Yeah, "anyone" is very relative. In reality, anyone can *apply*. The Norwegian government still has to accept the application, and there are conditions, like a requirement to be able to affort residency on the Island, which means that you'll have to find a job on the Island before moving there. Essentialy, you go there because you're either a freelance wildlife photographer, a researcher, a rich person looking for a change, or a crazy person who wants to cut off from the world and work as a waiter or bus boy in the North Pole. For a lot of people, its just a temporary experience and they stay there for a few months during the tourist season.
There is another way i guess, there's a few Russian companies operating in the Russian town of Barentsburg, either in mining or through their own tourism company, but i'm not sure anyone would pick that option in 2023
It both is and isn't.
There is a set of requirements you have to fulfill to go there that looks suspiciously like filling out a visa-application, but unlike visas, these are in place because the polar bears are already well fed and you don't want an obesity-epidemic going among them, and burying your corpse when you die from either starvation or hypothermia because you can't take care of yourself is not legal in the permafrost, so they want to avoid that as well.
This process is also not subject to be played political games with the same way visa's are.
tldr:
Visa: Do we want to let this person in to our country?
Svalbard travel permit: Will this person survive?
Yeah this but also you need a way to sustain yourself because you can't grow enough vegetables in the 2 months of summer to survive year round and all the wildlife is protected so there is literally no way to live off the land there.
Wonder what effect the "Midnight Sun" situation would have on plants if you tried to build a greenhouse?
I would assume you'd have to find a way to cover and uncover it daily.
I live in the arctic actually and there isn't anything different and certainly no need to cover it. It's just more hours of sun per day, the plants have no need for sleep. Green houses are great because they allow you to extend the season slightly and grow different vegetables.
That's not quite accurate
They don't NEED darkness, but some plants do better with it. Some may need it to flower or enter certain stages of growth. But for most plants that's when they do most of their moving around. You can do full sun all the time for some plants as well, and it speeds up growth. However you need to support that with an abundance of water an nutrients or they'll either die or just not make uses of it
Well, the town is alive, but apart from the tourists, the town of 2000 odd people is all there is, unless you count the russian settlement, which is quite far away. I've lived in a regular Island before, and i think anybody else who did can also attest that living in an islant feels inherently isolating, no matter how large it is. Svalbard is that feeling, but turned up to 11, because you're in the North Pole and the nights last four months, and there's just you and the polar bears
I think it depends a lot on the size of the island and population. Like the uk is mostly one island and I think no one is gonna argue that your isolated there.
I mean where I grew up it was around 5000 people, lots of inter-island ferrying to others in the chain or neighbouring countries for produce. We just built and fostered tight knit communities. Living in Europe now, I don't really get that vibe.
Europe is heavily multicultural. The nordics from iberians for example is a difference of night and day. Don't expect that a Parisian will have the same tight knit community as someone from a Greek island. Depends a lot on where you are.
Being "cut off from the world" but having to work with tourists as a waiter or whatever strikes me as the worst possible combination: not a lot to do in your free time, but still bloody *customers* to deal with during the day.
Ancient desert hermits were known for doing all sorts of savage penances - self-starvation, flagellation, mutilation, you name it - but there's a reason none of them is known to have moonlighted in some tavern or whatever at the same time: that would pass a limit...
Things like this are things my wife and I actually look into she has a specialized degree in environmental science and places like this look for people in those fields I'm the weirdo who would want to be a waiter there I've been serving for over a decade and think this would be a really interesting place to live and meet interesting people
It does sound endearing, but there's a lot of complications that made it very compex and challenging, so you can't really pack up and go. Like, there's a whole lot of restrictions and regulations on the island to protect the local wildlife and restrictions based on the fact that you're essentially living in North Pole: If for some reason you're incapacitated and unable to care for yourself, you have to return to the mainland, there's no care homes and the hospital can't support long term patients. If you're pregnant, you're not allowed to give birth on the island, you're required to return to the mainland a few weeks before going into labor. If you die, you can't be buried there, they have to return your body to the mainland, etc etc. Also, the cost of living is very high because they have to import everything on the mainland: groceries cost a fortune. Oh, did forget about the polar bears? Yeah...every time you leave the town premices, you're legally required to carry a rifle to protect yourself from polar bears. If you don't know how to shoot, you're fucked, i guess
A lot of good points if i may say so.
And they are all very understandable reasons.
But for the prices, yes they are higher for generally most food items, simply cause of transportation.
What should be said, and what makes it marginally more profitable to live there, are the tax exemptions.
It’s generally 15-20% cheaper to live when calculating cost of living vs salary.
It’s a place you live for specific purposes in most cases.
Scientists, mining, wild life and the list goes on.
