A woman who resides on an island close to the North Pole and Norway has revealed what it’s like living in the chilly location.
Cecilia Blomdahl, @sejsejlija, shares her Arctic lifestyle on Svalbard to her 2.9million TikTok followers.
She sometimes stays in an off-grid cabin and in one video she detailed the dangers she has to deal with when there.
The content creator revealed polar bears sometimes try to break in to similar set ups, and explained how she protects herself.
‘The last time a polar bear broke into this cabin was 20 years ago,’ she explained.
Cecilia’s cabin is in a remote location, some distance from another town and is not easily accessible.
‘It’s fully off grid so it has no electricity, no modern amenities and it’s located far away from town,’ she said.
‘The only way to get here in winter is by snowmobile and in summer by boat.’
However, the secluded area means there’s other wildlife around, including polar bears.
‘It is not uncommon for polar bears to break into off grid cabins and we actually just recently had a polar bear very close to town so that is something you always have to think about when you’re here on Svalbard in general,’ Cecilia revealed.
She has to take precautions when leaving the cabin, just in case there’s a potential danger nearby.
‘Whenever you go outside you need to look around the corners before stepping out to kind of see your surroundings,’ Cecilia explained.
She shared how her dog also helps her spot other animals from far away.
‘Grim is fine being outdoors because he can actually tell us if anything is coming close to the cabin way before we can see it,’ she said.
Cecilia also carries a firearm with her whenever she is away from the village as another form of protection against polar bears.
She explained how it is necessary, especially when in the remote cabin.
Cecilia said: ‘Here on Svalbard, everyone is required to bring a firearm as polar bear protection whenever they are outside of the village so that is very important to have with you when you’re on a cabin trip like this.
However, she was careful to emphasise it would only be use in particularly dangerous scenarios.
‘But the firearm is only for life-threatening situations,’ she added.
