and filmmaker, Pete McBride, who has now followed Maya’s journey for many years as part of National Geographic assignment. During Pete’s famed 750-mile thru-hike tracing the entire length of the Grand Canyon, he broke from the expedition to cover Maya and her community’s peaceful protests of the active Pinyon Plain Mine, just outside the National Park boundary.

Perhaps best known for his commitment to documenting the Colorado River and its surrounding landscape, Pete was instinctively drawn to the magnetism of Maya, and to her deep commitment to protecting this land.

Pete was invited to the Monument announcement with Maya, but he had another speaking engagement that day where he gave live updates from his own podium.

However, after he heard Maya’s remarks, he

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— Maya Tilousi-Lyttle

Tilousi-Lyttle

“I am here representing the next generation that has the responsibility to continue this vital work. This is our home and we are committed to its protection.”

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Tilousi-Lyttle See more of Pete’s work

See the trailer to “Monumental Moment”

Contribute to the movement toward stopping uranium mining | 23

Nature Rx The ‘20–3–5’ nature rule prescribes exactly how much time you should spend in nature. Use it to reduce stress and anxiety, tame burnout.

3+ DAYS 1-2 X PER YEAR

5+ HOURS EACH MONTH

20-40 MIN 3-4 X PER WEEK

Where will your next dose take you?

Did you notice a shift?

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go on a hike

Where will you start?

sit by a lake float on a river

serenity

health refle ctio n

m cal

creativity

co nn ec tio n

cla rit y

lo

values

What can being outside

ion intuit

do for you?

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FROM MONUMENTS AND MESAS, TO PEACE IN WATER The Legendary Photography of Christa Funk

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ROWING UP in Delaware and the high desert of Colorado, it would have been impossible to imagine that Christa Funk would become one of the world’s most beloved surf photographers— gracing the covers of revered surf magazines and earning a reputation for her rare combination of endurance and a spectacularly talented eye. Perhaps most impressive is that she reached this pinnacle with a magnetic sense of kindness leading the way. Thanks to a childhood commitment to competitive swimming and a noteworthy career in the Coast Guard, Christa’s path now seems almost orchestrated in retrospect.

As a kid, swimming was Christa’s refuge.

It was her mother, Jeanette, who signed her up for the swim team which proved transformative. The water became a place of restoration. In the recently released short film “First In, Last Out” (linked below), Jeanette recalled, “When she was the most stressed out, she would swim it out. That’s what she would say: ‘I need to swim it out.’”

Christa was given her first SLR camera in 2003 and was captivated from the first shutter release. That passion was later nurtured in the early morning hours, when her father, Bob, would rise before dawn with his matter-of-fact sense of discipline to help her see and capture the magic of the monuments and mesas surrounding their home in Grand Junction, Colorado.

After high school, Christa wanted something “practical” to pair with her photographic ambitions, so she chose to attend the Coast Guard Academy, where she earned a degree in marine biology. She was commissioned as an officer and stationed in Hawaii. During her five years aboard the Coast Guard Cutter RUSH, she became a

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Deck Watch Officer, responsible for the lives of 180 people in some of the most dangerous places on Earth. At 22, she oversaw the ship’s navigation and operations during her shift. As she recalls: “It was exhausting. I was in fight-orflight mode all the time at work. You have to keep going even after hours on end, or people could get really hurt.” To manage the stress, she turned to surf photography, combining her creativity with lifelong love of swimming and her growing fascination with the ocean.

Toward the end of her service, Christa’s father began a battle with cancer that eventually took his life. As a loving force in her life, his loss—combined with the stress of work—became the push she needed to “follow her dreams,” just as her father had urged her to do. She left the Service to pursue photography full time. Christa remembers her time in the Coast Guard with pride and reflected in a phone interview: “A lot of kids don’t think of the Coast Guard as a pathway to college and into a thriving career outside of the Service, but that’s exactly what it was for me.”

Today, Christa is something of a legend at Pipeline, perhaps the world’s most dangerous lineup—making her home in the water alongside the world’s best surfers, in some of the largest waves on earth. She’s known for entering the water in the dark of morning and staying until the sun begins to set. She navigates a world often dominated by men with a flow that mirrors the water itself. As you pore over the dazzling photos ahead, we hope you’ll savor their sense of adventure and the peace in water revealed by each still image —and perhaps sense the kind heart behind the blinding talent and steady courage that defines one of the world’s best photographers, in the water or out.

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Photographer Christa Funk in the field— taken by Bryanna Bradley + Rainos Hayes

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Funk Link to film about Christa Funk “First in, Last Out” on Outside See more of Christa’s work | 47

COMFORT ZONES Where are you being called to grow?