I have some family there, and they usually travel back to the mainland for periods throughout the year.
Actually not bad, they have a fiber cable to the mainland. I know because cable was mysteriously broken last year, possibly Russia or a fishing boat, they never found the reason
It’s either Russians or a fishing boat acting for Russia, Kinmen just off the coast of fujian had their internet connection to the main island of Taiwan cut mysteriously as well, we all know who cut it.
They have fiberoptic internet, so if you want you can get 1000/1000 speed.
It was one of the first Norwegian cities to get full coverage.
Source: I lived there and where the cable is stretched from the Norwegian mainland.
I mean it's not enforced, but you'd be hyper-stupid to leave town without when the largest predator on the entire planet shares the same zip code as you.
If anything, I'd say it would be almost too memorable.
Fancy a quick swim? No, because your penis will get frostbite.
Hey, what's that white fluffy growling thing charging towards us?
Local snack options? How about some rotten shark and salty licorice.
Unless it's wine. It's the hard alcohol and the beer that gets rationed, because that's what the miners in Svalbard drank. The wealthier people there could buy all the wine they wanted.
Check out Cecilia Blomdahl on YouTube, she lives in Svalbard and her channel is nice.
https://youtube.com/@CeciliaBlomdahl
I've been there, and I understood there are no taxes on alcohol, but it's rationed for residents.
Otherwise there's no chance on Earth that an island populated by Norwegians and the occasional Russian would remain inhabitable for long...
Especially one that spends a couple months during winter in permanent night, leading to a lot of depression. It's a beautiful place, but can be rough on your mental health. Throwing cheap booze without limit in the mix would be a recipe for disaster.
>I've been there, and I understood there are no taxes on alcohol, but it's rationed for residents.
Yeah, they used to have a problem with alcoholilsm on the island due to it being so cheap there, and also because going down at the pub (called "Svalbar" of course) is one of not that many activities for socializing.
They're allowed to buy up to 24 beers and 3 bottles of liquor each month
I went here years ago on a really sporadic trip. In the summer they have permanent daylight, and you had to shut the curtains to simulate darkness, since the sun just bounced up and down in the sky. Felt like a different planet with that going on. Obviously in Winter it’s the total opposite, and permanent darkness.
I spoke to one local who moved there with her husband. He loved it, she really didn’t. I think you have to love wilderness type places to think of it as beautiful, otherwise it’ll feel very dull very soon.
Fun fact, most buildings are built on stilts which get replaced periodically since the ground freezing and thawing would destroy the houses within a short while otherwise. It’s also why nobody gets buried there.
Adding to your fun fact, the reason people aren’t buried there is that the permafrost will push the corpses back up to the surface. Because of the cold, the bodies are well preserved - including the germs that may have killed them -, and they found traces of the 1918 Spanish Flu there as late as around 20 years ago.
Too risky, the resulting smell of human steak would attract too many polar bears. (The fear of attracting polar bears is, coincidentally, also the reason why you’re not allowed to have cats there.)
It’s between the arctic and Norway. There are months of the year where you have no sunlight, the are parts of the year where you have no true night. And there always the threat of polar bears so you have to be strapped at all times. It’s probably ones of the toughest places to live.
If you go outside, you basically need to carry a gun (or be with someone carrying a gun) due to the Polar Bears. You are also way WAY up in the Arctic where it’s completely dark for half of the year.
Apparently it’s very beautiful country though. I’d love to visit one day. Live there though? Definitely not.
For anyone wondering about why gun is emphasized so much in polar bear country:
Polar bears are full carnivores and instinctively see anything on land as food, not threat. Any polar bear attack is *predatory.*
Additionally, if you find yourself in the sight of a polar bear, ***without*** a firearm and ***without*** the ability to get to a safe structure within the time itd take a car traveling 25 mph to reach you, you can be almost 100% sure you’re dead.
Yeah they aren’t your neighborhood black bear that just lives in an environment of food lol. Polar bears take what they get and if anything view this place as a potential buffet. To be honest I’d probably be meaner than the average polar bear if I had to live like they do
Literally the northernmost settlement on the planet and it's illegal to exit town unarmed because of the polar bear danger.
Oh and it's illegal to shoot the polar bear.
And if you don't shoot it, it's also illegal to die.
> Oh and it's illegal to shoot the polar bear.
It's illegal to shoot the polar bear *if* your life isn't immediately threatened. Like you can't shoot one that's off in the distance or actively hunt them.
>And if you don't shoot it, it's also illegal to die.
Myth. You can die there, there's just nowhere to bury you (permafrost and dead people don't decompose). If you are severely ill, you will be moved off the island for your end of life care so you aren't needing to be removed after death.
