I just had a video call with a colleague who is on a ship at the North Pole. A VIDEO CALL. It was smooth and bug-free and he could have been just down the road.

And this is the end of an era, in a gigantic way. One of the most special things about these expeditions is that you’re isolated - recently you might get text-only e-mails once a day, but that was it. You had to actually be present all the time, because the people on board were all you had.

And that is now the past. I’m truly gutted.