Where is the world asking you to stretch?

Where might courage meet curiosity?

COMFORT ZONE

FEAR ZONE

LEARNING ZONE

GROWTH ZONE

LIST THREE WAYS YOU WANT TO STEP OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE IN THE NEXT SIX MONTHS

1.

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2.

3.

STAGES OF CHANGE

BREAKING POINT

THE NEW

shock

empowerment

denial

hopefulness

panic

‘nothing to lose’

transf orma tion

ase nal rele emotio questioning

anger

grief

“never again” decision

CHANGE CAN HAPPEN QUIETLY what is your current relationship with change?

just noticing

thinking about it

getting ready

starting small

staying with it

becoming new

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Shred the Patriarchy Photography by Chantal Pinzi

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N THE HEAT of a late Indian afternoon, a young woman glides across the cracked concrete of Janwaar Skatepark. Her shadow curves along the ramp before breaking against the painted words: No school, no skateboarding. Wheat fields sway.

Children cheer. For Asha Gond, this is not just a park—it is a revolution built from wood and wheels.

Across the world—India, Ethiopia, Morocco, and more—a quiet rebellion is unfolding. In cities and rural towns across continents, young women are redefining what freedom looks like. Not through protest signs or speeches, but through motion, grit, and the stubborn act of rising each time they fall. Shred the Patriarchy documents these women as they reclaim public space, resist invisibility, and turn skateboarding into a language of defiance.

In Janwaar, Asha has learned that standing on a skateboard means standing up to centuries of caste and gender inequality.

Once told not to meet men’s eyes, she now meets the camera’s gaze—steady, unafraid.

In Pune, Shraddha Gaikwad, who first found a skateboard while delivering lunch to her father, has become a national champion.

Her father sold her mother’s jewelry so she could travel to her first competition. She still skates in a white saree—tradition reframed as rebellion.

In Vagator, Goa, 19-year-old Urmila Pabale lands an ollie against the salt air and sea wind, her shirt rippling as she moves.

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“When I fall and get up, I feel this energy inside of me,” she says. “It’s about never giving up in any aspect of my life.” Nearby, Shruti Bhosle, Mumbai’s first female skater, carries her board onto local trains in a city where women are often told to stay home.

In each place, the gesture is simple: step on, push forward, refuse retreat.

To exist outside—fully and visibly—is a radical act. The streets and parks they occupy have long been coded masculine, spaces women were expected to pass through quietly. Instead, they linger. They fall. They laugh. Every push of the board insists on visibility. Skateboarding becomes a way to unlearn fear and reclaim what has always been theirs—sun, air, momentum. In motion, a cultural healing begins.

They balance heritage and resistance, roots and risk. They are daughters of farmers, guards, teachers—and of countless other worlds beyond India—carrying history beneath their wheels. What unites them is not just sport, but the audacity to take up space and move with joy in cultures that still demand stillness.

Through the lens of photographer Chantal Pinzi, skateboarding becomes a visual manifesto. Freedom is practiced daily—in every scrape, scar, and shared board. This is not only about tricks or skateparks. It is about who gets to move freely in public, who gets to fall and rise, and who gets to dream.

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“Skateboarding teaches you life. It teaches you to fall, to rise, and to keep going.”

— Chantal Pinzi

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Reminder: take a deep breath

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hold 4 seconds

hold 4 seconds

inhale 4 seconds

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Portraits of Human Nature Photographs by Quamae Hall Introduction by Trevor Hall

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hen I first met Quamae Hall, he was just 15 years old and applying to join an Open Roads Academy adventure.

I asked him what excited him about a trip like this—one that combined travel, time in nature, and an introduction to reflective writing, film, and photography—he paused and replied, with a burst of enthusiasm, “Well… I guess… everything!”

What I didn’t know then, but have certainly come to learn, was that his high-energy curiosity wasn’t reserved for that moment; it’s who Quamae is. That same zest for discovery has carried him forward on his journey to becoming a true outdoor creative.

Growing up in Detroit, Michigan, didn’t put Quamae into an early connection with nature. However, he would often navigate around the dangers of his neighborhood to find respite in one local area park. He remembers witnessing his family’s financial struggles and wanting, above all, never to be a burden. He also vividly recalls the day

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his mom gave him a simple point-and-shoot camera that delivered a way for him to disappear into creativity.

“I was obsessed with it,” he once told me. “I learned everything I could about that little camera. I wanted it to become my thing in life.”

Eventually, Quamae found his way to The Yunion, a youth organization for young men in Detroit. There, he met his future mentors, Ronald Lee Jr., and Jason Wilson, who led The Cave of Adullam program.