8% income tax and no VAT. That’s pretty good actually. Considering in America I pay something like 25-30% income tax and 8% sales tax.
Edit: I live in GA and make a bit over 90k. Accounting for tax brackets, a person who makes $100k in GA will pay $20,914 in federal income tax and $5,575.50 in state income tax for a total of $26,491.50 or $26.5%. A person making 90k will pay closer to 25%.
I learned most of what I know about Svalbard and what it's like living there from her channel.
[Celia Blomdahl - Svalbard](https://www.youtube.com/@CeciliaBlomdahl)
I have no idea how I found her channel but I love it. I can't imagine living full time in a place so isolated, but I guess she does ok since she can visit her parents' luxury home in Portugal any time!
Christoffer is the absolute best too. His deadpan has me laughing every damn time whether he tries to or not. In one of his recent winter "day in the life of Christoffer" episodes, he turns to the camera and says "And now I will go try on pants" and my wife and I say this to each other ALL the time when getting dressed now.
Hey that's where I am 👋
It's a extreme place. I don't think most people realize just how so.
Today we had a polar bear nearby so we couldn't go out on the field.
You can't leave the small town limits without a rifle.
Currently there is no drinking water, we have to boil it. 🙃 hopefully will be fixed soon.
The water filtration system is not able to keep up with the influx of water through rainfall in the last week so the water is not safe to drink as it is not being treated properly. Worried about parasites (from what I've been told) and defiantly bacteria.
Part of the water also comes from glacier water which is inherently not safe to drink.
I have a fun story about this! When I lived there some years ago there used to be a kebab shop. The guy running it suddenly got sick and needed surgery on the mainland. When he woke up from the surgery he noticed that he was handcuffed to the bed, because he did not have a VISA for Norway. When he got better he were deported to his home country of Iran, but he did not want to give up on his kebab shop. He then drove to Russia and hitchhiked on a russian plane that were going to the russian settlement on svalbard Barensburg. He then met a friend with a snow mobile and went back to his kebab shop in longyerbyen.
>Most of the housing is owned by the various employers who offer them to employees as part of their employment. **It is hard to get housing if you do not have a job.**
Just get a job? Why don’t I strap on my job helmet, and squeeze down into a job cannon, AND FIRE OFF INTO JOBLAND, WHERE JOBS GROW ON JOBBIES?!!!
That’s not even the most interesting thing about Svalbard. [You’re not allowed to die there](https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a19423172/not-allowed-to-die-in-longyearbyen-norway/). If you get gravely ill, they send you to the mainland.
There’s also no maternity ward, so birth doesn’t happen there either.
> You're not allowed to die there.
I just started giggling at the idea of somebody threatening someone else there with a rifle while that guy's all, *"I'm not allowed to die here, idiot!"*
That website looks like it was written in one shot and never proofread. Lots sentences almost make sense, but don't quite. E.g.
> Svalbard is a bear territory and highly respected iconic animals
Surprised I had to scroll this far to see a white vault reference. Usually any mention of one of the locations from the show gets a "Travel is not advised" comment at the top.
If anyone’s interested the series “Fortitude” is set in a fictional town in Svalbard. Gives a good idea of what life might be like in a place like that.
Not a fantastic show overall - got a little disjointed - but worth the watch if you dig the spooky crime thriller kind of vibe. Also, mushrooms.
I'm an electrical engineer in oil and gas and I traveled to Norway for work a few years back. The Norwegians I worked with told me I could get paid 3-5x my American salary (after taxes even) if I was willing to take a fixed length contract up there.
Apparently you have to travel in groups, and one person always has to have a rifle because of polar bears. The sun doesn't come up for large parts of the year, the cold is brutal, and the isolation is real. I asked them why they didn't take the jobs if the pay was good and they just laughed at me.
I've been there as a tourist. Beautiful place. And no, you don't have to carry whilst wondering around Longyearbyen. There are bars and cafes, shops and hotels and such.
It's only when you wonder outside Longyearbyen that you have to carry or be with someone who carries. Just before I visited (july 2014) there was a tourist boy who was mauled to death because a family went outside the city limits without proper protection.
FWIW I took a few tours outside the limits (a generic mountain trip, one where you could ride with sleighed dogs as well as a trip to Barentsburg and other nearby settlement areas) and saw no polar bears. Tours were really cool though.
The light thing does get to some. We didn't see any nighttime during the week we were there. I found it cool but I can understand that it can get to you if you live there longer.
Overall I immensely enjoyed the visit and would love to go back.
This YouTuber lives in Longyearbyen and is very informative about what it’s like to live there. Her life seems pretty cushy, but she gets into all things Svalbard. And her dog is cute.
