The more documentaries I watch, the more fascinated I become with the Arctic and Antarctic worlds. There’s just something about a winter landscape that’s incredibly peaceful. It’s an escape from the loudness of everyday life – like a cocoon of silence. A shelter.

I flew to Sweden to see the Northern Lights, and as part of my trip I decided to do an overnight dog sledding trip out of Kiruna. We all got our own team of four dogs and our own sled, and were taught how to mush and control our team. We were shown how to prepare the dogs – from harnessing, to setting up the sled, to positioning the dogs. We had the chance to truly bond with the dogs on our team and get to know them all on a very intimate level as they took us through some of the most beautiful wilderness I’ve ever had the privilege of seeing.

My team was made up of two lead dogs – Magu and Nulato – and two dogs that are considered “the muscle” – Volvo and Van, who also happened to be brothers. At first they all barked frantically, excited to get underway. They start trying to run before you’ve even taken your foot off the sled’s brake. But as soon as you lift your foot, they take a few seconds to get traction and then sprint forward. The next thing you’ll notice is that there’s total silence. They don’t make a peep after that. You simply start gliding over through open snow fields, through forests and past herds of reindeer. And there’s not a sound to be heard anywhere except for the panting of your team as they happily trod onwards.

From front-to-back, left-to-right: Nulato, Magu, Volvo & Van

It’s an exhilarating experience to lead your own team rather than sit in the sled and have someone else do it all. You gain a different appreciation for the dogs and for the landscape. This was one of my favourite bucket list items to date, and something I’ll take with me for the rest of my life.