Every Step - Alone in Antarctica: The First Woman to Ski Solo Across the Southern Ice - page 11

stories and lessons learnt from past adventures. Audiences
can vary from a school hall of wide-eyed juniors keen to learn
about avoiding polar bears in the Arctic to select groups of
executives more interested in a fresh look at leadership or
successful team dynamics. The variety is something I thrive on,
even though travelling from talk to talk can be occasionally
chaotic, but I find it a rewarding way to make a living. I enjoy
telling a story, be it through writing or speaking, and relish the
fact that people from diverse backgrounds and situations find
interest and relevance in my very niche experiences.
When not speaking, I often work as a polar instructor,
and throughout 2011 I travelled back and forth to Iceland
to conduct training expeditions for clients with increasing
regularity. Iceland, being just south of the Arctic Circle, is a
popular polar training ground because its glaciers (some of the
largest in Europe) remain snow covered well into summer. And
yet, late in the season that year it was surprisingly warm as I
arrived in Iceland for another training trip, even though it was
almost midnight. The sun was still in the sky and everything
looked startlingly fresh and green in the lowlands around the
airport. My polar equipment needed for the training, packed
tightly within two sledges and swaddled in bubble wrap, looked
ridiculously out of place in the summery surroundings. As I
wheeled the sledges through Reykjavik airport on a baggage
trolley they caught the attention of a customs official.
'What is it?' he asked, nodding towards the body-shaped
package.
'It's a sledge,' I replied as nonchalantly as possible.
Without a word he waved me on my way, clearly satisfied
that I was just a harmless loony rather than a serious threat to
national security.