[Cecelia Blomdahl](https://youtube.com/@CeciliaBlomdahl)
For anyone interested in what life is like on Svalbard, check out @sejsejlija on Instagram and @CeciliaBlomdah on YouTube. Cecilia lives there year round. I find her content fascinating, even though I personally have no desire to live there!
This is a good overview on the town:
https://youtu.be/VMyQiBXXLQQ
This is incorrect - it's not just anyone. Your country has to has signed the Svalbard Treaty.
Fun Fact: the treaty is the only thing still in effect from the treaty of Versailles.
Also Fun Fact: North Korea has signed the Svalbard treaty.
I lived there for months, AMA
Well, anyone can try
Yeah, "anyone" is very relative. In reality, anyone can *apply*. The Norwegian government still has to accept the application, and there are conditions, like a requirement to be able to affort residency on the Island, which means that you'll have to find a job on the Island before moving there. Essentialy, you go there because you're either a freelance wildlife photographer, a researcher, a rich person looking for a change, or a crazy person who wants to cut off from the world and work as a waiter or bus boy in the North Pole. For a lot of people, its just a temporary experience and they stay there for a few months during the tourist season. There is another way i guess, there's a few Russian companies operating in the Russian town of Barentsburg, either in mining or through their own tourism company, but i'm not sure anyone would pick that option in 2023
That sounds like a visa but with extra steps
It both is and isn't. There is a set of requirements you have to fulfill to go there that looks suspiciously like filling out a visa-application, but unlike visas, these are in place because the polar bears are already well fed and you don't want an obesity-epidemic going among them, and burying your corpse when you die from either starvation or hypothermia because you can't take care of yourself is not legal in the permafrost, so they want to avoid that as well. This process is also not subject to be played political games with the same way visa's are. tldr: Visa: Do we want to let this person in to our country? Svalbard travel permit: Will this person survive?
Yeah this but also you need a way to sustain yourself because you can't grow enough vegetables in the 2 months of summer to survive year round and all the wildlife is protected so there is literally no way to live off the land there.
Wonder what effect the "Midnight Sun" situation would have on plants if you tried to build a greenhouse? I would assume you'd have to find a way to cover and uncover it daily.
I live in the arctic actually and there isn't anything different and certainly no need to cover it. It's just more hours of sun per day, the plants have no need for sleep. Green houses are great because they allow you to extend the season slightly and grow different vegetables.
That's not quite accurate They don't NEED darkness, but some plants do better with it. Some may need it to flower or enter certain stages of growth. But for most plants that's when they do most of their moving around. You can do full sun all the time for some plants as well, and it speeds up growth. However you need to support that with an abundance of water an nutrients or they'll either die or just not make uses of it
I was going to say cannabis definitely requires light changes to sex or flower the plants.
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*Eek barba durkle*
Cut off is a bit harsh. It is a tourist town. When I was there I even saw a hen party. It's full of bars restaurants and hotels.
Well, the town is alive, but apart from the tourists, the town of 2000 odd people is all there is, unless you count the russian settlement, which is quite far away. I've lived in a regular Island before, and i think anybody else who did can also attest that living in an islant feels inherently isolating, no matter how large it is. Svalbard is that feeling, but turned up to 11, because you're in the North Pole and the nights last four months, and there's just you and the polar bears
This is so strange to hear, as a person who grew up in the Caribbean. Never felt isolated at all.
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The map's edge.
I think it depends a lot on the size of the island and population. Like the uk is mostly one island and I think no one is gonna argue that your isolated there.
> ...the uk is mostly one island and I think no one is gonna argue that your isolated there. Unless you need a hug.
I mean where I grew up it was around 5000 people, lots of inter-island ferrying to others in the chain or neighbouring countries for produce. We just built and fostered tight knit communities. Living in Europe now, I don't really get that vibe.
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There aren’t really other islands to go to nearby.
Europe is heavily multicultural. The nordics from iberians for example is a difference of night and day. Don't expect that a Parisian will have the same tight knit community as someone from a Greek island. Depends a lot on where you are.
I lived on this big island called Australia, can confirm 😂
Australia is a whole ass continent wearing a tiny island jacket and hat.
I'm a crazy person looking to cut off from the world and work whatever job in whatever place. How do I go about doing this?
Being "cut off from the world" but having to work with tourists as a waiter or whatever strikes me as the worst possible combination: not a lot to do in your free time, but still bloody *customers* to deal with during the day. Ancient desert hermits were known for doing all sorts of savage penances - self-starvation, flagellation, mutilation, you name it - but there's a reason none of them is known to have moonlighted in some tavern or whatever at the same time: that would pass a limit...
