WEDNESDAY, MARCH 19, 2025

FLYING TO LAPLAND, AND A FIRST TASTE OF AURORA

Today was the day I hopped on Finnair for the 90 minute flight up to Lapland, Finland’s Arctic north. I took the train to the airport for a civilized 11:20 flight (this time making sure I knew where I was going haha), and stopped for a quick coffee and croissant at an airport cafe.

One of the funniest coincidences around this trip is that the day before I left for Helsinki, I saw that an old summer camp friend from childhood (who I’d reconnected with as an adult thanks to social media) posted on her Instagram that she was on her way to Finland of all places! Elyssa was there with her dad for a U. Michigan alumni trip, and even though we’d be doing a lot of the same things, we didn’t think we’d overlap enough to get to say hi – until she messaged me this morning and we realized we were on the same domestic flight up north! So we were able to run into each other in the Helsinki airport of all places, after not seeing each other for literally 30 years, and it was so much fun to be able to reconnect.

Posing here with one of the strange Moomin characters. I think we both still look the same!

The flight itself was an easy one – I did love on the way onto the plane spotting the flight attendants’ list of announcements and seeing that “Santa’s Message” was one of them. After all, we were on our way to his home!

Santa's message 🥹

Lucky me with an empty row!

During the flight, I couldn’t help but take a bunch of photos and video out the window – it was such a unique landscape as we headed north, definitely like nothing I’d seen before!

Landed…

We met the Flash Pack pickup…

After about a 40 minute drive, we arrived at our lodge for the rest of the trip, the Wilderness Hotel Juutua. It was a little early to check into our rooms, so we dropped our suitcases at the front desk and walked over to the lunch buffet that was set up and getting ready to close. It was our first taste of the food at the lodge, and it was great!

When we were finished eating, we were able to get our rooms, along with an introduction to how the lodge worked, and the overall schedule for the next few days.

There was no agenda today other than a designated time later in the day to get fitted for our snow clothes that the lodge lends you for the duration of your stay, and then a welcome Flash Pack dinner at night, so I wanted to walk around and explore the lodge and its grounds – Jennifer, Sarah, and Jacinta joined me for the walk, and we took in the beautiful area!

Sarah taking a ride

After walking around for a bit, we stopped back into the main lodge to relax with a warm drink in front of the fire before it was time to get fitted for our winter gear. I had a chai latte that totally hit the spot.

Finally, it was time to visit the storeroom where we were given a warm snow jumpsuit, mittens, thick socks, and snow boots. You’re supposed to get boots that are comically larger than your shoe size since it keeps your feet warmer when there’s air around them and they’re not pressed up against the sides of the shoe. Never thought about that, and it makes sense, but it took a minute to get used to such big boots haha.

Had to take another loop around the lodge in this pretty afternoon light

Dinnertime…

During dinner, I was keeping an eye on the aurora app I had downloaded, and went out a couple of time to check the sky. At one point there were a couple of wisps, but nothing major to note. The second time I went out… major. I couldn’t believe the amount of aurora we were seeing! The odd thing about it is that while you can definitely see it with the naked eye, and it’s beautiful, even looking through a phone makes it suddenly so vibrant, whether or not you take a picture.

But when it comes to taking the picture, I have to give props to my phone - iPhone 16 Pro - for taking some pretty impressive aurora photos!

What an unbelievable introduction to the Northern Lights!