Out of Norm Travels - Be Smart Tips for future trips and those whowant to travel to colder climates like Alaska

1. Go during summer season (ends around Sep) if you are unused to the cold like me
 
2.   Clothing/ Winterwear: 

• ·       Buy cold winterwear when you reach cos (1) you never know what you lack until you arrive (2) winter wear is generally cheaper than back in the tropics - wind proof, GoreTex, ski pants, sweat proof, jackets with side zips to release too much heat are good, and for longer jackets, get those with double zips so that you can unzip bottom up if you need to have a waist pouch or sit down. 

• ·       Pack 1 set of overcoat, fleece, 2 pairs of good inner wear (Woolite or wool preferably not white cos of color transfer), turtle necks or pashmina silk scarves to protect your neck/chest area for maximum warmth. If you do come often, a down jacket is great for chic looking warm clothing. 

• ·       For head, must haves include buff or beanie and woolen hat on top of beanie; Gloves for hands include at least 1 thin lining glove, 1 external glove that is wind proof) and if it gets really cold, a final ski set for warmer hands); For feet, again 3 pairs if needed ie lining, woolite and thicker socks

• ·       Check if the Lodging provides for winter wear as these cost quite a bit when you purchase on your own. At Bettles, they provide thick outer coat, bunny boots (life saver although looks clumsy), gloves, ski pants.

• ·       Pack collapsible packs as these save a ton of space in the baggage

3.   Essentials like heat packs are best purchased when you reach - (1) you cannot imagine what those 2USD per piece can do to your body when it's being bombarded with extreme cold winds and chill (2) the heat packs purchased back in the tropics don't work so well in such extreme colder climates for some reason.(3) place heat packs next to your body (armpits are actually the best as it generates the most heat) 

4.   Fly connecting via same or affiliated airline for e.g. for this trip, I used Korean Air and managed to fly from SG to Seoul (6hrs flight time), Seoul to Seattle (around 11 hrs flight time) before taking Seattle to Fairbanks (about 3 hrs no frills but excellent service Alaska Airlines) so had my bags checked in just once before having to bring them out for the Seattle to Fairbanks leg cos it's via a different airline I.e. Alaska Air (sister airline so no need for bags to be rechecked). It also helps re baggage weight issues cos such flights are considered international flights vs domestic flights (lower and sometimes chargeable baggage allowance) 

5.   Personal Hygiene

·       Pare down to the bare minimal toiletries but must packs include Winter sticks like from the brand, Joshua Tree is critical when you have to face the winds as a swap of that on your face before you go out will ensure that your face doesn't crack up like the ice on the ground- particularly helpful for people with specs like me as it tends to fog up when you use mouth & nose covers. Lip balm and an intensive lip moisturizer are also considered an essential.

·       Found that using face wash on body is helpful as the normal body wash can be drying

·       Moisturizer and facial oil for both face and body helps with the chaffing skin (which is not just irritating but can also be quite painful if left untreated)

·       Hair wash including conditioner are essential to prevent frizzy  dry hair

·       Personally I find washing up every day or at least once before heading to bed is helpful to maintain some sanity and human decency (not only for yourself but also for others whom you have contact with as odors of any kind can be quite unsettling particularly in close proximity) 

6.   Equipment & Camera Gear –

• ·       I used both a DSLR (Nikon) and a mirrorless camera (Fuji XT1) for this trip. I had, to ensure best performance, place a heat pack on top of your camera/lens to prevent fogging and ensure your battery doesn't freeze up. Some say it will affect your camera stabilizer but I have no issue wiht that so to each its own. Depending on your heat pack, it may need to be changed every few hours or so and another heat pack for your intervalometer if it runs on batteries.

• ·       Knowing your camera controls and how to work them in the night without shining any light will help you and fellow photographers capturing the night scenes. Once the show starts, you may need to switch your camera settings on the go as the exposure time depends on the vibrancy of the  auroras and during such time, you should be looking out for the best angles instead of peering and checking your settings.

• ·       Bring at least 2 camera bodies especially if you want to do time lapse and have the ability to capture the auroras as and when they come up. Better if you have a 3rd one in case something happens to the other 2 ;) The photos for this entry is from the 3rd camera that I had with me..my Infrared camera (a dream camera for use in such environments)

·       Hydra packs for packing in the equipment before heading back indoors will help ease the camera into normal indoor heated temperatures otherwise condensation will prevent/ reduce the camera ability to react to more extreme weather outside. 

·       Fish eye lens may well be your best friend for the captures of auroras give that they can happen anytime and over a vast area so you may end up missing some beautiful auroras above you if you only have a wide angle lens. Some like to defish to avoid the obviously Fish eye look for posting purposes. 

·       Use memory cards who are able to withstand the cold - I used Scandisk extreme pro and unlike the batteries, they have not failed me for the trip

·       Bring multiples of everything like intervalometer and batteries. cos (1) the regular battery use time will be significantly reduced in the cold (and suffer for it cos you need to hand carry all lithium batteries). I even had the unfortunate event of having 2 perfectly "out of the box" batteries for my intervalometer threaten to fail on me once it was exposed to the cold harsh temperature (2) you may be like me lose the intervalometer on the 1st day of arriving at the shooting location and end up using my alternative wired trigger which required me to hand trigger (and time) every shot for my Fuji XT1. 

7.   Other tips –

• ·       Having at least 2 heat packs for long hauls can be comfortingly warm

• ·       Being nice always helps when dealing with long flights, extreme weather changes and long transit times - generally people are nicer to nice people right? Say your 'please' and 'thank you' also helps. Tips are great to tell people that their service and help are appreciated.

• ·       Knowing Bear etiquette is good or be quick to learn about it. In my case, I had a fellow photographer who knew Something although the only problem was a practical one for us photographers holding 2 cameras on tripods i.e. how to raise both hands in surrender when you are holding both camera on tripods at the same time?

• ·       Be open to weather wreaking your plans i.e. too much cloud cover, minus degree cold winds and the odd rain pellets or snowfall....yes, it can snow even during the "summer" months

Till the next time, onto the world and beyond!