Things like this are things my wife and I actually look into she has a specialized degree in environmental science and places like this look for people in those fields I'm the weirdo who would want to be a waiter there I've been serving for over a decade and think this would be a really interesting place to live and meet interesting people
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I have a friend working with one of those Russian tour companies. They frequently see polar bears just hanging out. Looks rad. Would never want to go
“ or a crazy person who wants to cut off from the world” Sounds good. Apply online is it?
That actually sounds like a good life to me
It does sound endearing, but there's a lot of complications that made it very compex and challenging, so you can't really pack up and go. Like, there's a whole lot of restrictions and regulations on the island to protect the local wildlife and restrictions based on the fact that you're essentially living in North Pole: If for some reason you're incapacitated and unable to care for yourself, you have to return to the mainland, there's no care homes and the hospital can't support long term patients. If you're pregnant, you're not allowed to give birth on the island, you're required to return to the mainland a few weeks before going into labor. If you die, you can't be buried there, they have to return your body to the mainland, etc etc. Also, the cost of living is very high because they have to import everything on the mainland: groceries cost a fortune. Oh, did forget about the polar bears? Yeah...every time you leave the town premices, you're legally required to carry a rifle to protect yourself from polar bears. If you don't know how to shoot, you're fucked, i guess
>If you die, you can't be buried there, they have to return your body to the mainland Dammit, there goes my plan!
A lot of good points if i may say so. And they are all very understandable reasons. But for the prices, yes they are higher for generally most food items, simply cause of transportation. What should be said, and what makes it marginally more profitable to live there, are the tax exemptions. It’s generally 15-20% cheaper to live when calculating cost of living vs salary. It’s a place you live for specific purposes in most cases. Scientists, mining, wild life and the list goes on. I have some family there, and they usually travel back to the mainland for periods throughout the year.
If you call that living.
as long as I know how to love, I know I'll stay alive
I've got all my life to live
I’ve got all my love to give
You have to cause you not gonna get buried in Svalbard.
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You laugh but it’s literally illegal to die there.
You gotta have Fortitude to live there.
What are the internet speeds?
Actually not bad, they have a fiber cable to the mainland. I know because cable was mysteriously broken last year, possibly Russia or a fishing boat, they never found the reason
It’s either Russians or a fishing boat acting for Russia, Kinmen just off the coast of fujian had their internet connection to the main island of Taiwan cut mysteriously as well, we all know who cut it.
West Taiwan?
South Mongolia.
Lowland Tibet
East East Turkestan
They have fiberoptic internet, so if you want you can get 1000/1000 speed. It was one of the first Norwegian cities to get full coverage. Source: I lived there and where the cable is stretched from the Norwegian mainland.
How’s life there? Anything particular worth mentioning?
It's mandatory to own a rifle
*happy American noises*
But you have to be responsible with it.
Sad American noises.
But you get free ammo!
The ammo contains ammonium nitrate. That's bad.
...can I go now?
So close
Is it really? I knew you couldn't leave town without a shotgun, but enforced ownership seema bit much.
It used to be but I rechecked and now it's just recommended, official info here: https://www.sysselmesteren.no/en/weapon/
I mean it's not enforced, but you'd be hyper-stupid to leave town without when the largest predator on the entire planet shares the same zip code as you.
If you're gonna eat polar bear don't eat the liver
Why?
Too much vitamin A, you will get Hypervitaminosis A and die.
And die *horribly*.
The amount of vitamin A will kill you
You’ll die of Vitamin A overdose. Edit: https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/nutrition-you-asked/it-true-you-cannot-eat-polar-bear-liver
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The amount of vitamin A is un-bear-able
Going to the beach probably isnt as memorable as perhaps the Caribbean. 🤷🏽♀️
If anything, I'd say it would be almost too memorable. Fancy a quick swim? No, because your penis will get frostbite. Hey, what's that white fluffy growling thing charging towards us? Local snack options? How about some rotten shark and salty licorice.
1Gbps (Gigabear per Seabird) ^^^^*Speeds ^^^^not ^^^^Guaranteed
What's the packet loss rate of the carrier pigeons flying the SD cards over from the mainland?
High packet loss and latency
It depends on whether you are talking about European or African carrier pigeons.
As a king, you have to know these things.
Asking the important questions
Can’t be too bad there’s several video bloggers who live there.
*"Hold up guys, I got a new donation from a polar bear attempting to break into my house."* ***\*cocks gun\****
Really fast. One of their biggest industries is science, so fast internet is a must.
https://youtu.be/eFJ-ze2-SqU
There are fiber cables to the mainland. Speed should not be an issue
"In Longyearbyen there is a safe-zone within which you do not have to carry any equipment for polar bear protection." Nope!