It was Ronald who bought Quamae his first SLR camera, and everything changed.

Suddenly, Quamae felt that his purpose was to use that lens to seek out and capture the beauty of life—even in places where it wasn’t always easy to see.

In 2015, we welcomed Quamae on his first Open Roads trip. His appetite for adventure and his love for the camera were instantly evident. He eagerly sought out

woman’s experience swimming for the first time, and how that single act expanded her sense of what was possible in life. The film has traveled across the country through festivals and community screenings and now lives on the Outside+ online channel.

As the images that follow will show, Quamae’s true gift lies in his deeply compassionate eye for portraiture — revealing a person’s warmth, heart, and inner strength. Today, he continues to serve as a Creative Guide for Open Roads and as a media specialist for The Yunoin and the Cave of Adulla, while also volunteering regularly for Hope Ignites and working as a professional photographer specializing in portraits and events.

Quamae’s is a life rooted in resilience, gratitude, and service—returning again and again to the people and places that helped him grow into the creative force and the kind, joyful human he is today. We are honored to have him in the Open Roads family, and to share a glimpse of the beauty he sees in the world.

Hall

the professional photographers who join our programs and absorbed everything he could from them. Over the next two summers, he returned as a peer mentor, and during the pandemic he led a placebased photography project for us through Hope Ignites, an organization where he had been a residential scholar and which had a profound impact on his development. He even returned to Orcas Island—the site of his first Open Roads program—to join the media team for the beloved Camp Orkila.

From there, Quamae became one of Open Roads’ Creative Guides, leading more than a dozen trips, always charged with capturing the magic of our experiences in the natural world. Over time, his camera began to shift focus from the spectacular wild landscapes to the beauty of humans in nature.

With the camera always in hand, Quamae created a vlog that evolved into a short series on Disney’s Freeform channel.

He later directed the short film “Beyond Beliefs,” which follows a 17-year-old young

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The Yunion, Inc & The Cave of Adullam

Hall See more of Quamae’s work

Watch “Beyond Beliefs”

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GUIDING UTAH RAFTING & BIKING ADVENTURES SINCE 1966

RAFTING TRIPS SPAN THE GREEN, COLORADO, YAMPA, AND SAN JUAN RIVERS. BIKING TRIP TRAVEL THROUGH WHITE RIM TRAIL, MAZE & SAN RAFAEL SWELL.TRIPS RANGE FROM 2-6 DAYS, FROM BEGINNER TO EXPERT LEVELS. Learn more on our website: bikeraft.com Call for questions: 800-624-6323 Follow our adventures on Instagram: @bikeraft | 89

Where the Cold Carried Us

By Sam Hartman Every year, Fjällräven invites 20 everyday adventurers to trade comfort for cold on the Polar expedition, reminding us that wild places are for everyone. In 2025, our Art Director, Sam Hartman, was among them. The images in this story were captured by Sam and her teammates along the way.

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he Arctic has a way of humbling you. Out there, the wind doesn’t care what you’ve achieved, the snow doesn’t care where you’re from, and the dogs—they only care that you show up fully. Every day and as part of their team.

When I was chosen for Fjällräven Polar, I thought I was preparing for a trip. What I didn’t realize was that I was stepping into a lesson in surrender, trust, and gratitude that would stay long after the last dog howl echoed into the night sky.

I remember the first morning: my hands clumsy against the sled bar, my breath sharp in the cold. I was afraid of failing.

Not the “big” kind of failure, but the small, unglamorous ones. Dropping gear. Tangling lines. Not keeping pace. But the Arctic doesn’t allow you to wallow. It demands presence. The dogs demand presence.

The terrain demands presence. And in that presence, I found something close to grace.

Despite my fear, the first day was full of stumbles. My hands were stiff and red as I fumbled with harnesses, trying to remember the sequence of buckles. Later, when it came time to light our stove, I discovered I’d never actually used flint and steel on a gas stove before, let alone in the snow—in two pairs of gloves. After several failed sparks, Carl appeared, struck once, and had it roaring to life. Ditha and I exchanged a look of equal parts jealousy, gratitude, and embarrassment. Later in the trip we would become pros and Ditha, my tentmate, would say the moment our whole team finally coaxed a stubborn campfire to life was pure joy—the kind that sticks to your jacket like camp smoke

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and moss. Each day the dogs, impatient to run even at bedtime, glanced back at me with the same mix of impatience and forgiveness. They didn’t need my perfection; they needed my presence.

