Dream jobs are a matter of non-public choice. Some would possibly fantasize about incomes $160k yearly whereas engaged on a Caribbean island with their important different, whereas others would possibly discover the thought of being paid $30k to embark on a year-long bar crawl interesting.

Torstein Gaustad’s career could not contain indulging in copious quantities of delectable empty carbs or basking within the solar, however it definitely ranks excessive on the ‘I can not imagine that is an precise job’ listing.

For the previous decade and a half, this polyglot fluent in German, French, Norwegian, and English has been employed by Norwegian cruise firm Hurtigruten and its subsidiary HX, the place he now spearheads expeditions.

His tenure on state-of-the-art journey cruise ships has taken him to essentially the most distant corners of the globe, guiding lucky vacationers by means of awe-inspiring and threatening places few will ever witness.

“It’s indescribable,” Torstein mentioned toe the Mirror about his current voyages from Ushuaia, the southernmost metropolis in Argentina – lately spotlighted because the end line in Race Throughout the World – throughout Drake Passage to the Antarctic peninsula.

HX vessels are usually not only for sightseeing; they typically function a mode of transport for polar scientists touring to distant analysis stations in Antarctica. To contribute to their journey, these scientists provide lectures and lead exploratory initiatives like whale counting for the passengers.

The variety of adventurers allowed to disembark from the ship is strictly regulated by legal guidelines aimed toward preserving the untouched great thing about the continent. Nevertheless, those that do step off the vessel get to expertise the icy realm from a wholly new vantage level.

“We do zodiac landings and cruising, and we have now small boat cruises the place we go into stunning, distant areas. Generally we take visitors out when a variety of big icebergs are available in from the coast and get caught within the bay. It’s wonderful, with the completely different shapes of the icebergs. They appear to be sculptures. You will have the penguins leaping up, leopard seals within the space and even humpback whales,” Gaustad defined.

For a choose few lucky sufficient, there’s the uncommon alternative to camp in a single day on the Antarctic ice. Such excursions require carrying particular gear to stop contamination and generally are canceled if there is a threat of transmitting avian flu to the native penguin colonies.

For these intrepid sailors with nerves of metal, there’s an opportunity to partake in ice plunging into the icy Antarctic waters – an excessive sport that might enthrall even essentially the most daring of untamed swimmers.

Off the chilly shores of Antarctica, Gaustad switches his polar explorations in direction of the Arctic Circle, eyeing Greenland’s expansive magnificence for his subsequent excursions.

“Our new voyage takes us additional north, which suggests extra possibilities of seeing polar bears. It’s a mixture of nature landings and small boat cruising, in fjords and nature areas,” he mentioned.