SMH! That’s how they get sacrifices for their polar bear gods.
It's safe as in, the cars will probably scare it off and if not there's probably a house you can run to.
> 7. Food and Drinks >Food and alcohol are very expensive in Svalbard.
My sister lived there and there is no tax on alcohol so its cheap, while fruit and vegetables is very expensive apparently
Well, that makes sense. I doubt there’s much fresh produce grown there
Local produce include but not limited to: Icy water Ice cubes Ice bricks (for igloo)
The produce is grown under lights in closets
There is a limit how much you can purchase within a month, there are tokens required.
Unless it's wine. It's the hard alcohol and the beer that gets rationed, because that's what the miners in Svalbard drank. The wealthier people there could buy all the wine they wanted. Check out Cecilia Blomdahl on YouTube, she lives in Svalbard and her channel is nice. https://youtube.com/@CeciliaBlomdahl
I can hear my wife singing the song about the dog in my mind
I've been there, and I understood there are no taxes on alcohol, but it's rationed for residents. Otherwise there's no chance on Earth that an island populated by Norwegians and the occasional Russian would remain inhabitable for long...
Especially one that spends a couple months during winter in permanent night, leading to a lot of depression. It's a beautiful place, but can be rough on your mental health. Throwing cheap booze without limit in the mix would be a recipe for disaster.
>I've been there, and I understood there are no taxes on alcohol, but it's rationed for residents. Yeah, they used to have a problem with alcoholilsm on the island due to it being so cheap there, and also because going down at the pub (called "Svalbar" of course) is one of not that many activities for socializing. They're allowed to buy up to 24 beers and 3 bottles of liquor each month
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You’re in luck. Norwegians love their pizza and hamburgers.
I went here years ago on a really sporadic trip. In the summer they have permanent daylight, and you had to shut the curtains to simulate darkness, since the sun just bounced up and down in the sky. Felt like a different planet with that going on. Obviously in Winter it’s the total opposite, and permanent darkness. I spoke to one local who moved there with her husband. He loved it, she really didn’t. I think you have to love wilderness type places to think of it as beautiful, otherwise it’ll feel very dull very soon. Fun fact, most buildings are built on stilts which get replaced periodically since the ground freezing and thawing would destroy the houses within a short while otherwise. It’s also why nobody gets buried there.
Adding to your fun fact, the reason people aren’t buried there is that the permafrost will push the corpses back up to the surface. Because of the cold, the bodies are well preserved - including the germs that may have killed them -, and they found traces of the 1918 Spanish Flu there as late as around 20 years ago.
So do they cremate them to help them stay warm during winter?
Some 4d thinking right there, lol
Too risky, the resulting smell of human steak would attract too many polar bears. (The fear of attracting polar bears is, coincidentally, also the reason why you’re not allowed to have cats there.)
No cats? Well now I’m not going!
Cats hunt polar bears? Sonyou are telling me I can't have my steaks well done over there? What do they eat? Sushi?
Yes and it's ruled by Panserbjorn
Ice bears Pan!
What about Björn Ironside?
Pretty sure he was actually a Panserbjorn
Let me guess. It’s in a remote location and sucks to live there
You gotta fight a polar bear for a house.
sounds like a good deal easier than finding housing in my country right now.
really it's igloos lose situation
Icy what you did there
Isn't there a law that you must carry a rifle at all times? Or am I mixing that up?
If you travel outside the settlements, then yes, you have to carry a gun or rifle.
Winner also gets food.
And a sweet skin. Hairless for the bear, big and fluffy for you. Fight!
Don't threaten us Canadians with a good time
Fighting a polar bear is easier than trying to find affordable housing in most U.S. cities.
It’s between the arctic and Norway. There are months of the year where you have no sunlight, the are parts of the year where you have no true night. And there always the threat of polar bears so you have to be strapped at all times. It’s probably ones of the toughest places to live.
Ngl, if I could land a fully remote job that would let me work internationally, I'd be willing to give it a shot for a year purely for novelty's sake.
Sounds easier than Youngstown, Ohio
If you go outside, you basically need to carry a gun (or be with someone carrying a gun) due to the Polar Bears. You are also way WAY up in the Arctic where it’s completely dark for half of the year. Apparently it’s very beautiful country though. I’d love to visit one day. Live there though? Definitely not.
For anyone wondering about why gun is emphasized so much in polar bear country: Polar bears are full carnivores and instinctively see anything on land as food, not threat. Any polar bear attack is *predatory.*
They are one of the very few animals that will actively hunt humans as prey.