That first full day, we were off. Six dogs pulling with a force that rattled my ribs, sled runners skimming over frozen lakes, snow exploding in white plumes around us. The sound was a chorus: paws pounding, sled creaking, breath sharp and quick. It was the most beautiful ensemble I’d ever experienced. My team was so strong we surged past others, even uphill. Their power humbled me, but their determination carried me. The sled hummed across frozen rivers, over windswept tundra, and through wooded portals into forests where silence pressed in like a prayer. On a high ridge, Ismael from Argentina described feeling “completely alone—everything white, the wind roaring, barely any visibility… all your senses pushed to their limits.” And somehow, it was incredible.

At night, we built shelters and fires that allowed us to lean into each other’s laughter. Strangers became family quickly out there. One evening beside a frozen lake, my tent mate had just hauled water from a hole in the ice while I finished our shelter. Our musher, Juho, owner of Husky Ranch Lapland, called us to look up: the sky was alive with green ribbons of light.

We continued our chores under the aurora, rubbing wax into our dogs’ paws before bed. Warmth wasn’t only in down jackets and flames, but in the way someone pressed a steaming cup of tea into your frozen hands after you’d scraped ice off

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the clips that tethered the dogs. Nienke from Denmark loved that contrast—the dogs howling to start and finish the day, then the absolute hush after, as if the lights themselves called last orders on the wind.

We each carried something unspoken into that landscape. The Arctic has a way of shaking loose whatever you’ve been holding too tightly. Phil from the U.K. admitted the first true stretch of tundra made his eyes “leak a bit”—a white so vast it tipped into wonder. Timo from Germany, who spends his days defending against cybercriminals, said the suspicious part of his brain went quiet up there: Polar felt safe enough to trust. And for Syameem from Malaysia, the glide of sled on snow and the wind alone in his ears was the most silence he’d ever known—peace distilled.

There was rawness in the land, yes, but also in us. Bring strangers into a landscape this unforgiving, and you peel back the layers quickly. It’s hard to perform in the Arctic; you are either yourself, or you are gone. That honesty, that shared vulnerability, stitched us together as tightly

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as the straps on our rain flies each night.

Around the fire, we heard it: the fear of being too “normal” for this wildness, the relief of remembering who you are after years of being buried in motherhood, the joy of finally finding a community to explore at this depth, and the dread of going home and forgetting the person the wild had revealed. “We were 20 ordinary people, yet so special in our uniqueness,” Maged from Italy said. “The pain of one became the pain of all. The joy of one became the joy of all. We were a constellation moving through an Arctic universe.”

I carry gratitude like a stone in my pocket now, a permanent ache reminding me it’s there. Gratitude for the dogs, whose power felt ancient and spiritual. The first windy night, as snow piled high, we dug a trench and built a wall to shield them from the wind. Teppo, one of my leads, leaned his full weight against me for a moment before curling into his snow-dug bed. It felt ceremonial, as if I’d been officially accepted into the team. Jo from the U.K. found her own rite of passage, running alongside

Fjällräven Polar wasn’t a trip. It was a mirror. It showed me my fear, my resilience, my longing to belong. It taught me that trust, whether with animals, people, or the land, isn’t given; it’s built, step by frozen step. Nienke put it simply: doing what you love changes your capacity—you wake up tired and still smiling. And Timo said it best: twenty complete strangers became a family.

And when I close my eyes now, I don’t just see snow. I see Sienna’s breath steaming in the morning light, the northern sky opening in green ribbons, the way my heart cracked open in the cold and let something wild rush in. I hear the first night the aurora appeared, when all 120 dogs lifted their voices at once. Their howls rose like a call to ancestors, echoing across the tundra—an orchestra for the ballet of light above. For a moment, the world was still, reverberating with something older than us all, and I knew I was lucky enough to witness it. On our last day, Maged chased the rising sun at the front of the line, wind shouldering his sled from side to side, and said he felt complete—part of the Arctic itself.

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relentless hills until she realized—breathless and burning—that she was capable of more than she’d ever allowed herself to believe.

(And she’ll also tell you the romance never cancelled out the reality: the smell of dog poo was… persistent. Wonder and whiff, hand in hand.)

Gratitude for the land, vast and unyielding, that reminded me how small I am and how much bigger life can be.

Gratitude for Fjällräven, for creating a journey that isn’t about conquering wilderness but about learning to be in rhythm with it. A journey that reminds us why we go outside. Why we challenge ourselves. Why we seek growth. Anton from Sweden will never forget the night his hot-water bottle leaked and soaked his sleeping bag—the coldest, windiest night of all—so he slept in two parkas and made it through. “You never know unless you try,” he said. And Ismael keeps the sensory ledger close: the womb-sound of wind, the loyal smell of dogs, the sight of endless white—emptiness so beautiful it felt full.

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Polar 25 Learn more about Fjallraven Polar | 111

Open Roads Guided Expeditions

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