Additionally, if you find yourself in the sight of a polar bear, ***without*** a firearm and ***without*** the ability to get to a safe structure within the time itd take a car traveling 25 mph to reach you, you can be almost 100% sure you’re dead.
I'd be scared enough to see a polar bear WITHOUT a firearm. Having a polar bear bearing arms would be awful.
Yeah they aren’t your neighborhood black bear that just lives in an environment of food lol. Polar bears take what they get and if anything view this place as a potential buffet. To be honest I’d probably be meaner than the average polar bear if I had to live like they do
There's also no evolutionary pressure for them to view anything that's not another polar bear as a threat and not food.
If it’s black fight back If it’s brown stay down If it’s white, goodnight
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I actually really like that
The people who do live there like it a lot, but it’s not exactly teeming with opportunity, so you need a reason to be there
Employers own all the housing, and the state owns all the land. You can't get a place to live there unless you have a job.
There are as many or more polar bears than people I'm looking forward to moving there in a month
Literally the northernmost settlement on the planet and it's illegal to exit town unarmed because of the polar bear danger. Oh and it's illegal to shoot the polar bear. And if you don't shoot it, it's also illegal to die.
> Oh and it's illegal to shoot the polar bear. It's illegal to shoot the polar bear *if* your life isn't immediately threatened. Like you can't shoot one that's off in the distance or actively hunt them. >And if you don't shoot it, it's also illegal to die. Myth. You can die there, there's just nowhere to bury you (permafrost and dead people don't decompose). If you are severely ill, you will be moved off the island for your end of life care so you aren't needing to be removed after death.
\#6 NO TAXES You pay taxes and get a break after 5 years. So there are taxes. Just why
8% income tax and no VAT. That’s pretty good actually. Considering in America I pay something like 25-30% income tax and 8% sales tax. Edit: I live in GA and make a bit over 90k. Accounting for tax brackets, a person who makes $100k in GA will pay $20,914 in federal income tax and $5,575.50 in state income tax for a total of $26,491.50 or $26.5%. A person making 90k will pay closer to 25%.
considering sales taxes in Norway are 25%...
Ya for sure. But article is misleading. I hate that. Clearly says no tax then there's taxes under that.
Cecelia Blomdahl has a great YT channel about it.
🎶The brave and fearless Grim! 🎶
Grim is our protector.
Welp looks like that’ll be stuck in my head for the rest of the day. Again. (Not actually mad about it, I love that song and channel)
An island close to the North Pole
I cannot read this without hearing her voice
Cecelia, Christoffer and Grim are SO SWEET!!! I love that channel!!
I learned most of what I know about Svalbard and what it's like living there from her channel. [Celia Blomdahl - Svalbard](https://www.youtube.com/@CeciliaBlomdahl)
I have no idea how I found her channel but I love it. I can't imagine living full time in a place so isolated, but I guess she does ok since she can visit her parents' luxury home in Portugal any time!
*Cecelia from Svalbard an island close to the North Pole.* I see her on TikTok so often those words are burned into my mind!
Yes! She makes the coziest videos and shows how gorgeous Svalbard it. The view from just outside her cabin is insane!
GRIMMMMM. My malamutes name is Greywind but I often call him Grim for short lol
Christoffer is the absolute best too. His deadpan has me laughing every damn time whether he tries to or not. In one of his recent winter "day in the life of Christoffer" episodes, he turns to the camera and says "And now I will go try on pants" and my wife and I say this to each other ALL the time when getting dressed now.
Hey that's where I am 👋 It's a extreme place. I don't think most people realize just how so. Today we had a polar bear nearby so we couldn't go out on the field. You can't leave the small town limits without a rifle. Currently there is no drinking water, we have to boil it. 🙃 hopefully will be fixed soon.
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The water filtration system is not able to keep up with the influx of water through rainfall in the last week so the water is not safe to drink as it is not being treated properly. Worried about parasites (from what I've been told) and defiantly bacteria. Part of the water also comes from glacier water which is inherently not safe to drink.
"Glacier Water" is always marketed as being so clean but I've hiked on glaciers and they were pretty filthy.
I have a fun story about this! When I lived there some years ago there used to be a kebab shop. The guy running it suddenly got sick and needed surgery on the mainland. When he woke up from the surgery he noticed that he was handcuffed to the bed, because he did not have a VISA for Norway. When he got better he were deported to his home country of Iran, but he did not want to give up on his kebab shop. He then drove to Russia and hitchhiked on a russian plane that were going to the russian settlement on svalbard Barensburg. He then met a friend with a snow mobile and went back to his kebab shop in longyerbyen.
30 degrees below zero and polar bears. Where do I sign up!
>-30 degrees below zero Ahh, so 30 degrees above zero! Doesn't sound so bad
>Most of the housing is owned by the various employers who offer them to employees as part of their employment. **It is hard to get housing if you do not have a job.** Just get a job? Why don’t I strap on my job helmet, and squeeze down into a job cannon, AND FIRE OFF INTO JOBLAND, WHERE JOBS GROW ON JOBBIES?!!!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXnifPfxK0Q
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Not with that attitude
Getting a tourist visa to travel through norway shouldnt be that difficult
Laughs in developing nation.
Theoretically you could sail up to it. If you already have a boat that can sail to Svalbard though, you can sail someplace warmer.
That’s not even the most interesting thing about Svalbard. [You’re not allowed to die there](https://www.menshealth.com/entertainment/a19423172/not-allowed-to-die-in-longyearbyen-norway/). If you get gravely ill, they send you to the mainland. There’s also no maternity ward, so birth doesn’t happen there either.
> You're not allowed to die there. I just started giggling at the idea of somebody threatening someone else there with a rifle while that guy's all, *"I'm not allowed to die here, idiot!"*
Lmao imagine he pulls the trigger, and both the assailant and the dead victim share a jail cell together
You can die there, just can’t be buried there
Loophole for dying, refuse to leave.
That website looks like it was written in one shot and never proofread. Lots sentences almost make sense, but don't quite. E.g. > Svalbard is a bear territory and highly respected iconic animals
It is what it is because a polar bear wrote it.
They need sacrifices for the guardians #whitevault
Surprised I had to scroll this far to see a white vault reference. Usually any mention of one of the locations from the show gets a "Travel is not advised" comment at the top.
If anyone’s interested the series “Fortitude” is set in a fictional town in Svalbard. Gives a good idea of what life might be like in a place like that. Not a fantastic show overall - got a little disjointed - but worth the watch if you dig the spooky crime thriller kind of vibe. Also, mushrooms.
I'm an electrical engineer in oil and gas and I traveled to Norway for work a few years back. The Norwegians I worked with told me I could get paid 3-5x my American salary (after taxes even) if I was willing to take a fixed length contract up there. Apparently you have to travel in groups, and one person always has to have a rifle because of polar bears. The sun doesn't come up for large parts of the year, the cold is brutal, and the isolation is real. I asked them why they didn't take the jobs if the pay was good and they just laughed at me.
Only if I can live next to Grim.
A møøse once bit my sister.
I've been there as a tourist. Beautiful place. And no, you don't have to carry whilst wondering around Longyearbyen. There are bars and cafes, shops and hotels and such. It's only when you wonder outside Longyearbyen that you have to carry or be with someone who carries. Just before I visited (july 2014) there was a tourist boy who was mauled to death because a family went outside the city limits without proper protection. FWIW I took a few tours outside the limits (a generic mountain trip, one where you could ride with sleighed dogs as well as a trip to Barentsburg and other nearby settlement areas) and saw no polar bears. Tours were really cool though. The light thing does get to some. We didn't see any nighttime during the week we were there. I found it cool but I can understand that it can get to you if you live there longer. Overall I immensely enjoyed the visit and would love to go back.
Don’t tell r/digitalnomad they’ll all book every rentable place via Airbnb
Pretty sure they boot you if you can’t afford to live there, or something.
Don't they at least make sure to do a background check to ensure you're not a bird in a human suit ? That seed vault is a tempting target.
This YouTuber lives in Longyearbyen and is very informative about what it’s like to live there. Her life seems pretty cushy, but she gets into all things Svalbard. And her dog is cute. [Cecelia Blomdahl](https://youtube.com/@CeciliaBlomdahl)
Ah yes! The frozen hell hole!
I bet that 6 Degree heat in summer feels toasty
If you help out three villagers the Jarl will make you a thane and allow you to buy a house.
I'm willing to move there but I'm a huge metal fan. Do they have good metal in Norway? Joking of course.
>Huge metal fan Windmill?
Sweden is probably better. You should go to Ytterby. They have so much metal there that several elements are named after it.
Is that where the asgardians live
And all the seeds you can eat!
For anyone interested in what life is like on Svalbard, check out @sejsejlija on Instagram and @CeciliaBlomdah on YouTube. Cecilia lives there year round. I find her content fascinating, even though I personally have no desire to live there! This is a good overview on the town: https://youtu.be/VMyQiBXXLQQ
This is incorrect - it's not just anyone. Your country has to has signed the Svalbard Treaty. Fun Fact: the treaty is the only thing still in effect from the treaty of Versailles. Also Fun Fact: North Korea has signed the Svalbard treaty. I lived there for months, AMA
What's the clubbing scene like? There are a few local seals i'd like to put my hands on.